Startseite Linguistik & Semiotik Chapter 5: Re-viewing the origins and history of African American Language
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Chapter 5: Re-viewing the origins and history of African American Language

  • Sonja L. Lanehart
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Volume 5 Varieties of English
Ein Kapitel aus dem Buch Volume 5 Varieties of English

Abstract

This chapter reviews the differing positions concerning the history and development of African American Language (AAL), the impact of each position, and conclusions about the direction of these positions for future research in AAL and the communities involved. The positions discussed are: (1) Anglicist (aka Dialectologist), which purports that Africans in America learned regional varieties of British English dialects from British overseers with little to no influence from their own native African languages and cultures; (2) Creolist, which purports that AAL developed from a prior US creole developed by slaves that was widespread across the colonies and slave-holding areas (though Neo-Creolists acknowledge there likely was not a widespread creole but one that emerged in conditions favorable to creole development); (3) Substratist, which purports that distinctive patterns of AAL are those that occur in Niger-Congo languages such as Kikongo, Mande, and Kwa; (4) Ecological and Restructuralist, which is a perspective within the Anglicist position that acknowledges the difficulty of knowing the origins of AAL but proposes that we can say something useful about Earlier AAL (not nascent AAL) given settlement and migration patterns as well as socio-ecological issues; (5) Divergence/Convergence, which purports that AAL diverges and converges to White varieties over the course of its history with respect to changes in and degrees of racism, segregation, inequalities, and inequities that fluctuate across time and differ regionally; and (6) Deficit, which purports that AAL is based on the assumption that Africans in America and their culture are inferior to whites and their language learning as a result was imperfect and bastardized. Though the substance of and support for each position varies, ideological and epistemological perspectives of their originators and supporters cannot go unexamined.

Abstract

This chapter reviews the differing positions concerning the history and development of African American Language (AAL), the impact of each position, and conclusions about the direction of these positions for future research in AAL and the communities involved. The positions discussed are: (1) Anglicist (aka Dialectologist), which purports that Africans in America learned regional varieties of British English dialects from British overseers with little to no influence from their own native African languages and cultures; (2) Creolist, which purports that AAL developed from a prior US creole developed by slaves that was widespread across the colonies and slave-holding areas (though Neo-Creolists acknowledge there likely was not a widespread creole but one that emerged in conditions favorable to creole development); (3) Substratist, which purports that distinctive patterns of AAL are those that occur in Niger-Congo languages such as Kikongo, Mande, and Kwa; (4) Ecological and Restructuralist, which is a perspective within the Anglicist position that acknowledges the difficulty of knowing the origins of AAL but proposes that we can say something useful about Earlier AAL (not nascent AAL) given settlement and migration patterns as well as socio-ecological issues; (5) Divergence/Convergence, which purports that AAL diverges and converges to White varieties over the course of its history with respect to changes in and degrees of racism, segregation, inequalities, and inequities that fluctuate across time and differ regionally; and (6) Deficit, which purports that AAL is based on the assumption that Africans in America and their culture are inferior to whites and their language learning as a result was imperfect and bastardized. Though the substance of and support for each position varies, ideological and epistemological perspectives of their originators and supporters cannot go unexamined.

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Table of Contents V
  3. Abbreviations VII
  4. Chapter 1: Introduction 1
  5. Chapter 2: Standard American English 9
  6. Chapter 3: Regional varieties of American English 31
  7. Chapter 4: Canadian English in real-time perspective 53
  8. Chapter 5: Re-viewing the origins and history of African American Language 80
  9. Chapter 6: Standard British English 96
  10. Chapter 7: Regional varieties of British English 121
  11. Chapter 8: Received Pronunciation 151
  12. Chapter 9: Estuary English 169
  13. Chapter 10: Cockney 187
  14. Chapter 11: Celtic and Celtic Englishes 210
  15. Chapter 12: Scots 231
  16. Chapter 13: English in Ireland 244
  17. Chapter 14: English in Wales 265
  18. Chapter 15: Australian/New Zealand English 289
  19. Chapter 16: English in India 311
  20. Chapter 17: English in Africa – a diachronic typology 330
  21. Chapter 18: Diffusion 349
  22. Chapter 19: Supraregionalization 365
  23. Chapter 20: Pidgins and creoles 385
  24. Index 403
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110525045-005

Kapitel in diesem Buch

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Table of Contents V
  3. Abbreviations VII
  4. Chapter 1: Introduction 1
  5. Chapter 2: Standard American English 9
  6. Chapter 3: Regional varieties of American English 31
  7. Chapter 4: Canadian English in real-time perspective 53
  8. Chapter 5: Re-viewing the origins and history of African American Language 80
  9. Chapter 6: Standard British English 96
  10. Chapter 7: Regional varieties of British English 121
  11. Chapter 8: Received Pronunciation 151
  12. Chapter 9: Estuary English 169
  13. Chapter 10: Cockney 187
  14. Chapter 11: Celtic and Celtic Englishes 210
  15. Chapter 12: Scots 231
  16. Chapter 13: English in Ireland 244
  17. Chapter 14: English in Wales 265
  18. Chapter 15: Australian/New Zealand English 289
  19. Chapter 16: English in India 311
  20. Chapter 17: English in Africa – a diachronic typology 330
  21. Chapter 18: Diffusion 349
  22. Chapter 19: Supraregionalization 365
  23. Chapter 20: Pidgins and creoles 385
  24. Index 403
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