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lawrence.edu>Dear Fellow Netters, Several weeks ago, I posted a request for information on books about "Black English." I apologize for taking so long to get this summary together, but the responses started coming in just as our term was starting, and it's taken me a long time to get back to this. Before I give the summary, I should point out that at least two people wrote to comment on the name "Black English." One said that the person who had coined the term (or got credit for it) now regrets calling it that, and refers to the dialect as "Urban English." Another said that people who study the dialect(s) refer to it/them as "African-American English Vernacular." Other people used the abbreviation "BEV", by which I assume they mean "Black English Vernacular." Since I am not an expert in this field, I cannot comment on these varieties, but can only report the different labels. I would like to thank the following people who responded, either to suggest books, or to suggest names of people to get in touch with: Phyllis Brown Annie Craft-Kincheon Danielle Alyce Rome Gary Palmer Larry Rosenwald Dorine S. Houston Charles F. (Fritz) Juengling Stefan Martin Peggy Hashemipour Randy Harris Mary Bucholtz Anne Loring Don Churma Ed Finegan The most extensive list was sent by Peggy Hashemipour, who sent a syllabus for her class on Black English. Her list included quite a few sources on Pidgeons and Creoles. Since these might be of interest to people, I have included them here. The following list includes all of the suggestions I received. Books Abraham, Roger D. 1976. Talking Black. (I don't know the publisher for this one.) Baugh, John. 1983. Black Street Speech: It's History, Structure and Survival. University of Texas Press. Burling, Robbins. 1973. English in Black and White. New York: Holt, Rinehart, Winston. Dillard, J.L. 1972. Black English: Its History and Usage in the United States. New York: Vintage Press. Dillard, J.L. 1992. A History of American English. New York: Longman Press. Kochman, (?). 1981. Black and White Styles in Conflict. University of Chicago Press. Smitherman, Geneva. 1977 Talkin and Testifyin: The Language of Black America. What follows is a list of articles arranged under various headings. All of these were suggested by Peggy Hashemipour: INTRODUCTORY READINGS ON PIDGIN AND CREOLE LANGUAGES DeCamp, D. 1981. "The Study of Pidgin and Creole Languages." appears in Pidginization and Creolization of Languages. D. Hymes, ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS Todd, L. 1990. "Theories of Origin: Pidgins," Pidgins and Creoles, 2nd ed.:26-47. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd. Todd, L. 1990. "The Process of Development: From Pidgin to Creole," Pidgins and Creoles, 2nd ed.:48-65. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd. Dillard, J.L. 1972. "A Sketch of the History of Black English," Black English: Its History and Usage in the United States: 73-138. New York: Random House. COMPARATIVE STUDIES Todd, L. 1984. "English-related Pidgins and Creoles," Modern Englishes: Pidgins and Creoles:35-61. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. Hancock, I. 1971. "West Africa and the Atlantic Creoles," appears in The English Language in West Africa:91-92. J. Spencer, ed. London: Longman Press. Hancock, I. 1987. "A Preliminary Classification of the Anglophone Atlantic Creoles, with Syntactic Data from Thirty-Three Representative Dialects," appears in Pidgin and Creole Languages: Essays in Memory of John E. Reinecke. G.G. Gilbert, ed. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Turner, L.D. 1949. "Backgrounds," Africanisms in the Gullah Dialect:1-14. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Turner, L.D. 1949. "Syntactical Features," Africanisms in the Gullah Dialect:209-231. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. STRUCTURE OF MODERN BLACK ENGLISH Smitherman, Geneva. 1985. "'It Bees Dat Way Sometime': Sounds and Structure of Present-Day Black English," appears in Language: Introductory Readings. V.P. Clark, P.A. Eschholz, and A.F. Rosa, eds. New York: St. Martin's Press. Fasold, R.W. and W. Wolfram. 1975. "Some Linguistic Features of Negro Dialect," appears in Black American English: Its Background and Its in the Schools and in Literature. P. Stoller, ed. New York: Delta Publishing Company. EDUCATION, SOCIETY AND BLACK ENGLISH Stennis Williams, Shirley. 1987. The Politics of the Black Child's Language: A Study of Attitudes in School and Society. appears in Ethnicity and Language, volume VI of the Ethnicity and Public Policy Series. W.A. VanHorne and T.V. Tonnesen, eds. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin System Press. Labov, W. 1975. "The Logic of Nonstandard English," appears in Black American English: Its Background and Its in the Schools and in Literature. P. Stoller, ed. New York: Delta Publishing Company. Abrahams, R.D. and G. Gay. 1975. "Talking Black in the Classroom," appears in Black American English: Its Background and Its in the Schools and in Literature. P. Stoller, ed. New York: Delta Publishing Company. Stoller, P. 1975. "The Case against Black English in the Schools: A Brief Review," appears in Black American English: Its Background and Its in the Schools and in Literature. P. Stoller, ed. New York: Delta Publishing Company. Baugh, John. 1991. "On Twice as Less: Black English and the Performance of Black Students in Mathematics and Science by Eleanor Wilson Orr," appears in Language Issues in Literacy and Bilingual/Multicultural Education. M. Minami and B.P. Kennedy, eds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Educational Review. ATTITUDES TOWARD BLACK ENGLISH Tucker, G.R. and W.E. Lambert. 1975. "White and Negro Listeners' Reactions to Various American-English Dialects," appears in Perspectives on Black English. J.L. Dillard, ed. Paris: Mouton Press. Houston, S.H. 1975. "A Sociolinguistic Consideration of the Black English of Children in Northern Florida," appears in Perspectives on Black English. J.L. Dillard, ed. Paris: Mouton Press. Hecht, M.L., S. Ribeau, and J.K. Alberts. 1989. "An Afro-American Perspective on Interethnic Communication," Communication Monographs 56:385-409. Garner, T. and D.L. Rubin. 1986. "Middle Class Blacks' Perceptions of Dialect and Style Shifting: The Case of Southern Attorneys," Journal of Language and Social Psychology 5.1:33-47. TEXTS CAMEROON PIDGIN--Todd, L. 1979. "Tale 1: Trohki an Hohk: Mak Man no ehva laf i frehn (Tortoise and Hawk: Let No One Ever Laugh at His Friend," Some Day Been Dey: West African Pidgin Folktales:18-23. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul Ltd. PIDGIN ENGLISH/KRIO SIERRA LEONE--Jones, E. 1971. "Krio: An English-based Language of Sierra Leone," appears in The English Language in West Africa:91-92. J. Spencer, ed. London: Longman Press. JAMAICAN CREOLE (late 1800s)--D'Costa, J. and B. Lalla. 1989. " C. Rampini, Letters from Jamaica," Voices in Exile: Jamaican Texts of the 18th and 19th Centuries. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press. AFRICANISMS IN GULLAH--Turner, L.D. 1949. "Gullah Texts," Africanisms in the Gullah Dialect:256-259. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. GULLAH--Turner, L.D. 1949. "Gullah Texts," Africanisms in the Gullah Dialect:268-273. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Again, thanks to everyone who contributed! Ruth Lanouette German Department Lawrence University Appleton, WI 54911Mail to author|Respond to list|Read more issues|LINGUIST home page|Top of issue