Much scholarly work assumes that the structure of African American Vernacular English (AAVE) derives from an earlier plantation creole. This reader explores an alternative hypothesis: that the characteristic features were acquired from the varieties of English to which early speakers were exposed.

Marshalling historical, dialectal and theoretical linguistic evidence, this work focuses on descendants of former slaves whose ancestors left the US in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries to settle in enclave communities where their language developed under conditions of social or geographical isolation.

Six variable linguistic features, most previously considered evidence of creole origins, are traced across varieties of English brought to the US by British colonists. These features, and their linguistic patterning in discourse, are demonstrably part of the English of early African Americans, transmitted to and retained by their descendants long after their disappearance from mainstream varieties of English Contributors include Shana Poplack, Sali Tagliamonte, Gunnel Tottie, and Salikoko S. Mufwene amongst others.

This text celebrates the rich variety of regional and social dialects of English in all its forms, ancient and modern.

In this new, revised and extended edition, Trudgill includes phonetic symbols along with the orthographic representations of speech sounds. Zummerzet and Scouse, Cockney and Cumberland, Brummie and Berkshire, Nottingham, Norfolk and Estuary English are all covered.

English dialects are the result of 1500 years of linguistic and cultural development. Written in non-technical language, this book outlines their history and their geography. It describes and delights in the diversity of vocabulary, accent, grammar and literature to be found among the dialects of England.

What is odd about the phrase Scots wha hae? Why do you say you've got the cold in Scots? Is there a difference between ane and yin? Do you say youse to one person or two? These are just some of the questions about Scots that are answered in the Grammar Broonie, the Scottish National Dictionary Association's guide to Scots grammar. This new, expanded edition of the Grammar Broonie includes a special section of classroom exercises by well-known Scots writer and teacher, Matthew Fitt. Intended mainly for use at upper primary and lower secondary level, the Grammar Broonie aims to show that Scots has a distinctive grammar in addition to its rich vocabulary, spelling and pronunciation. The text throughout is written in colloquial Scots. This new edition of the Grammar Broonie: *identifies characteristics of Scots grammar *Explains how Scots differs from English grammar *Includes a table of Scots irregular verbs *Discusses regional variations in spelling and grammar *Draws examples from everyday Scots usage *Uses graphics to highligh important grammar points *Includes grammar exercises for use in the classroom

Can ghoti really be pronounced as fish? Why is "o" short in glove and love, but long in rove and cove? Why do English words carry such extra baggage as the silent "b" in doubt, the silent "k" in knee, and the silent "n" in autumn? And why do names like Phabulous Phoods and Hi-Ener-G stand out? Addressing these and many other questions about letters and the sounds they make, this engaging volume provides a comprehensive analysis of American English spelling and pronunciation. Venezky illuminates the fully functional system underlying what can at times be a bewildering array of exceptions, focusing on the basic units that serve to signal word form or pronunciation, where these units can occur within words, and how they relate to sound. Also examined are how our current spelling system has developed, efforts to reform it, and ways that spelling rules or patterns are violated in commercial usage. From one of the world's foremost orthographic authorities, the book affords new insight into the teaching of reading and the acquisition and processing of spelling sound relationships.

As many visitors to Ocracoke will attest, the island's vibrant dialect is one of its most distinctive cultural features. In Hoi Toide on the Outer Banks , Walt Wolfram and Natalie Schilling-Estes present a fascinating account of the Ocracoke brogue. They trace its development, identify the elements of pronunciation, vocabulary, and syntax that make it unique, and even provide a glossary and quiz to enhance the reader's knowledge of 'Ocracokisms.' In the process, they offer an intriguing look at the role language plays in a culture's efforts to define and maintain itself. But Hoi Toide on the Outer Banks is more than a linguistic study. Based on extensive interviews with more than seventy Ocracoke residents of all ages and illustrated with captivating photographs by Ann Ehringhaus and Herman Lankford, the book offers valuable insight on what makes Ocracoke special. In short, by tracing the history of island speech, the authors succeed in opening a window on the history of the islanders themselves. |A comprehensive history of the evolving relationship between American slavery and the law from colonial times to the Civil War. (Please see cloth edition, published 2/96).

Irving Lewis Allen provides an insightful history of the rise of New York as a metropolis and the accompanying slang that surrounded it. Anecdotal and at times analytical, this book is both a lexicon of slang and a history of recent casual language.

A phonological, grammatical, and lexical description of a German-American dialect, Michigan Frankenmuth. Professor Born's book provides a phonological, grammatical, and lexical description of a German-American dialect that has never before been studied. It compares the Michigan Frankenmuth dialect with its parent dialect in central Franconia. The town of Frankenmuth was established in 1845 by an unusually homogeneous group of orthodox Lutherans bent on remaining separate from the American mainstream. The settlement history was therefore a significantfactor in postponing the shift to American English in Frankenmuth until the middle of this century. This study will be of interest to scholars and students of dialectology, contrastive dialectology, and sociolinguistics.

The origins and development of Pidgin in Nigeria are exhaustively examined. The study's perspectives are historical, theoretical, ontological and sociological. Nigerian Pidgin is identified as a language in its own right, with all the characteristics and potentialities of a natural language, its comparatively recent origins nothwithstanding. The authors treat the structure of the language as such; and make the distinctions between Nigerian Pidgine and a range of pidgin-like forms in Nigeria. Professor Ben Elugbe and Dr. Augusts Omamor are both linguistics of repute, and teach in the Department of Linguistics and African Languages at the University of Ibadan.

One of the best ways to learn a language is by studying the media that native speakers themselves listen to and read, and popular songs can also reveal much about the culture and traditions of an area where the language is spoken. Following on the success of his Kilma Hilwa: Egyptian Arabic through Popular Songs (AUC Press, 2015), Cairo-based Arabic teacher Bahaa Ed-Din Ossama now brings together twenty songs in Modern Standard Arabic performed by popular singers of the Arab world from Abd al-Halim Hafez to Fairouz and builds a variety of language lessons around them, with notes on vocabulary, grammar, and usage, and communicative exercises in listening, writing, and speaking. The songs are graded from easiest to most difficult, and each lesson includes a link to a performance of the song on YouTube, the lyrics of the song, and notes on the songwriter, the composer, and the singer. Students using this unique book will not only improve their Arabic skills but will also gain an insight into the cultural landscape of the Arab world. The book can be used in the classroom or for self-study.Includes songs by: Abd al-Halim Hafez, Fairouz, Fuad Abd al-Magid, Karem Mahmoud, Kazem al-Saher, Muhammad Abd al-Wahab, Nagat al-Saghira, Rima Khashish, and Umm Kulthum.

In her book, Geneva Smitherman makes a substantial contribution to an understanding of Black English by setting it in the larger context of Black culture and life style. In addition to defining Black English, by its distinctive structure and special lexicon, Smitherman argues that the Black dialect is set apart from traditional English by a rhetorical style which reflects its African origins. Smitherman also tackles the issue of Black and White attitudes toward Black English, particularly as they affect educational policy. Documenting her insights with quotes from notable Black historical, literary and popular figures, Smitherman makes clear that Black English is as legitimate a form of speech as British, American, or Australian English.

Susan Buck-Morss examines and stresses the significance of Critical Theory for young West Germ intellectuals after World War II. Looking at the differences between German and American situations during this time period, Origin of Negative Dialectics convincingly sketches the learning process that ended in antagonism. "[The Origin of Negative Dialectics] is by far the best introduction for the American reader to the complex, esoteric, and illusive structure of thought of one of the most seminal Marxian thinkers of the twentieth century. It belongs on the same shelf as Martin Jay's history of the Frankfurt School, The Dialectical Imagination." - Lewis A. Coser, State University of New York, Stony Brook

When did English become American? What distinctive qualities made it American? What role have America's democratizing impulses, and its vibrantly heterogeneous speakers, played in shaping our language and separating it from the mother tongue? A wide-ranging account of American English, Richard Bailey's Speaking American investigates the history and continuing evolution of our language from the sixteenth century to the present. The book is organized in half-century segments around influential centers: Chesapeake Bay (1600-1650), Boston (1650-1700), Charleston (1700-1750), Philadelphia (1750-1800), New Orleans (1800-1850), New York (1850-1900), Chicago (1900-1950), Los Angeles (1950-2000), and Cyberspace (2000-present). Each of these places has added new words, new inflections, new ways of speaking to the elusive, boisterous, ever-changing linguistic experiment that is American English. Freed from British constraints of unity and propriety, swept up in rapid social change, restless movement, and a thirst for innovation, Americans have always been eager to invent new words, from earthy frontier expressions like "catawampously" (vigorously) and "bung-nipper" (pickpocket), to West African words introduced by slaves such as "goober" (peanut) and "gumbo" (okra), to urban slang such as "tagging" (spraying graffiti) and "crew" (gang). Throughout, Bailey focuses on how people speak and how speakers change the language. The book is filled with transcripts of arresting voices, precisely situated in time and space: two justices of the peace sitting in a pumpkin patch trying an Indian for theft; a crowd of Africans lounging on the waterfront in Philadelphia discussing the newly independent nation in their home languages; a Chicago gangster complaining that his pocket had been picked; Valley Girls chattering; Crips and Bloods negotiating their gang identities in LA; and more. Speaking American explores-and celebrates-the endless variety and remarkable inventiveness that have always been at the heart of American English.

One of the most distinctive characteristics of English is the number of words and phrases it has borrowed - and continues to borrow - from other languages, originally and most notably from Latin and French but now also from every corner of the globe. From the frequently used veranda and futon to the less familiar quinquennium and catenaccio, from the longstanding in vino veritas and vade mecum to the recent doosra and galactico, this highly informative reference book provides a revealing record of that remarkable story. With 6,000 detailed entries from aa to zut, this dictionary is the authoritative guide to foreign words and phrases used in contemporary British and American English. Drawn from over 40 languages, entries provide details of the history of each word or phrase, including language of origin, spelling variants, pronunciation, and its sense and use in English. Information is given on specific items of interest, such as the use of daemon in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, and full-page feature panels provide extra information on how specific languages and cultures have influenced particular areas of English. This new edition includes 100 new entries including sudoku, uber, and coitus interruptus, plus up-to-date coverage of words that have entered the English language in the 21st Century, including bruschetta, pashmina, and galactico. Ideal for both reference and browsing, this is a perfect book for anyone wanting to uncover the richness of modern English.

Volume I of the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE), published to wide acclaim in 1985, captured the wondrous variety and creativeness of American folk words and expressions and tickled the imagination of lovers of language around the world. Decades in preparation, the DARE corpus reflects the liveliness of English as it is spoken on America's main streets and country roads-the regional metaphors and similes passed along within homes and communities. Like its popular predecessor, Volume II is a treasury of vernacular Americanisms. In Virginia a goldfinch is a dandelion bird, in Missouri an insufficient rain shower a drizzle-fizzle. Gate was Louis Armstrong's favorite sender (a verbal spur to a sidekick in a band), a usage that probably originated from the fact that gates swing. Readers will bedazzled by the wealth of entries-more than 11,000-contained in this second volume alone. The two and a half pages on "dirt" reveal that a small marble is a dirt pea in the South. To eat dried apples, a curious rural euphemism for becoming pregnant, appears in the five pages on "eat." Seven pages on "horn" and related words take readers on a tour of the animal and nether worlds: horned lark, horned frog, horned pout (look that one up), and that horned fellow, the devil. Initiated under the leadership of Frederic G. Cassidy, DARE represents an unprecedented attempt to document the living language of the entire country. The project's primary tool was a carefully worded survey of 1,847 questions touching on most aspects of everyday life and human experience. Over a five-year period fieldworkers interviewed natives of 1,002 communities, a patchwork of the United States in all its diversity. The result is a database of more than two and a half million items-a monument to the richness of American folk speech. Additionally, some 7,000 publications, including novels, diaries, and small-town newspapers, have yielded a bountiful harvest of local idioms. Computer-generated maps accompanying many of the entries illustrate the regional distribution of words and phrases. The entries contained in Volume II-from the poetic and humorous to the witty and downright bawdy-will delight and inform readers.

What's ILL in one place can be WACK in another, or the same word can actually have TOTES different meanings. It's CRAY CRAY! From KEWL girls hitting on HENCH boys to wannabe gangstas hangin' with their DOGGS in the ENDZ, teen slang can leave NOOBS CONFUZZLED. If you want to appear DOPE or just want to know WTF is going on, How to Talk Teen is the ultimate guide! Bugly : Short for butt ugly; exceeded on the ugly ranking by dugly and fugly. Pfun: More than mere fun. This is pure fun. Rando: A random person who appears at parties but who no one seems to know, let alone invited. Hiberdating: Disappearing from view because you're spending almost all your time with your new boyfriend/girlfriend. Nodel: Someone who thinks they look like a model . . . but nobody else does. Rentsy: Acting like parents, i.e. acting responsibly or demonstrating a nauseating taste in music. Mis-wave: To wave back at someone you think is waving at you, but who was actually waving to someone else. Ugly radius: The distance from you that someone stops looking attractive. Hot mess: Someone attractive who looks cool and in control, but who's an emotional train wreck. Lipsin: Kissing energetically - but less aggressively than a full-on snog. Selfie claw: Your contorted hand as you simultaneously hold your phone and take the photo. Air Five: High-five greeting to someone from across a room. Endz: The street where you live or the immediate neighbourhood. Pit stick: Underarm antiperspirant/deodorant. Top bantz: Particularly insightful or mocking banter. Hashtag Douchebag: A moron who uses hashtags excessively in anything they type in an attempt to be witty

With contributions by some of the leading scholars in the field, Words and Works: Studies in Medieval English Language and Literature in Honour of Fred C. Robinson is a distinguished collection of essays on Old and Middle English literature and textual analysis. Focusing on issues ranging from philology to literary criticism, the essays represent a variety of perspectives in Old and Middle English scholarship. Words and Works: Studies in Medieval English Language and Literature in Honour of Fred C. Robinson is a worthy tribute to one of the outstanding figures in Old English scholarship in the last quarter of this century.

Scots: The Mither Tongue is a classic of contemporary Scottish culture and essential reading for those who care about their country's identity in the twenty-first century. It is a passionately written history of how the Scots have come to speak the way they do and has acted as a catalyst for radical changes in attitude towards the language. In this completely revised edition, Kay vigorously renews the social, cultural and political debate on Scotland's linguistic future, and argues convincingly for the necessity to retain and extend Scots if the nation is to hold on to its intrinsic values. Kay places Scots in an international context, comparing and contrasting it with other lesser-used European languages, while at home questioning the Scottish Executive's desire to pay anything more than lip service to this crucial part of our national identity. Language is central to people's existence, and this vivid account celebrates the survival of Scots in its various dialects, its literature and song. The mither tongue is a national treasure that thrives in many parts of the country and underpins the speech of everyone who calls themselves a Scot.

The Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English presents all the slang terms from The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English in a single volume. Containing over 60,000 entries, this concise new edition of the authoritative work details the slang and unconventional English of from around the English-speaking world since 1945, and through the first decade of the new millennium, with the same thorough, intense, and lively scholarship that characterized Partridge's own work. Unique, exciting and, at times, hilariously shocking, key features include: unprecedented coverage of World English, with equal prominence given to American and British English slang, and entries included from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, India, South Africa, Ireland, and the Caribbean emphasis on post-World War II slang and unconventional English dating information for each headword in the tradition of Partridge, commentary on the term's origins and meaning. New to this second edition: a new preface noting slang trends of the last eight years over 1,000 new entries from the US, UK and Australia, reflecting important developments in language and culture new terms from the language of social networking from a range of digital communities including texting, blogs, Facebook, Twitter and online forums many entries now revised to include new dating and new glosses, ensuring maximum accuracy of content. The Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English is a spectacular resource infused with humour and learning - it's rude, it's delightful, and it's a prize for anyone with a love of language.

"We need a philosophy of both history and spirit to deal with the problems we touch upon here. Yet we would be unduly rigorous if we were to wait for perfectly elaborated principles before speaking philosophically of politics." Thus Merleau-Ponty introduces "Adventures of the Dialectic, " his study of Marxist philosophy and thought. In this study, containing chapters on Weber, Lukacs, Lenin, Sartre, and Marx himself, Merleau-Ponty investigates and attempts to go beyond the dialectic.

This book is the first full-length volume to offer a comprehensive introduction to the English spoken in Britain's oldest overseas colony, and, since 1949, Canada's youngest province. Within North America, Newfoundland and Labrador English is a highly distinctive speech variety. It is known for its generally conservative nature, having retained close ties with its primary linguistic roots, the traditional speech of southwestern England and southern Ireland. It is also characterised by a high degree of regional and social variation. Over the past half century, the region has experienced substantial social, economic and cultural change. This is reflected linguistically, as younger generations of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians increasingly align themselves with 'mainland' North American norms. The volume includes: *An accessible description of the phonological, grammatical, lexical and discourse features of this variety *Treatment of regional speech variation within the province, and its historical sources *Discussion of the social underpinnings of ongoing language change *Language samples from both traditional and contemporary speakers *A survey of published work on Newfoundland and Labrador English from earlier centuries to the present day.

With this fun visual guide, simply follow the illustrated prompts and read the English words out loud with emphasis on the words in red: soon you'll be speaking French Learn to be polite by saying "please": "See Voo Play" (S'il vous plait). Or let someone know what a "good idea" that was: "Set Tune Bunny Day" (C'est une bonne idee).

The simple icons are easy to follow and this pocket-sized guide is easy to carry with you. It will give you the basic phrases you need to get around while traveling, whether asking directions, ordering food at a restaurant, or shopping. But most of all, it's just plain fun

Mike Ellis is a web designer who runs the popular website www.slanguage.com. He lives with his family in Philadelphia.

Learn simple French in a snap

Polari has been the secret language of gay men and women through the twentieth century. But more than a language, Polari is an attitude. From the prisons and music halls of Edwardian England to Kenneth Williams, American Gls in London and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Polari has been used to laugh, bitch, gossip and cruise. Like all slang, Polari users coined an ever-changing vocabulary. Derived from words used by criminals, circus artists, beggars and prostitutes, it also employed Italian, Yiddish, French, rhyming slang and backslang. Polari speakers camped up a storm, from West End chorus boys and office workers to East End sea-queens. Since gay liberation, lesbian and gay slang has become less a language of concealment than a language of specialization, though the tradition of camp remains. A carefully researched and entertaining read, Fantabulosa presents a lexicon of Polari and a more general dictionary of lesbian and gay slang. If you don't yet know what vada the bona cartes on the ommee ajax, parkering ninty, a Mexican nightmare or a nellyectomy mean, then this is the book for you.