American English

Walt Wolfram is William C. Friday Distinguished University Professor at North Carolina State University, and has authored numerous books including The Development of African American English (with Erik Thomas, Blackwell, 2002) and American Voices (co-edited with Ben Ward, Blackwell, 2006). His most recent book is Talkin’ Tar Heel: How Our Voices Tell the Story of North Carolina (2014).Natalie Schilling is Associate Professor of Linguistics at Georgetown University. She is co-editor of The Handbook of Language Variation and Change, second edition (with J. K. Chambers, 2013, Wiley), and author of Sociolinguistic Fieldwork (2013).

"This edition is more than just a latest edition of the two earlier ones, as it is an improved and, in the authors' words, a 'thoroughly revised and updated version' (p. xiii) made more comprehensive by featuring new, separate sections on Jewish English and Asian American English, as well as a whole separate chapter on language and ethnicity."—Polycarp Naanma Dajang - The Linguist "The book's rather simple language and style of presentation means it is an invaluable text for readers from a wide range of backgrounds."—Polycarp Naanma Dajang - The Linguist "The interactive features (websites with text, audio files and video vignettes which can be accessed by anyone with a smartphone by the Quick Response (QR) code facility) especially make the book a reader-friendly resource for anyone interested in learning about variation studies, dialects and dialect issues, especially of dialects in the United States."—Polycarp Naanma Dajang - The Linguist

• Companion Website xList of Figures xiPreface xiiiPhonetic Symbols xvii1 Dialects, Standards, and Vernaculars 11.1 Defining Dialect 21.2 Dialect: The Popular Viewpoint 21.3 Dialect Myths and Linguistic Reality 81.4 Standards and Vernaculars 91.5 Language Descriptivism and Prescriptivism 141.6 Vernacular Dialects 161.7 Labeling Vernacular Dialects 171.8 Why Study Dialects? 181.9 A Tradition of Study 211.10 Further Reading 24References 252 Why Dialects? 272.1 Sociohistorical Explanation 282.1.1 Settlement 282.1.2 Migration 292.1.3 Geographical factors 302.1.4 Language contact 312.1.5 Economic ecology 332.1.6 Social stratification 342.1.7 Social interaction, social practices, and speech communities 352.1.8 Group and individual identity 382.2 Linguistic Explanation 402.2.1 Rule extension 422.2.2 Analogy 442.2.3 Transparency and grammaticalization 472.2.4 Pronunciation principles 502.2.5 Words and word meanings 552.3 The Final Product 572.4 Further Reading 57References 583 Levels of Dialect 593.1 Lexical Differences 593.2 Slang 643.3 Phonological Differences 683.4 Grammatical Differences 793.5 Language Use and Pragmatics 863.6 Further Reading 93References 944 Dialects in the United States: Past, Present, and Future 974.1 The First English(es) in America 984.1.1 Jamestown 984.1.2 Boston 1004.1.3 Philadelphia 1034.1.4 Charleston 1054.1.5 New Orleans 1064.2 Earlier American English: The Colonial Period 1064.3 American English Extended 1104.4 The Westward Expansion of English 1154.5 The Present and Future State of American English 1174.6 Further Reading 122References 1235 Regional Varieties of English 1255.1 Eliciting Regional Dialect Forms 1265.2 Mapping Regional Variants 1285.3 The Distribution of Dialect Forms 1325.4 Dialect Diffusion 1435.5 Perceptual Dialectology 1485.6 Region and Place 1535.7 Further Reading 154Websites 155References 1566 Social Varieties of American English 1596.1 Social Status and Class 1596.2 Beyond Social Class 1626.3 Indexing Social Meanings through Language Variation 1646.4 The Patterning of Social Differences in Language 1656.5 Linguistic Constraints on Variability 1706.6 The Social Evaluation of Linguistic Features 1746.7 Social Class and Language Change 1776.8 Further Reading 179References 1797 Ethnicity and American English 1837.1 Ethnic Varieties and Ethnolinguistic Repertoire 1847.2 Patterns of Ethnolinguistic Variation 1857.3 Latino English 1887.4 Cajun English 1967.5 Lumbee English 1997.6 Jewish American English 2037.7 Asian American English 2067.8 Further Reading 210References 2118 African American English 2178.1 Defining the English of African Americans 2188.2 The Relationship between European American and African American English 2208.3 The Origin and Early Development of African American English 2258.3.1 The Anglicist Hypothesis 2268.3.2 The Creolist Hypothesis 2268.3.3 A Note on Creole Exceptionalism 2288.3.4 The Neo‐Anglicist Hypothesis 2288.3.5 The Substrate Hypothesis 2308.4 The Contemporary Development of African American Speech 2318.5 Conclusion 2388.6 Further Reading 239References 2409 Gender and Language Variation 2459.1 Gender‐based Patterns of Variation 2479.2 Explaining General Patterns 2519.3 Localized Expressions of Gender Relations 2539.4 Communities of Practice: Linking the Local and the Global 2559.5 Gender and Language Use 2589.5.1 The “Female Deficit” Approach 2599.5.2 The “Cultural Difference” Approach 2639.5.3 The “Dominance” Approach 2659.6 Investigating Gender Diversity 2679.7 Talking about Men and Women 2699.7.1 Generic he and man 2699.7.2 Family names and addresses 2709.7.3 Relationships of association 2719.7.4 Labeling 2729.8 The Question of Language Reform 2739.9 Further Reading 275References 27610 Dialects and Style 28110.1 Types of Style Shifting 28210.2 Attention to Speech 28610.2.1 The patterning of stylistic variation across social groups 28710.2.2 Limitations of the attention to speech approach 29110.3 Audience Design 29310.3.1 The effects of audience on speech style 29510.3.2 Questions concerning audience design 29810.4 Speaker Design Approaches 30110.4.1 Three approaches to style, “three waves” of quantitative sociolinguistic study 30110.4.2 Studying stylistic variation from a speaker‐design perspective 30310.5 Further Considerations 30610.6 Further Reading 307References 30911 The Application of Dialect Study 31111.1 Dialects and Assessment Testing 31311.1.1 “Correctness” in assessing language achievement and development 31411.1.2 Testing linguistic knowledge 31811.1.3 Using language to test other knowledge 31911.1.4 The testing situation 32111.2 Teaching Mainstream American English 32311.2.1 What standard? 32311.2.2 Approaches to MAE 32611.2.3 Can MAE be taught? 32811.3 Further Reading 334References 33512 Dialect Awareness: Extending Application 33712.1 Dialects and Reading 33712.2 Dialect Influence in Written Language 34012.3 Literary Dialect 34312.4 Proactive Dialect Awareness Programs 34712.5 Venues of Engagement 34912.6 A Curriculum on Dialects 35112.7 Scrutinizing Sociolinguistic Engagement 35812.8 Further Reading 363Websites 363References 364Appendix: An Inventory of Distinguishing Dialect Features 367Glossary 391Index 415