Description
Book SynopsisLanguage in the Inner City firmly establishes African American Vernacular English not simply as slang but as a well-formed set of rules of pronunciation and grammar capable of conveying complex logic and reasoning and confirms the Black vernacular as a separate and independent dialect of English.
Trade Review"Get it . . . read it . . . study it. Labov's book is a complete description of the features, issues, and instructional implications pertaining to black dialect." *
Contemporary Psychology *
"Valuable for speech and language pathologists, school personnel, educators, language-related professionals, psychologists, and others who have any contact with inner city populations." *
Journal of the American Speech and Hearing Association *
Table of ContentsFigures
Tables
Introduction
PART I- THE STRUCTURE OF THE BLACK ENGLISH VERNACULAR
1- Some Sources of Reading Problems for Speakers of the Black English Vernacular
2- Is the Black English Vernacular a Separate System?
3- Contraction, Deletion, and Inherent Variability of the English Copula
4- Negative Attraction and Negative Concord
PART II- THE VERNACULAR IN ITS SOCIAL SETTING
5- The Logic of Nonstandard English
6- The Relation of Reading Failure to Peer-group Status
7- The Linguistic Consequences of Being a Lame
PART III THE USES OF THE BLACK ENGLISH VERNACULAR
8- Rules for Ritual Insults
9- The Transformation of Experience in Narrative Syntax
Bibliography
Index
