African American English: A Linguistic Introduction (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: African American English: A linguistic introduction by Lisa Green Tracey L. Weldon African American English: A linguistic introduction. By Lisa Green. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. Pp. xii, 285. ISBN 0521814499. $31.99. Lisa Green’s African American English: A linguistic introduction is a thorough, insightful, well-organized overview of the structure and use of African American English (AAE). In this book, G accomplishes her goal of describing what ‘speakers know when they know African American English’ (1) by presenting, in clear detail, the rule-governed nature of the variety and the many and varied ways that it is used by members of the African American speech community. After a short introductory chapter, in which she briefly addresses the labeling of the variety and the well-documented linguistic debate over its origins, G turns to a synchronic description of AAE. In Ch. 1, she proposes a three-part organization of the AAE lexicon that includes general words and phrases, aspectual markers, and current slang terms associated with particular age groups or regions. In Ch. 2, she describes the syntactic properties of aspectual markers be, bin, and dən, showing how they are used in AAE and how these uses differ from the uses of auxiliary verbs of similar form in general American English. Ch. 3 focuses on other syntactic properties, including rules of negation, existential constructions, question and relative clause formation, preterite constructions, and certain morphosyntactic properties. Ch. 4 describes the phonology of AAE, focusing on processes such as consonant cluster reduction, final consonant devoicing, liquid vocalization, sound substitutions, and various types of vowel and prosodic patterning. After demonstrating the rule-governed nature of the variety, G turns, in Ch. 5, to a description of African American rhetorical strategies, including signifying, marking, rapping, and loud talking. She looks at nonverbal expressions such as cutting eyes and giving dap. And she describes some of the ritualized language found in African American church services. In Ch. 6, G analyzes the authenticity and effect of strategies used by writers from various time periods in their representation of phonological, syntactic, and lexical features of AAE. Ch. 7 looks at the representation of AAE in the media, with a discussion of both the minstrel-type language used to exaggerate stereotypes and the use of actual structural and rhetorical features for creating various types of images in television and film. Finally, Ch. 8 deals with attitudes toward AAE, ranging from linguistic approaches to the variety to the layperson’s perspectives, with a particular focus on the legitimacy of AAE and its role in employment and education. While many books have been written about AAE, especially in the last decade, G provides one of the most comprehensive introductions to the variety for students of linguistics. The level of detail and sophistication with which she presents the material makes it ideal for undergraduate or beginning graduate students in linguistics, who are seeking a thorough introduction to the variety. From the focal points and excerpts that begin each chapter to the summaries and exercises that end them, this book is detailed, data-driven, and well-informed and is truly an important contribution to the study of AAE. Tracey L. Weldon University of South Carolina Copyright © 2006 Linguistic Society of America