African American Vernacular English

The variety of English spoken by a number of black Americans sounds noticeably distinct from the 'standard English' or varieties used mainly by the white. Is AAVE used by an overwhelming majority of black Americans? I guess AAVE is more a social dialect than a regional variety but is there a lot of regional variation between AAVE speakers from different regions of the USA?

As a nonnative speaker I often find it difficult to understand speakers of many black persons, I don't know whether it's due to pronunciation, lexicon or grammar. Do difficulties in communication often arise between AAVE speakers and the native speakers of other varieties?

Thanks

The Wikipedia article on the subject (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_American_Vernacular_English) is a pretty good introduction, if I do say so myself (I'm one of the editors). AAVE is used to some extent by at least 80% of Blacks in the US, though most also speak Standard English to a certain extent as well.
AAVE doesn't have very much regional variation, though there is some. The main distinctions are between Southern/rural speakers on one hand, and Northern/urban speakers on the other. AAVE speakers also tend not to adopt many of the features of white varieties spoken in the same area; for example, AAVE speakers in California distinguish 'cot' and 'caught', while white Californians generally do not.
Your difficulty understanding AAVE (I'm guessing) comes mostly from grammar, where AAVE is most divergent from General American, second from pronunciation, and only a little bit from vocabulary. I don't really tend to have any difficulty understanding AAVE, but I can't speak for everyone else here. I would expect that non-North American native speakers would probably have more difficulty due to less exposure.

I have a question as well: if some of you guys watch the series "Sleeper Cell", has the main caracter--ie the incredibly cute Michael Ealy!!--a AAVE accent while speaking Standard English?

Sleeper Cell on Youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0eVCjhIfMI

Josh Lalonde: Since AAVE tends to be non-rhotic, and non-rhoticism in the Northeast US and (from what I've read) in the Southern US tends to be associated with the pre-/r/ distinctions like "Mary-merry-marry", I was wondering - do AAVE speakers tend to make these distinctions?

<<Josh Lalonde: Since AAVE tends to be non-rhotic, and non-rhoticism in the Northeast US and (from what I've read) in the Southern US tends to be associated with the pre-/r/ distinctions like "Mary-merry-marry", I was wondering - do AAVE speakers tend to make these distinctions?>>

As far as I know, AAVE speakers are no more likely to make the distinction than speakers of the local white variety. However, I've definitely noticed New York AAVE speakers who make the distinction, and it's quite possible that Boston AAVE speakers would as well. I think the mary-merry-marry merger in AAVE has a similar status as the horse-hoarse merger: mostly complete but not entirely.
Eric, I listened to that clip you posted, and I would say that yes, he probably is an AAVE speaker, but he is speaking Standard English. As I mentioned in my previous post, most AAVE speakers can code-switch into Standard English, though some are more succesful than others. A few features to note are: the vowel in 'time' and 'kind' /aI/ is realized as [a:]. This is a feature of Southern English too. The pronunciation of 'something' as [sV~?I~] is characteristic of, but not limited to AAVE. I've often noticed that AAVE speakers, when switching into Standard English, often "over-emphasize" their postvocalic /r/ by velarizing it, as your example seems to do occasionally.

Thank you Josh. Before I started watching Sleeper Cell I wasn't used to this accent at all. But now that I understand it better, I tend to like it. :-)

<<I've often noticed that AAVE speakers, when switching into Standard English, often "over-emphasize" their postvocalic /r/ by velarizing it>>

Isn't the "stress on their syllables" stronger in their accent, as well? (Sorry, I don't know the proper linguistic terms...)

<<Isn't the "stress on their syllables" stronger in their accent, as well? (Sorry, I don't know the proper linguistic terms...)>>

I think there are a couple different things included in what you're referring to here. First, AAVE, like Southern English, sometimes stresses different syllables than General American like "police", "July", "guitar" with stress on the first syllable ["poU.lis], ["d_Zu.la:], ["gI.tA@]. Second, unstressed syllables in AAVE are often reduced more than in General American, or even elided completely "about" [baU?], library ["la:.b@`.i]. The difference, is therefore that unstressed syllables are less stressed, which would make the stressed syllables stand out more.

Sorry, that Guest was me.

>>Eric, I listened to that clip you posted, and I would say that yes, he probably is an AAVE speaker, but he is speaking Standard English. As I mentioned in my previous post, most AAVE speakers can code-switch into Standard English, though some are more succesful than others. A few features to note are: the vowel in 'time' and 'kind' /aI/ is realized as [a:]. This is a feature of Southern English too. The pronunciation of 'something' as [sV~?I~] is characteristic of, but not limited to AAVE. I've often noticed that AAVE speakers, when switching into Standard English, often "over-emphasize" their postvocalic /r/ by velarizing it, as your example seems to do occasionally.<<

One thing I have noticed about native AAVE speakers speaking Standard English here is that they generally are quite distinguishable in everyday speech from speakers of the local dialect (other than AAVE) here no matter how close their speech is to General American. This seems to not be due to "incorrectly" speaking General American in and of itself, even though substratum features from AAVE are common, but rather the *absence* of un-GA-like features of the dialect here, such as the use of the word "ja" [ja:], final devoicing, and l-vocalization involving high unrounded offglides (l-vocalization in my dialect differs significantly from that in AAVE here). Of the black population here in the Milwaukee area, I only rarely hear individuals who actually speak the dialect here other than AAVE even though I often talk to black individuals who speak Standard English.

Josh: <<First, AAVE, like Southern English, sometimes stresses different syllables than General American like "police", "July", "guitar" with stress on the first syllable ["poU.lis], ["d_Zu.la:], ["gI.tA@]>>

Yes, that does ring a bell.


Josh: <<The difference, is therefore that unstressed syllables are less stressed, which would make the stressed syllables stand out more.>>

I see. And isn't there a sort of "music" on the stressed syllables that isn't there in GA?


Travis: <<they generally are quite distinguishable in everyday speech from speakers of the local dialect (other than AAVE) here (...) This seems to (...) be due to (...) the *absence* of un-GA-like features of the dialect here>>

And are there any features of your local dialect in their local version of AAVE? I'm asking because I would assume they try to get as "standard" as possible while code-switching, speaking English pretty much as it's taught in school...

>>Travis: <<they generally are quite distinguishable in everyday speech from speakers of the local dialect (other than AAVE) here (...) This seems to (...) be due to (...) the *absence* of un-GA-like features of the dialect here>>

And are there any features of your local dialect in their local version of AAVE? I'm asking because I would assume they try to get as "standard" as possible while code-switching, speaking English pretty much as it's taught in school...<<

Generally no, even though I do occasionally hear individuals with certain features, such as the use of "ja" or final devoicing. Yes, both my dialect and AAVE here have l-vocalization, but there are significant differences between l-vocalization in each and such is likely not of a common origin.

Travis is not fit to talk about the intricacies of the language as his own accent sounds North Korean. Correct me if I am wrong.

<<Travis is not fit to talk about the intricacies of the language as his own accent sounds North Korean. Correct me if I am wrong.>>

At least you don't have a South Korean accent :-).

<<I see. And isn't there a sort of "music" on the stressed syllables that isn't there in GA? >>

Yes, there are some differences in intonation between General American and AAVE, though I don't really know that much about intonation. AAVE tends to have a wider range of pitch than GenAm.

<<And are there any features of your local dialect in their local version of AAVE? I'm asking because I would assume they try to get as "standard" as possible while code-switching, speaking English pretty much as it's taught in school...?>>

I expect most people would try to get as close to General American as possible when code-switching, but they are not always successful. As Travis noted, Black speakers often lack certain regional features and so may actually be closer to GenAm than the local white accent, but still have noticeably "different" speech. There is also the case of first-dialect interference for native AAVE speakers when they use Standard English, or of substrate influence for native Standard English speakers.
Also, Travis, final consonant devoicing is a feature of AAVE too, so it might not be adaptation to the local accent.

>>Also, Travis, final consonant devoicing is a feature of AAVE too, so it might not be adaptation to the local accent.<<

That may be true for some sorts of AAVE, but for the AAVE here I am used to it devoicing markedly *less* than the local "white" dialect, often having full voicing word-finally rather than even half-voicing. Also, it seems that for AAVE varieties with final devoicing, it affects just stops, whereas in final devoicing in my dialect, it is primarily fricatives, affricates, and obstruent clusters containing such which do not precede vowels which are devoiced, with isolated stop devoicing only occuring at the ends of utterances when it occurs at all. When I speak of hearing AAVE speakers with final devoicing, I really am referring to the sort of final devoicing that occurs in my dialect.

>>Travis is not fit to talk about the intricacies of the language as his own accent sounds North Korean. Correct me if I am wrong.<<

You only say that because you're not from here, of course. If you were from here, obviously you would have a different opinion on the matter.