features%20of%20AAVE%20as%20features%20of%20PPE:%20a%20study%20of%20adolescents%20in%20philadelphia

1
features of AAVE as features of PPE a study of
adolescents in philadelphia

• paper by
• tonya wolford
• keelan evanini
• presentation by
• anthony so

2
background

• puerto ricans found to adopt aspects of AAE
• effects of direct contact with AAE
• grammatical - uninflected be
• phonological - (th) pronounced as f

3
research project

• determine if puerto ricans still pick up AAE
  through contact or if aspects have already become
  integrated into PRE
• studies conducted in north philadelphia
• local grade school - 4th grade class
• interviews, reading passages and word lists
• results based on 18 subjects, aged 10-17

4
uninflected be (habitual be)

• well documented grammatical aspect of AAE
• used to indicate habitual nature of a predicate
• grammaticalization - less common among older AA
  adults
• usage in AAE governed by 5 properties

5
results - habitual be

• each recorded instance agreed with the 5
  properties
• be verb_ing was most common
• be adverb/ prepositional phrase, adjective,
  past participle and noun phrase also observed
• distribution and use of uninflected be in young
  puerto ricans comparable to those in AAE

6
pronunciation of (th) as f

• well documented phonological aspect of AAE
• positioning - initial (never), medial (seldom),
  final (variably)
• style-shifting - situational use of f and ?
• ? for word list, both for reading passage, f
  for spontaneous speech

7
results - positioning

• initial - t, ?
• medial - t, ?, others
• final - f, null, ?, others

8
results - style-shifting

• significant difference in use of ? and f
  between groups
• style shifters likely to use less ? in speech
• no observable relationship between level of f
  use and amount of aa contact
• possible internal PRE development

9
sociolinguistic setting

• few african american families living in studied
  area (70 pr, 25 aa)
• elementary school children surveyed to determine
  level of aa contact
• majority have casual contact - enough to support
  phonological variables but not grammatical ones

10
final conclusions

• uninflected be transferred to young pr by older
  siblings and adults - becoming integral part of
  PRE
• style-shifting of f for (th) attributed to
  internal PRE constraints
• pr with limited aa contact might be adopting
  speech from pr that do have extensive aa contact
  - high prestige of AAE in the inner city