The Historical Evolution of Earlier African American English : : An Empirical Comparison of Early Sources / / Alexander Kautzsch.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter DGBA Backlist Complete English Language 2000-2014 PART1
• VerfasserIn: Kautzsch, Alexander ,
• Place / Publishing House: Berlin ;, Boston : : De Gruyter Mouton, , [2012]; ©2002
• Year of Publication: 2012
• Edition: Reprint 2012
• Language: English
• Series: Topics in English Linguistics [TiEL] , 38
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (335 p.) :; Ill.
• Other title: Frontmatter --; Acknowledgments --; Contents --; List of abbreviations --; Chapter 1. Introduction --; Chapter 2. Data and methods --; Chapter 3. Negation patterns in Earlier AAE --; Chapter 4. The copula in Earlier AAE --; Chapter 5. Relativization in Earlier AAE --; Chapter 6. Comparison of written and spoken Earlier AAE179 --; Chapter 7. Conclusions --; Notes --; References --; Index
• Format: Mode of access: Internet via World Wide Web.
• ISBN: 9783110907971; 9783110238570; 9783110238457; 9783110636970; 9783110742961
• ISSN: 1434-3452
• DOI: 10.1515/9783110907971
• Access: restricted access
• Hierarchical level: Monograph
• Statement of Responsibility: Alexander Kautzsch.

Based on a 500,000 word corpus of early sources collected from ex-slave narratives, ex-slave recordings, and interviews with hoodoo priests, this book reconstructs the English spoken by African Americans between 1830 and 1920. By means of detailed quantitative analyses, three linguistic features (negation patterns, copula usage, and relative marker choice) are interpreted along the lines of temporal change, regional diversity, and variation across gender. Additionally, some 300 non-standard letters written by African Americans in the 19th century are compared to the main corpus in order to identify differences between speech and writing.