Academic Paper |
|
|
|
|
| Title: | Apparent-time evolution of /l/ in one African American community |
| Author: | Janneke van Hofwegen |
| Institution: | North Carolina State University |
| Linguistic Field: | Phonetics; Sociolinguistics |
| Subject Language: |
English
|
| Abstract: | In the wake of numerous analyses of vowels in African American English (AAE), this study examines acoustically the phonetic production of a consonant-the word-initial lateral /l/-across several generations of speakers from a long-standing African American community in central North Carolina. The results of the study show that /l/ is darker in younger AAE speakers than in older ones, independent of phonetic context. Comparisons with ex-slave recordings suggest that a light variant of /l/ may be a substrate feature of AAE that has changed in recent decades. Additional comparisons with regional European Americans suggest that the darkening may be due to convergence with majority American English dialects. |
|
|
|
|
This article appears in Language Variation and Change Vol. 22, Issue 3, which you can read on Cambridge's site or on LINGUIST . |
|
|
|
|
Back
Add a new paper Return to Academic Papers main page Return to Directory of Linguists main page |
|
|
About LINGUIST
|
Contact Us
|
Report Broken Link
While the LINGUIST List makes every effort to ensure the linguistic relevance of sites listed on its pages, it cannot vouch for their contents. |
|
