POCUMSNT ROSUM111

ED 028 423 24 AL. 001 821

EllirLabov Wiwi: And Others
k Study of the Non-Standard Cnglish of Negro and Puerto Rican Speakers in New York City. %lime I:
Phonological and Gramsatical Analysis,
Columbia Univ., New York, N.Y.
Spons Agency-Office of Education (DHEW), Washington, D.C. Bureau of Research.
Report No-CRP-3280
Bureau No-BR-5-0545
Pub Date 60
Contract-0EC-6-10-059
Note-397p.
EDRS Price MF-S1.50 fiC-$
Destriptors-Adokscents, Adult Charateristics, Ae Gros, American English, Contrastive Linguistics, Culture
Conflict, Generative Grammar, NNW, *Language Research, Language StOes, Middle Clan Culture,
Negative Forms Negro Culture, egro Di ects, Peer Groups, *Phonology, Plurals, Reading
Failure, Rum! Urban Differences, Social Differences, Social Values, *Sociolinguistics, Speech, Syntax, Tool
Urban Youth, Verbal Abili
Identifiers-Harlem, *New York City
This study investigates the structural and functional differences between the
non-standard Negro English of northern ghetto areas (NNE) and standard English
(SD. The malor field work was done in Central Harlem with (1) a geographicaBy
random sam e of 50 pre-adolescent speakers in Vacaton Day Camps, (2) six
pre-adolescent and adolescent peer groups in Harlem, studied in individual interviews
and group sessions, and (3) a random sample of 100 adults, in a middle-class area
and two working-class areas. The linguistic analysis in this volume shows NNE related
to SE by differences in low-level rules which have marked effects on surface
structure. The -ed suffix, for example, is affected by rules of consonant cluster
simplification; systematic variation of such clusters regcharly differentiates past tense
clusters from stem dusters, and also registers the strong effect of a following vowel
in preserving the cluster. NNE is found to have no third singular -s or possessive
suffix, but to have an intact plural -s. The absence of the copula is considered the
result of regular phonological rules which remove single consonants remaining after
contraction. A NNE negative concord rule distributes the underlying negative particle
more consistently and to a wider range of environments than in white non-standard
English. Repetition tests showed that many NNE speakers understand both NNE and
SE forms but produce NNE forms. See AL 001 822 for Volume IL (Author/JD)
 US. DEPARTMENT Of HEALTH, EDUcATION $ WELfARE
OFFICE Of IOU

THIS DOCUMENT HAS DEIN RIPRODUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE

PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGINATING IT. POINTS Of VIEW OR OPINIONS

STATED DO NOT NECESSAKY REPRESENT OffICIAL OffICE Of EDUCATION

POSITION OR POLICY.

A STUDY OF THE NON STANDARD ENGLISH OF NEGRO

AND PUERTO RICAN SPEAKERS IN NEW YORK CITY

Cooperative Research Project No 3288

VOLUME I

Phonological and grammatical analysis

William liabov, Paul Cohen, Clarence Robins

and John Lewis

Columbia University
New York City

1968

The research reported herein was supported by the

Cooperative Research Program of the Office of Educa
tion, U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare.

AL 001 821
 PREFACE
to /olume I

The research reported in this volume was carried out

under Contract OE 6-10-059 with the Cooperative Research
Program of the Office of Education, from July 157 1965 to
September 30, 1967. The aims of the research, as outlined
in section 1.3, were to determine (1) differences in the
structure of non-standard Negro English [NNE] and standard
English [SE], and (2) differences in the ways in which
speakers of these dialects use language, with emphasis on
the speech events, verbal skills, and social controls
which govern the development of the vernacular.
The final report is presented in tin) volumes. Volume
I includes the general discussion of the problem, back
ground and related research (Chapter I); the methods em
ployed (Chapter II); and the first part of the results-
analysis of the structural differences in grammar and phono
logy between NNE and SE (Chapter III). Volume II will
present the second part of our results--differences in the
uses of NNE and SE, It will include a description of the
vernacular culture, and a detailed examination of the
social strrcture of the peer groups studied in Volume I;
a description of the main speech events reculiar to NNE
and the standards of excellence which the groups endorse;
the relation of school performance, and reading, to
achievement in this vernacular culture; the subjective
evaluation of language differences by the adult community;
and overt attitudes towards language. Volume II will also
include a more detailed examination of the educational im
plications of these findings, with certain recommendations
for cultural and structural changes within the classroom.
The size of the final report is the main reason for
presenting the findings in two volumes. But the break
between the structural and functional analysis represents a
natural division in the interest of the two sections, and
the background needed to follow the argument, Volume I has
a great deal of material of interest to linguists and to
linguistic theory, using the terminology of generative gram
mar with certain extensions for dealing with systematic var
iation. Volume II deals with an area which is much less de
veloped, of interest to linguists, anthropologists, socio
logists and educators. No technical background is needed to
handle the material, for no formal approach has yet been de
veloped.
 The our authors of this report are the major con
report,
tributors t the research, The writing of the and
the theoretical framework in which it is placed,
much of the linguistic analysis is the work of W, Labov,
At the time that the final version of the report was
written, it was not possible to consult in detail with
the other authors, and there are undoubtedly many errorsthat
and inconsistencies which %Auld have been avoided if
had been done. The explrTiatory work in other cities
pies j"
was carried out by W. Tiat;,v, including the a
Beaufort County, South "clina.

The Thrgest part oI le transcription of the data

in the
was the work of Paul Cohen, who also participated
interviewing program and to an important extent in the
linguistic analysis of the results. His contributions are
present in all of the definitions of the variable cate-
gories and procedures for searching, each of which involves
a theoretical decision, The linguistic analyses presented
in Chapter III are therefore a joint contribution of W.in
Labov and P. Cohen, although due to the circumstances
which the final report was prepared, the first named author
must take full responsibility for any errors and misconcep
tions which appear in the present version, Mr. Cohen was
also responsible for the work with the white Inwood groups,
which give us a basis for comparing white non-standard
speech with NNE.
Clarence Robins was a major contributor to the cultur-
al and social conceptions underlying this study from the
outset (and the preliminary study CRP 3091). He did the
bulk of the interviewing of pre-adolescents, the study of
1390 Fifth Avenue, and the entire series of interviews with
the
adults. The investigations of cultural values within
adult community, and the construction of the adult inter
view form were tolded in large part by Mr. Robins' knowledge
of the community and the results of his exploratory inter
views,

John Lewis carried out the intGliviews and particpant

observer work with the adolescent peer groups--the Jets and
the Cobras. The other authors of this report cannot over-
state their indebtedness to him for the skill with which he
conducted this program. It will be obvious to the reader
that the group sessions with the Cobras and Jets are the
heart of the study: they provide the most important linguis-
tic data in Volume I, and the deepest insights into the
functions of language in Volume II. The interviewing
methods used are described in detail in Chapter II--essen
tially, they are designed to approach the ways in which
speakers use the language when they are not being observed.
In the opinion of the other authors, Mr. Lewis carried in-
terviewing techniques to a high point which had not been
achieved in any previous linguistic studies

iii
 butions to
Three other persons made important con r
arch lassie
this report, Joshua Waletzky worked as a r a of 1965,
tent for various periods in the spring and sumner
interviewing of the
1966 and 1967. He participated in the with
Vacation Day Camp series and the work the Inwood group
Mr. Waletzky carried out work on the gnalysis of narrative
number
which will be reported in Volume II, He also made a
to the linguistic anal
of extremely important contributions three
ysis and the formal framework used, of which have
(1) the use of
assumed great importance in this volume:
the homograph mzed to register the subject's semantic in
terpretation of the -ed suffix in reading (see section
3,2.7); (2) several contributions to the formal treatment
to ordering of the
of variable rules (2.4.4), with relation condition as now
constraints and especially the invariance
formulated (2.4.5); (3) the analysis of AIL thRIF and xexa.,La
than .1-de1etion,
as assibilation of the stem-lanal 71 ratherwithin the sixteen
which resolved many problems of ordering
phonological rules (3.4.2, p. 208).
Teresa Labov has carried out a sociological analysi-
which has
of the internal sliructure of the Jets and Cobras,
revised radically our view of these groups (seein section
Volume II,
2.1.4). The main body of hE.r work will appear
points in this volume
but the results are reflected at many members and who are
in the decisions as to who are group of the
outside the group (lames); the accuracy of many of
tables in Chapter III has been increased. The discussionderived
the associative plural BaLlecm in 3.3.5 is entirely and
from her detailed analysis of peer group terminology
ahe has made
the way in which members speak of themselves. includ
many other contributions to the work of this project,have ap-
ing the printing of this volume, and it could not
peared in its present form without her help.
Benji Wald participated in the work of grammatical
searching and the analysis of reading problems in the later
periods of the research; his contributions to our thinking
analysis
have become increasingly important as the linguistic
reached the farm presented here.

iv
 ABSTRACT
of Volume I

This study is an investigation of structural and func

tional differences between the non-standard Negro English
of northern ghetto areas [NNE] and the standard English
required in the classroom [SE]. Exploratory interviews
were carried out in a number of northern cities, but the
major field work was in Central Harlem with three main
groups of speakers: (1) a geographically random sample
of fifty individual pre-adolescent speakers in Vacation
Day Camps; (2) six pre-adolescent and adolescent peer
groups in South Central Harlem, studied in individual in
terviews and group sessions; (3) a random sample of one
hundred adults, in a middle-class area and the two working
class areas of the peer group studies. In addition, two
white peer groups were studied to compare white non-stand
ard English (WNS] with NNE.

The analysis shows NNE related to SE by a number of

differences in low-level rules which have marked effects
on surface structure: frequently extensions or general
izations of rules found in other English dialects. A
number of phonological variables are analyzed, particularly
those which intersect with the grammatical system of the
auxiliary. The -ad suffix is affected by rules of consonant
cluster simplification: systematic variation of such clues
ters regularly differentiates past tense clusters from
stem clusters, and also registers the strong effect of a
following vowel in preserving the cluster. The situation
of the various -12.3 inflections is examined: NNE has no
third singular 7.1 or possessive suffix, but has an intact
plural 7.1:. The absence of the copula in many environments
is the result of regular phonological rules which operate
to remove single consonants which remain after contraction.
The negative syntax of NNE shows an extension of the
negative concord rule of WNS which distributes the under
lying negative particle more consistently and to a wider
range of environments. In direct questions, NNE shows some
fluctuation in the use of tense inversion, especially with
WH- questions. No additional rule operates to re-invert
the tense marker and subject in embedded questions.
A series of repetition tests show that many NNE mem
bers have an asymmetrical system of perception and produc
tion: they understand SE forms but produce NNE forms in
response, yet in most cases both understand and produce the
NNE forms. Individuals vary greatly in the extent to which
they perceive the surface differences between NNE and SE.
As a rule, categorical rules of NNE prevent consistent re-
petition of SE forms, but variable rules have much less
effect.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHA ER T THE PROBLEM, BACKGROUND, AND RELATED

RESEARCH

1.0 Location of the problem: economic factors

education and reading 1
1.0.1. Tha relation of Negro to Puerto Rican and
other Spanish-speaking groups 2

1.0.2. The relation of white lower-class grow s

to Negro groups. 3

1.1 Structural conflict: preliminary evidence 3

1.1.0. "Non-standard Negro EngliW, 3

1,1.1. The study of "errors" or "deviations". 4

1.1,2. Relation of NNE to Southern speech. 4

Attitudes towards Southern speech. 6

1.1.3. The question of an underlying Creole grammar. 6

1.1.4. Theoretical problems in the study of varia

tion, 8
The direct study of variation. 12

1.1,5. Relation of structural differences to read-

ing. 13

1.2 Functional conflict: the concept and its educa-

tional implications 13

1.2.0. Tha study of the use of language. 13

1.2.1. The relation of language and social factors. 14

1.2.2. Factors controlling speech production. 16

1.2.3. Tha cultural matrix under study. 18

Lower ()lass culture, 18
Negro sub-culture. 18

1.2.4. Generalized style shifting in NNE. 19

 PAU
The subjective evaluation of 1anuage
variables 21

1.2.6. Speelh events and verbal skills. 22

The analysis of narrative. 22

Objectives 23

CHAPTER II METHODS 25

2.1 Sampling 25

2.1.1. Exploratory interviews 27

2.1.2. The Vacation Day Camp series, 29

2.1.3. Pre-adolescent groups. 30

The "Thunderbirds". 30
The "Aces", 34

2.1.4. Teen-age peer groups. 34

The "Cobras 34
The "Jets". 36
Position of the Jets and Cobras in the
community. 38
The "Ogcar Brothers". 40

2.105. White peer groups. 41

2.1.6. Other youth in Central Harlem. Adolescent

girls. 41
Pre-pre-adolescents. 42

2.1.7. The random sample of adults. 42

Sampling design. 43
Solitication of interviews. 45
Final sample interviewed and completion
rate 45

2.1.8 Other interviews. 45

2.1.9. School records 47

2.2 Instruments and methods for eliciting data 47

2.2.1. Individual interview procedures. 48

vii
 pAgl
49
The preadoleseent interview foJ.m.
49
The TA Hip Interview,
50
The interview forms in actual use.
51
Double intervtews,
51
Style shifting.
52
Readings,
52
Classroom Correction Tests,
52
Perception Tee:tel.
53
The Adult Interview Form.
53
Subjective Evaluation Tests.
56
Family Background Tests,
57
Group sessions.
65
2.3 Transcription of the data
68
The principle of accountable reporting.
76
2.4 Formal analysis of variation
78
2.4.1. Categorical rules and optionality.
79
2.4,2. Variable input.
80
2.4.3. Variable constraints
81
2.4.4. Ordering of the variable constraints.
86
2.4.5. The invariance condition.
88
2.5 Types of rules
Or

CHAPTER III RESULTS: STRUCTURAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN

NON-STANDARD NEGRO ENGLISH AND STANDARD 91
ENGLISH
92
3.1 Some phonological variables
92
3.1.1. The (tb) and (dh) variables.
99
3.1.2. The (R) variables.
101
Inter-vocalic (r).
103
The (r##V) variable.
103
Final and pre-consonantal (r)
107
3.1.3. Merger of (ihr) and (ehr).

viii
 4

3.1.4. The (ohr) variable. 112

3.1.5, The vocalization of (I). 113

Phonetic values of the (1) variable 113
Internal constraints upon (I). 114
The distribution of the variants. 116
Rule for deletion of the lateral g ide, 119

3.1.6. The distinction of /i/ and /e/ before nasals. 119

3.1.1. Dropping the g: the (ing) variable. 120

3.2 Simplification of -tlid clusters; reading the

-.1a. suffix 123

3,2.1. Inherent variability and regularity of ,

simplification. 125

3.2.2. Principal values of the variable. 125

3.2.3. Variable constraints on (KID), 126

Effect of a following vowel. 127
Effect of a preceding morpheme bourdarym 127
Ambiguous cases of -IA. 127
Nature of the preceding consonant. 129
Clusters versus single stops: the (VD)
variable. 129

3.2.4. The special case of -lig clusters. 130

3.2.5. The general -1,,,E1 simplification rule. 133

3.2.6, The past tense in NNE. 138

3.2.7. Reading the -Id suffix. 139

Reading the 7gd, suffix and the si
simplification rule. 141
Comparison with white non standard speakers 146

3.2.8 Social stratification of (KD) 148

3.2.9. Hypercorrection of -ad. 152

3.2.10. The relation of variable rules to linguistic

competence. 154

3,3 The -.all inflections 158

ix
 PAU
3.3.1. Types of final 158

3.3,2. General approach to the (Z) variables. 159

3.3,3. Monomorphemic clusters (KZ ) 160

3.3.4. The plural. 160

3,3.5. The third singular (ZO. 164

Hypercorrectien of the plural. 167
The associative plural 42.1.2am 168

3,3,6, The possessive (zpo ) 169

3,3,7. Adverbial (Z). 171

3.3.8. The adult (0 patterns. 171

3.3.9, The white Inwood (Z) patterns. 172

3.3.10. The veverse effect of the following vowel. 172

3.4 Deletion, cautractinn, and'inherent variability

of the copula 174

3.4.0, Absence of the copula in NNE. 174

3.4.1. Statue of the copula in NNE grammar. 176

3.4.2. Gramalatical constructions in which forms of

of:LI regularly appear in NNE, 177
The past tense and the negative. 177
Maintenance of ;am, 178
The case of Ilaa, tlIalp and wIlals 180
With modalL, infinitives and imperatives. 181
Yes-no questions 182
Clause-final position: ellipsis and em
bedded questions. 182

3.4.3. Phonological influence on the behavior of 184

3.4.4. The relation of contraction to deletion, 185

The rule for contraction of the English
auxiliary. 186
Relations of order between contraction and
deletion. 189

3.4.5 Inherent variability of deletion. 190

 Raga
Independence of the preceding and following
environments. 197
The effect of a preceding vowel on contrac-
tion and deletion. 199
Independence of phonological and grammati
cal constraints. 205

The rules for contraction and deletion. 205

3.4.6.
Form of the contraction and deletion rules. 209

3.4.7. The problem of ;Ant 1 1111, 214

3.4.8. Contraction and deletion of xce. 218

Person-number agreement for ma, and .arl, 220

3.4.9.
3.4.10, Effect of the rules on 21822 221

3.4.11. The invariant verb .1222. 230

Person-number distribution of 1g2 233
Style shifting of 1122. 235

3,4.12. Effect of phonological rules upon nfl. 237

Rules for the deletion of 28.1.3a 239

3.4.13. The social and stylistic stratification of

the contraction and deletion rules. 240

Development of phonological conditioning:

the effect of a following vowel. 244

3.5 The verbal paradigm 246

3.5.1 Person-number agreement. 246

person-number agreement of gakt. 249

The mular verb. 250

3.5.2.
The future 250
Routes for the condensation of &IQ. 251
The perfect and past perfect 254
The progressive. 254
The passive. 254

3.5.3. Negative forms. 255

3.5.4. The irregular past. 257

3.5.5. Transfer of finite forms to non.finite posi-

tions. 258
xi
 3,5,6, The modals. 260
Double modals. 260

3.5.7. Quasi-modals 263

The quasi modal ,71,*eto 264
The quasi modal:10g. 265

3,5.8. Conclusion: the tense transfer rule, 266

3.6 Negative contraction and negative concord 267

3.6.1. The SE negative attraction rule. 268

3.6.2. The WNS extension: negative concord, 272

Transfer to pre-verbal position. 273

3.6,3. The NNE extenuion of negative concord. 275

Variable sub-sections of the negative
concord rule. 278
Other marginal categories. 279
The underlying quantifiers, 280
Realization of the negative as iutt 281

3.6.4. Transfer of the negative to pre verbal posi

tions outside the clause. 281
A comparison of variability and constancy
of negative concord in English dialects. 283

3.6.5. Negative inversion. 283

.1I-delOtion vs. negative inversion. 286
Standard negative inversion. 287

3.6.6. General rules for English negative attrac

tion and negative concord. 288

3.7 Question 291

3.7.1. Yes-no questions. 292

3.7.2. WH- questions. 293

3.7.3. Embedded questions. 296

Yes-no questions 296
Embedded WH questions. 299

xii
3.8. Some other syntactic variables of NNE 301

8,1, Distribution of dummy la 302

Other dummy elements in NNE 303

3.8.2. Pleonastic forms. 304

ADLaaua 304
ar.alIbgx 304
Adverbs of place. 304
Approximators. 304
Other adverbs. 305
305

3.8.3. Adverbial relatives and adverbial hypostasis. 305

3.8,4. Adverb placement. 307

3.8.5. Specification and approximation. 309

3.9 Memory tests 310

3.9.0, Origin of the tests, 310

3.9.1. The first Thunderbird session. 315

Results. 312
3.9.2. The second Thunderbird session. 315
Results .117

3.9.3. The Jets memory test, 322

3.9.4. The Inwood group. 330

3.9.5. Morphological tests. 330

3.10 An overview of the relations between NNE and SE

and some educational applications 335

3.10.1. Ways in which SE and NNE are the same. 336

3.10,2. Ways in which NNE extends or generalizes

rules as they are found in SE. 338

3.10.3 Ways in which ENE is missing SE elements, 341

3.10.4. Elements in NNE that are missing iA SE. 342

3.10.5. The sociolinguistic structure of the NNE

community. 342
 Rage
346
FOOTNOTES 346
Notes to Chapter
347
Notes to Chapter 11.
348
Notes to Chapter III,
356
APPENDICES 356
Appendix A: Interview schedules
357
RNR-AD-IV
363
RAR-TA-Hip
369
Appendix B
369
Form letter to adults
370
Coupon
371
RE BRENCES

xiv
 CHAPTM I
THE PROBI,EM, BACKGROUND, AND RELATED RESEARCH

1.0. Location of the problem economic factors, education

and reading
The problem upon which this res arch is focused is one
part of the general social and economic situation of the non
white population in the urban ghetto areas of the northern
United States: many of the methods, analyses, and findings
are related to this broader context. The general social
situation has been well-documented for the United States as
a wbole, and for the specific area of Central Harlem wheTe
most of the field work for this project was carried out.'
The principal groups whose language behavior is studied here
match the descriptions of the most depressed and disadvan
taged subgroups in other reports.

The low educational achievement of this population is

the specific part of the socio-economic problem with which
we are concerned. One gener4 index of the educational
problem is tlgo relatively low number of non-whites who finish
high school.e The educational problem is not necessarily
central to the over-all economic problem, since, for example,
non-whites who graduate from high sehool show a higher unem
ployment rate than white drop-outs.' Reading problems are
clearly central to the over-all educational problem, and the
widespread failure of youth in the urban ghetto to learn to
read may be an even better index of the relation of education
to employment than completion of high school. In New York
City schools as a whole, realing level averages two years
behind grade. For adolescent Negro youth in South Central
Harlem, the averages are considerably lower; and for the
specific peer-groups studied intensively in this research, A
reading may be three, four, or five years behind grade level."
For all practical purposes, a great many of these Negro youth
cannot use reading for other learning; they are functionally
illiterate in the full sense of the term. We will therefore
speak of zatILEILf1411,1re in this report rather than reading
problems or difficulties. Reading appears to be worse for
boys than for girls; reading achievement is lower for boysg
fewer Eraduate from high school, and fewer attend college.'
The sex differential holds for the general population as
well, white and non-white: mean reading scores are appEoxi
mately ten percent lower for boys as compared to girls.'
Given these facts, we decided to concentrate our efforts on
the reading failure of adolescent and pre-adolescent boys.
The research to be discussed here utilizes the techniques

-1-
of linguistic analysis to elucidate factors involved in
reading failure. Some of our findings clearly show that the
over-all problem is one of cultural conflict, for which the
linguistic data provide us with only one indication. However,
linguistic data are overt and accessible; the tools of lin
guistic analysis are well developed and allow us to make an
immediate contribution to the solution of the problem,

We divide the linguistic aspect of the problem into two

sharply different areas which require two different modes of
analysis. (1) There are differences in the grammatical and
phonological rules of standard English and the non-standard
English of Negro speakers; in various ways these differences
lead to interference in learning to read (and speak) standard
English. (2) The vernacular culture of the street differs
from the schoolroom culture in its patterns of language use:
there are different speech routines and different modes of
evaluation; some of the most important speech events in each
sub-culture are totally unknown to the other, and different
verbal skills are developed and rewarded in each. We will
refer to these two areas of interference as AlywPural_lit
Imam and sanoluga.aggmmull, Although functional
differences between standard and non-standard seem to us the
most important sources of interference, the techniques for
analysis in this area are not highly developed; on the other
hand, we are able to make precise observations on the inter
ference which springs from structural differences, and our
recommendations for educational practice will accordingly be
more definite.

1, 0.1. IhS z.,..19.1,9,11.911.91.11q5g9.01.9.1.1un.ALLstivr

SpanigkuggNing.gwang. In most of the urban ghetto areas
studied, the non-white population consists of two very differ
ent groups: Negroes and Puerto Ricans in Northeastern cities,
and, in Western citils, Negroes and Mexican-Americans. In
this study, we are primarily concerned with the linguistic
behavior and structure of the Negro community, But in every
Negro adolescent group studied, there are some speakers with
Spanish-language background who have become integrated into
the group, and in every residential area where the adult popu
lation has been surveyed, there ave some Spanish-speaking
adults in our sample. In our prior studiea of delinquent
boys in the New York City Youth House, Negro and Puerto Rican
adolescents are equally represented. The linguistic and cul
tural background of the Spanish-speaking groups as a whole
are very different from those of the Negro groups; but for
the individuals who live in transition areas, or who partici
pate fully in Negro groups, the effect of a Spanish background
is considerably less. Many of the same social and economic
factors operate on both populations to produce educational
and reading problems. In this study, we will be concentra-
ting exclusively upon those facto s which are common to the

-2-
Negro groups and the Spanish background individuals associated
with them; we will not be dealing with the major part of the
Spanish-speaking population which is isolated from the Negro
population. However, it will appear that there are sharp
differences between the type of linguistic features which are
completely absorbed by the Spanish-background individuals,
and those which are not. This differential transfer will
throw light on the degree of integration of various rules
and patterns of behavior in the Negro groups proper.

1,0.2. 1 n o bt c r u t
Esiimszszug n most oi the Eastern urban ghetto areas
studied, there is little contact between non-Puerto Rican
white and Negro residents. There are no non-Puerto Rican
white members of the adolescent groups studied, and the mem
bers do not have white friends (or think it is possible to
have white friends) There is contact of course with white
merdhants; and some contact in school with whi;e students.
On the whole, however, the vernacular and reading problems
of white society must be studied as a separate but parallel
problem. Several of the investigators have extensive back
ground with non-standard white speech, and the Lower East
Side survey provides extensive quantitative material for com
parison. In addition, one adolescent and one pre-adolescent
white group were studied by the same methods as were used with
the Negro community. In general, it is extremely important
to differentiate those aspects of non-standard Negro English
which are identical with non-standard white speech, and those
which are different. Otherwise, the relation of such lingui-
stic factors to the reading problem would be obscured.
1.1. Structural conflict: preliminary evidence
1.1.0. "Non- t dN oB There is a general,
."
widely-held assumptior that a "Negro dialect" exists in the
United States, Although this common-sense construct is a
stereotype, it has more basis in fact than such stereotypes
as "Brooklynese", a reflection of working class New York
City speech which in fact shows no marked geographic differ-
entiation. A great deal of "Negro dialect" has appeared in
print, and much can be learned about actual speech patterns
from a study of the dialect literature. In Northern cities,
there are many grammatical forms and lexical items (as well
as voice qualifiers and intonation patterns) which are used
almost exclu ively by Negroes in Northern cities; even in the
South there are a number of such features characteristic of
Negro speakers. However, the existence of this linguistic
entity is often used as a basis for the notion of a "Negro
speech" which has a biological or physiological basis--that
is, properties of articulation or grammar shared by all Negro
speakers irrespective of their geographic or social background.
Many people still believe that they can "always tell" if a
speaker on the telephone is a Negro. Some of our current

_3.
research is designed to analyze the ability to identify
ethnic characteristics in speech. It will be immediately
apparent that there is no uNegro speech,' in this absolute
sense. It is clear that a relatively uniform set of language
features which characterize Negro speakers raised in the Negro
community are the products of the social factors which control
the development of dialect forms generally.
Our research shows that there is a sub-system of English
used by pre-adolescent and adolescent Negro speakers in Nor
thern ghetto areas which is remarkably uniform over the age
range 8-17, especially for those who participate fully in
the vernacular culture. The grammar of working-class adults,
in these areas, is plainly shifted towards standard English
rules in many ways and reflects a more thorough knowledge of
the underlying forms of SE than adolescent speakers possess.
Yet the vernacular of adults is still a separate sub-system,
quite distinct from white non-standard in these Northern
cities. While we will examine the speech of adults to some
extent, the basic object of our investigation is the adoles
cent vernacular characteristic of the Negro s sech community.
It will be called no t Ne o E NNE].

1,11 ne or n n 0 One way

of assessing ths differences between standard English and
non-standard English of Negro speakers is to follow the same
method as that used by the English teacher--to register the
number of nerrorsu or ndeviationsu from standard English.
Such items as nperson-number disweement, double negative,
non-standard preterites,fl etc., are often used to describe
the characteristics of white non-standard English (WNS)
which must be corrected in school. A semi-quantitative
accounting of such characteristics in the survey of New York
City's Lower East Side of 1963-4 was given in our preliminary7
report (ORP 3091:10). The tables show the number and frequ
ency of such deviations by Negro subjects, which is of such
a far higher degree of magnitude than those by white speakers
that the concept of Ildeviation from a standardn becomes use
less. It seems much more likely that we are dealing with
different rules rather than different degrees of conformity
to the same rules.

Lobants findings8 on udeviatione of Negro children

from standard English also show that their language behavior
reflects basic differences in grammatical rules which adjust
only slowly and uncertainly to the pattern of SE. Unfortu
nately, we are not shown these udeviationsft against the back
ground of the total population of utterances in which these
forms might have occurred, so that we cannot differentiate
regular rules of NNE from variable ones.
1.1.2. Re NN o o h -eec . There is
no question that many of the features of non-standard Negro
speech are forms quite general in Southern speech, standard
majority of the phonological and
and non-standard. The great report are to be found
grammatical features discussed in this well as Negroes, accor
in the South among white speakers as collected in this
ding to the limited evidence on this point
the specific data on the
investigation. However, we lack speakers
grammar and phonology of both white and Southern the relation
which would enable us to state precisely what
The great majority of the speakers we have studied in
is. migrants or were
Northern cities are children of Southern
born in the South themselves; most Negro speakers in New York
in the Eastern Tidewater states; many of our
have relatives Cleveland and Chicago are
exploratory interviews in Detroit, Alabama; and our
with recent migrants from Mississippi and includes many Negro
extensive work in the Los Angeles area exploratory 0
speakers from Texas and Arkansas. One set of South Carolina,'
interviews was conducted in Beaufort County,
rural areas who had
where we found many speakers in remote There is ample evi
recently spent time in New York City. "dialectic
dence from other studies of the phenomenon ofSouthern char-
swamping" where we observe a large number of
Northern Negro pattern:
acterictics submerging the native
influence has been studied by
lexical evidence of Southern In our Lower East
MeDavid and Austin in Chicago (1960,
opeakers and in our prisent series,
Side interviews with Negro mothers
there is rich data ou these pasterns of migration:
with grandparents;
who work in the North and leave children grandparents' farms;
children who spend occasional summers on emergencies; place
extended returns to the South in family
ment of Southern children with relatives in Northern cities
the fundamental pattern
for better education; and of course,
of migration to the North for employment.
the migration pat-
Despite such precise documentation of
and phonology of
tern itself, our knowledge of the grammar
specify the relations
Southern English is not sufficient to ghettos and the speech
between Northern speech in the urban
Linguistic Atlas of the in
of Southern whites and Negroes. The data
Eastern United States includes some on Negro informants,.4v
publications.'
but it is cited only briefly in the major
The conclusion of the Atlas dialectologists was that Southern
significantly from that
Negro speech patterns do not differ
the Gullah Creole in
of the surrounding white community; significant
coastal South Carolina was said to form the only
exception.

is concerned,
As far as the speech of uneducated Negroes
the ill:14grate white;
it differs little from that ofregional ctAd local varia
that is, it exhibits the same (Kurath 1949:6)
tions as that of the simple white folk.
However, no dati was provided to support this statement.
 In recent publications, it has been asserted that the
speech of Negroes in the South is remarkably uniform as corn
pared to that of white speakers: that Negro speech does not
follow the dialect patterns shown in the Linguistic Atlas. 11
Though there has been no documentation of this opposing point
of view, we do find in our own work that the basic grammatical
patterns of the Negro ghettos is quite uniform in a large
number of Northern cities, and we have not located any firm
geographic difference in the grammatical rules to be discussed
in this report. Many of our informants were born and raised
in the South. However, careful studies of grammatical and
phonological patterns in Southern areas, comparable in detail
to our present investigations, will be required before this
can be accepted as the case. It is quite possible that many
of the features which differentiate Southern dialects disappear
in the contact situations of the Northern cities, and the
resulting form, stripped of the differentiating rules, is
therefore uniform by default.
AttiVA03...12yarjELSza=p s.Dgech. The earlier inves
tigation of social stratification of English in New York City
(Labov 1966a) included explorations of the explicit attitudes
of the informants towards New York City speech and towards
Southern speech. The attitudes of whites and Negroes were
strikingly different, While the overwhelming rajority of
white speakers were strongly negative towards their own speech
and New York City vernacular, over half of them felt that
Southern speedh was attractive. Negro inforrants regularly
reversed this pattern: Northern speech, including New York
City dialect, was considered good speech, while Southern
speech was the object of strong aversion. (Labov 1966a:
4851 497-8). We can conclude that there are powerful forces
operating among Negro speakers in Northern cities to elimi-
nate many of the highly marked features of Southern speech,
especially those characteristic of +he local white dialect.
Recently, the work of Tucker and Lambert in the Touga3oo
project showed that the same situation prevails anong Negro
college students in the South: the most highly regarded
speech pattern is the "network" English of Northern radio
announcers, while white Southern speech, even that of educated
persons, was the object of strong negative feelings. (1967)

1.1.3. Thg.gueEtAmof an urAllaYiag.aaae ARUM.

One view of the differences between Negro and white speech
patterns is that tney show evidence of fundamentally
different systems in their underlying, abstract structure;
furthermore, that Negro speech shows effects of an underlying
Creole grammar once spoken generally in the South, similar
to the Creoles spoken over a large area from Africa to the
Gulf Coast. (Stewart 1964). Evidence for this hypothesis
is drawn from similarities of grammatical structure between
the Creoles and NNE where NNE differs from SE; from the
relative uniformity of Negro English in the South, mentioned

-6-
above; by the difficulty in deriving specifically Negro
forms from any British dialect; and by the resistance
replacement by the
shown by many of these patterns to
corresponding SE patterns. Stewart's readings of histo
evidence for his con
rical sources have provided some solid hands in the 18th
tention that the speech of Negro field
Gullah area, showed many
and 19th centuries, outside of the
features of Creole grammar; the absence of copula, possesc
(Stewart 1967,
ive aad of case distinction in pronouns. study
lrA8). The uniform NNE grammar investigated in this
toward SE of a much
may indeed be the result of convergence
more different grammar with a Creole base.

When lin examine the English Creole spoken in Jamaica

or Trinidad we see a great deal of evidence for deep-
seated differences in grammatical structure. Some of
these differences are so sharp thav it is unlikely that
there can be a continuous transition between the Creole
not represent
and SE: For example, the form X woric doesbut
the present tense in Trinidadian English, rather the
simple unmarked past. The present t';pse is the marked
that
form LAssazarig. It might seem, at first glance,
NNE shows the influence of the Creole since the unmarked
past t is quite common in the basic verna
cular. However, this resemblance is only superficial.
The pattern of the irregular verbs, which are few in number
but predominant in actual text, shows that NNE has the same
basic system of present and past as SE: For the past, we
haveLIW, La%12', saw or Lam, not
The present forms are of course I giye,
Lagg.tauy.. Thus NNE contraste 'with Trinidad (So10 on 1967):
Trinidad%Lan NNE

zzatent mafil Prpeent. Magt

I does work I work I work I work
I does give I give I give I gave

The superficial resemblance between the Creole form and

NNE is chiefly the result of certain phonological processes
operating at the point of phonological-grammatical inter
atiction. It is the stIffix -la which has been weakenad,
rather than the category of the past tense. This situatian
is repeated in many other areas of the grammar. Such
preliminary evidence leads us to believe that the diffel
ences between the grammars of SE and NNE are less striking
than the surface forms might indicate.

In the background of the issues raised by the Creole

hypothesis are broader theor9tical questions as to the
extent and nature of dialect differences in general, and
indeed of differences between languages. Generative grammar
tends to minimize such differences, and to emphasize the
similarity of phrase structure and high level transformations

.7-
among languages which are superficially quite dissimilar
(Bach 1965), In one of the early Project Literacy confer
ences, Chomsky suggested that the underlying forms of
English are remarkably resistant to change, and that most
dialect differences are therefore relatively superficial
(1964). A natural consequence of the generative viewpoint
is that NNE (and even Jamaican Creole) would be expected
to differ from SE chiefly in its surface representation
and thia point was strongly argued by Rosenbaum at the
same conference in opposition to the Creolist viewpoint
of Bailey.

The implications of this question for educational

practice are not inconsiderable. The strategy needed to
teach a fundamentally different phrase structure would be
quite different from the strategy for giving practice in
the control of phonological rules. In the one case, we
might be teaching students that a rule S -4 NP NP is
contrary to the fundamental SE phrase structure S NP VP.
In the se ZIA case, we might be giving students practice
in the convrol of the contraction rule la 2.11, without the
further rule 2A, 0.

1.1.4. o et d
The data to resolve such abstract quest ons as those raised
in section 1.1.3 must be drawn from the speech community.
There are no linguists with a native command of NNE, who
operate out of their own heads, and can ask themselves
quJstions about grammaticality in the vernacular. Even if
there were such linguists, or it were possible to ntraino
informants to answer such questions, there are powerful
sociolinguistic factors which prevent accurate reporting
of NNE forms in such situations. Whenever a non-standard
dialect is in contact with a standard dialect, the speakers
tend to perceive the standard norms (see chapter 3). In
our work with adolescent peer groups, we find, for example,
that members report themselves as saying I d OA 1h
3/22L'ILINAq, when in fact their speech shows a
categorical pattern don ok t s Even if
we found someone who did report accurately, we would not
know that ha was doing so unless we had previously deter-
mined the actual pattern of the basic vernacular by study
ing the language of the community as it was actually being
used.

Studies of language in the community immediately

encounter a fundamtntal difficulty: varia4Lion. If we are
searching for a simple, homogeneous structure of the type
which is noxmally presented in linguistic descriptions, we
do not find it. Variation is widespread and seemingly
omnipresent in those areas where non-standard differs from
standard. If we pick up any accurate transcripts of verna
cular speech, we are apt to find such records as this

-8-
 DI gwoln tU em: "yu red dewel! yu z e red
dewel!" DI se, "godz goln pik yu Ap"; on in
se, "yul newe fee AntIl mete mIci sibruk
bri,j yu on dx pies fe owecie. den yu de brag,
bet god gym ink yu Ap on yu, ."
--Diana Brown (Turner 1949:260)
The fluctuation in the copula seen here is typical of the
variation reported in 3.4 below for NNE--here it appears
in a Gullah Creole speaker who may be taken as far more
remote from SE than any of the speakers studied in Central
(13) in 3.4.6.
Harlem. This variable deletion of a lone inz## is

In general, linguistic theory has not been designed

to include variation as a systematic fact, but rather to
dispose of it and eliminate it in the final analysis. A
great many procedures have been followed for eliminating
variation, but they have all been informal and leave
considerable room for the analyst to select informally the
data to be reported; as a result it has been possible for
linguists to find support for almost any viewpoint by proper
selection of their data from the material they encounter.

This procedure of selection is not necessarily a

conscious one. We find that speakers perceive their lan
guage categoricallythey tend to perceive themselves as
using the norm which they have adopted, rather than their
variation from that norm (Labov 1966a:XII). In a slightly
different way, many linguists operate on the same principle.
If they adopt the view in advance that any variation found
in the speech community represents a mixture of bhe (uniform)
standard and (uniform) non-standard, then it is possible
for them to decide automatically which of two variant forms
represents the non-standard vernacular under study. That
which is closer to the standard is set aside as an import
ation, and thl form which is more different from the standard
is accepted as the basic vernacular rule. With this orient
ation, it is possible to focus more ani more upon the forms
which have already been identified as the vernacular system
and within the informal procedure adopted it is possible
that these will be the only ones perceived.

It is possible to report by this means that NNE speak

ers never use the auxiliary hgve. In the moe; extreme cases,
forms such as LAI or even LIDLitg, are reported as charac-
teristic of NNE, when in fact they occur as minor patterns of
small frequency. The linguist is thus subject to the same
sociolinguistic forces which lead naive subjects to such
reports as "he always, says dese, and etez and dope" when in
fact no native speaker of English has an invariant rule of
this type.

If the theoretical problems associated with NNE are

to find
bo be investigated by empirical means, and we are

-9-
 support in the data, it
decisive answers which have a firm
will be nelessary to satisfy three distinct requirement
to the data:
(1) the linguists must be accountable accurate
reports of variable features must be accompanied by whidh
statements on the total population of utterances in
number which
these forms 'Light have occurred as well as the
did occur.
te recording
(2) the basic data must be drawn from accur
the social
of the vernacular in use, in situations where essentially
factors which control language production are
the same as those which operate in every-day life.
linguistic rules
(3) the model of language structure and variation.
must be able to incorporate the facts of systematic
discussed
Methods for satisfying these requirements are we will deal
in detail in chapter 2. In the following pages,variation and
briefly with the traditional means of handlingdeveloped in
the methods for the direct study of variation
studies which preceded the present investigation.

When the facts of variation are not neglected entirely,

variation", or given
they are frequently sell aside as "free
variants", "expressive
such labels as "variphones", "social linguist
variantsH,12 Such variation is considered outside of
linguistic rules do
ic structure proper, a province in which
not operate. The speakers appear to be "saying the same
thing" in two different ways, and the speaker's choice
subject to the
appears to the analyst a. indeterminate, not
normal constraints of linguistic structure.
Another approach is to define the object of situation
inquiry as
person in one
an "Infalgt.": the speech of one But
speaking on one topic for a short time (Bloch 1948). to
the data to be presented here shows that the variation
be discussed will be found within the most spontaneous
interaction of natural peer groups, within the individual
sentences.
"ftke believe this ct team and this is a team"
(12, T-Birds, #365)13.
described with
Even if there were idiolects which could be indirect approach
categorical grammars, this would be a very used by the
to the goal: to write a grammar of the language
that language is a
speech community. We do not concedeproperty
property of the individual; it is a of tha community)
which we find
and our grammars must describe the language
in use by the community.
One can also reject variation on principle, invoking
Ohomsky
the distinction between pometence and Derformoal, as

10
has done in his we I known position that the object of
linguistic inquiry is the competence of an ideal speech.
community completely free of any kind of variation (Chomsky
would
1965:3). The facts of variation which we do encounter
then be set aside temporarily as an aspect of uperformance,
awaiting a science devoted to this area of language behavior
alone. The approach we will take is diametrically opposed:
it will be demonstrated (in chapter 3, below) that quanti-
tative studies of variation provide the strongest evidence
for the analysis of the basic linguistic structures.

Another means of disposing of variation found in the

actual data is the notion of vulutziKIREau or HAlalut
tosall,...gvnn. There are of course individuals who show the
effects of mixed backgrounds. and there are communities with
mixed populations, which Duty be no more than irregular mix-
tures of dialects.However, the concept of dialect mixture is
often used without any empirical demonstration of the exist
ence of homogeneous dialects that are being mixed: it is
assumed that such dialects must exist and that the variation
found is the needed demonstration. (Bloomfield 1933:362).

The concept of uco-existent systems', introduced under

that title by Fries and Pike (1949) attempts to resolve certain
heterogeneous aspects of internal structure by setting up
simultaneous sub-systems. Studies of Creole systems have
utilized this notion, and it has found its fullest development
in discussions of multilingualism, diglossia and other linguist
ic situations where clearly identifiable strata can be identi
Lied (Weinreich, Herzog and Labov 1968). One would assume
that the identification of these strata must be accompanied
by switching rules which state when, where and how the speaker
moves from one system to another. The work of Gumperz (1964)
and Ervin-Tripp (1968) and others has enlarged our knowledge
of the conditions for switching; yet the conditions given so
far are still stated informally and are not integrated into
the linguistic rules themselves. The notion of sliglaetaia
or of o-eft ent m does not in itself sharpen our under-
standing of inherent variation within a single system, nor
the specific relations between specific linguistic rules
which relate dialects. The suggestions of Klima (1964) show
how differences in rule ordering can be used to relate a set
of homogeneous systems, although it is not clear how a speaker
moves from a set of ruI6ts with one order to the same set in
a different order. Although the informal construction of
co-existent systems does focus attention on structural complex
ity within the speech community, it may be a step backward in
the analysis of variation: a rule which shows inherent
variation may be resolved into an unpredictable series of
switches, withln utterances, sentence or clauses, in which
each occurrence of a form represents a switch of the speaker
into an entirely different system. We also note that the
notion of age grading (Hockett 1950) focuses on an important
 and empirically
axis of variation within the community,
discontinuities within the
may help to identify certain demonstration of discontin
population; but no conclusive
first identify and present
uities is possible unless one canvariation
formally the facts of continuous where they occur.
The present study
continues the line of investigation begun and in earlier work
New York City
on Martha's Vineyard (Ipabov 1963, 1965a) in which variation
(Labov 1964a, 1964b, 1966a, 1966b, 1966c) of linguistic
is studied directly as an inherent property and Crockett
(1967) and Levine
systems. The work of Shuy data which confirms
(1966) has provided further quantitative
structure developed in
the principles of sociolinguistic
preliminary analysis which
this work. Field methods and are discussed
directly preceded the current investigation Project 3091
in the Final Report to Cooperative Research
"A Preliminary Study of the Structure of English Used by
(Labov,
Negro and Puerto Rican Speakers in New YorktoCity!" as 3091). This
Cohen and Robins 1965; hereafter referred of field
report serves as an introduction to the methodologyrelations in NB:
work and the first approach to quantitative 1966d, 1967, 1968a,
Further reports are given in Labov 1965b, 1967, Labov
1968b, Labov and Waletzky 1967, Labov and Cohen includes much
and Robins 1968) although the present report
of the data in these publications.
In this earlier work, the concept of the linguistic
expanded into the
variable (Labov 1966e) was developed and and variable constraints
more formal notion of a variable rule conditions are of three
on rules (2.3 below). These variable
types: (1) the r e for tne rule--that is, the
selected, which
initial frequency with which uhe rule is (2) the
may change with age or from dialect to dialect;provide a
flti on this frequency, which
environments, and
speoirum of frequencies under different time to time
which may vary in their internal ordering fromextralinguistic
and (3) the
with age, peer group, or diloct; affect the frequency
(social or stylistic) conditions which however,
of the rule in other ways. It is not assumed, area can be sub-
that all variation within a geographical and NNB are presented
sumed under a single set of rules. SB co-existent systems.
here as closely related but distinnt, their relations
But the internal structure of each system and the areas of
cannot be specified without understanding of this
inherent variability within each. The results of these
investigation will allow us to present the relations study of
two systems in far greater detail than any previous
co existent sub dialects of the same language.

12
 n of e U no o r
1 of this i'esearch is he
The princ pal educational focus
ghetto areas.
reading problems of the urban
difficulty due to
In general, one may look for reading (1) If the reader
structural interference in four areas: forms are unrelated
encounters a great many spellings whose dialract, Le may
to the phonological structure of his code
own
and attempt to learn
lose confidence in the alphabetic encounters a number
words as whole units. (2) If the reader
place in his own language
of inflections which have no by such spellingo wtthout
system, the uncertainty generatedconfidence in the writing system
significance may affect his n'amber of
as a whole. (3) If the reader encounters a large
in his lwn dialect,
syntactic forms and idioms which are not over-all message
he may have difficulty in deciphering the
of the sentence. (4) If the emount of systematic structural
large enough, then the
ambiguity between SE and NNE is meanings and fail to decipher
reader will arrive at the wrong
the intended meaning of the text.
importance of the struc
One should not over-state the
SE in impeding reading;
tural differences between NNB and reading problems of the
on the whole, it does not seem that
Functional differ-
type (4) follow from such differences.
to be far more important.
ences in language use appear reported here has ioolated
Nevertheless, the research to be reading, and any silecific
a number of specific problems in important in the state
contributions to reading problems are hope to contribute to
of our current knowledge. One would differences in the
the problem by showing where particular to particular reading
rule structure of speakers of NNE lead simultaneously to confirm
problems--such a finding will serve our understanding
the rules we have written and to enlargeWe would also like to know
of how the child learns to read.
teachers' knowledge of NNE or ignorance of it can
how the Although our
affect the progress of reading instruction. this report will
findings are only suggestive in thisconcept area,
in the teaching
endeavor to reinforce an important 1965b: that the teacher
of reading first introduced in Labov distinction between
of reading must make the fundamental mistakes in reading.
differences in pronunciation and genuine

and its educational

1,2 Functional conflict: the concept
implications,

us of len The problems

1.2.0 e;t d of
deal with structural
outlined in the prec d ng s ctionAlthough these are extremely
differences between NNE and SE.

13
complex and have a special interest for linguistic theory,
they represent only one aspect of the differences between
the two forms of English, and perhaps not the most impbr
tant one. It seems likely that differences in the functions
or uses of NNE and SE are more extensive and more important
as far as reading failure is concerned.
Hymes has pointed out that the traditional linguistic
attitude towards the cross-cultural study of language
structure and functions are undergoing a radical revision
(Hymes 1967). The approach of anthropological linguistics
was focused on structural differences, under the assumption
that languages can differ from each other to an unlimited
degree. At the same time, it was assumed that language was
used in more or less the same way, for the same functions,
in every culture. The current tendency of generative gra'Almar
is to focus on the structural universals which languages
share--those aspects of language structure which are invariant
from culture to culture. Furthermore, exploratory stud4es
in "the ethnography of speaking" indicate that there are
sharp and significant differences in the ways that language
is used in different cultured (Hymes 1962). The orientation
of this investigation reflects both of these tendencies.
On the one hand, we focus on the relation between NNE
and SE structures, rather than simply cataloguing their
differences. On the other hand, we wish to investigate
specific differences in the use of NNE and SE which have
never been reported before.

There are two distinct ways in which we can approach

differentiation in the use of language. Both are investi
gations of the patterns of choice open to the users of the
language as determined by the immediate social situation.
There are general shifts in the selection of phonological
and syntactic forms which can be correlated with an over all
stylistic dimension. life may call this ne
stylistic continuum was
Laffiling. In previous studies, thethe
sampled along a single dimension: amount of attention
paid to language (Labov 1966a:IV). Location of a speech
sample along this dimension is in turn the product of a
number of social factors: the relations of speaker and
listener, the topic, the broader social situation, the
audience, and the social definition of the situation.

A second approach to the use of language is that of

outlining rules for specific sausjimuta (Hymes 1962).
Rather than approach language behavior as a diffuse, unstruc
tured series of shifts from formal to casual, one can locate
particular routines with a high degree o internal structure.
"Asking for directions", "introductions", "lectures", "sales
talks", "reading aloud" are all examples of such patterned
speech events. Not only are the rules for such events

4
culturally specific, but members share a common set of stan-
dards for evaluating verbal skills within these events.
Previous studies have shown that subjective norms in regard
to language variables are much more uniform than language
behavior itself, and in fact define the outlines of a speech
community, (Labov 1966a0a). The study of the specific
use of language within speech events, and the social evalu
ation of that use, will yield insights into the patterns of
language use within NNE and their relation to educational
problems, Research in any of these areas, however, requires
a general knowledge of the social factors which control
linguistic behavior.

1.2,1 TIA.N.21,010.2f.lftWIAMAnlis 0 c flgIars.

Earlier sociolinguistic research within speech communities
outlined systematic social conditioning of linguistic vari
ation and demonstrated the role of social factors in lingui
stic change (Labov 1963, 1966a). The manner in which social
factors impinge upon abstract linguistic systems was discussed
in a review of data on eleven sound changes in progress (Labov
1965a). It has been suggested elsewhere that language and
social structure are mutually embedded and that in some sense,
linguistic structures are social structures (Grimshaw 1967),
However, this position seems to run beyond the available
data, and in fact goes counter to the evidence as a whole.
The great majority of the rules of English, in so far as we
know them, apply to the linguistic behavior of all members
of the speech community--they show no variation across classes,
ethnic groups, sexes, age levels; indeed, they apply equally
well to most dialects of English. It is natural that dialect
studies should concentrate upon differences between dialects,
but this dhoul6 not lead us to exaggerate the relatively
small area which is variable. Instead of concluding that
language structure and social structure are dependent upon
each other, it would be sounder to argue that language is
the form of social behavior which is the most independent
of all other form.
But to state that language and social structure are
largely independent does not minimize the importance of the
areas in which they intersect. Every languAge structure
contains variable elements--rules with inherent variability.
Some of these represent sound change in progress, others are
relatively stable. It is at these points that linguistic
variation can take on social significance; and since one area
of linguistic variation is normally involved in many corre
lated variables, there is ample opportunity 'Mr social dif
ferentiation within a series of variables. Thus in New York
City, we find that the closely interrelated set of long and
ingliding vowels are all variable and all are correlated to
varying degrees with socio-economic, stylistic and ethnic
factors. The reverberations of these variable structures

15-
are foubd in the certain upgliding diphthongs as well
(Labov 1966a: XIV), But most of the vowels are independent
of any such social variation: while one may observe slight
fluctuations in the pronunciation of 1211, jad, and
=I in New York City, for example, such variation is inde
pendent of the socio-linguistic structures involving Iggx,
lam, bag, pure, sllore, Isay, lay, and bow. In the consonant
system, there are even fewer variables with any social sig-
nificance.

Furthermore, we find that socially correlated varia

tion can move like a wave through a series of rules, so
that in successive or geographically contiguous dialects
the area of variation p:ogresses from point to point. Thus
those sub-rules in the tensing and raising of /x/ which vary
in the New York metropolitan area are constant in the adja
cent regions; in those regions, the change has progressed
further, and other sub-rules have begun to vary.
Fischer's studies of sandhi rules on Truk and Ponape
(1966) show a categorical opposition which matches the
cultural differentiation of the two islands. The two lan
guages and the two cultures appear to have developed recently
from a common origin. It seems clear that the differentia-
tion which has resulted in the present opposite and invariant
sets of rules stems from a period when the sandhi rules were
variable and capable of assuming social and cultural signi
Licence. Although Fischer suggests a possible universal
affective interpretation of these rules, it seems clear that
such an interpretation would apply only when an option is
present: only a rule which oan be viulated can have such
values assigned to it.

Thase observations are consistent with Sturtevant's

view (1948) that social significance is assigned to lingui
stic rules only when they vary throughout the population-
when one group's usage is opposed to another's. When .4he
change goes to completion, and the variation gives way to
invariance, correlations with social structure disappear.
We can summarize this view by stating that language structure
is o en to oci 1 n r ret_t o only at specific points of
variation. Not all linguistic variables take on such social
interpretation or show such correlations; for example, the
widespread merger of the vowels of gat. and aught in the
United States seems to be taking place with a minimum of
social significance. However, it is always possible for
social differentiation to develop in the transition areas
and to exert considerable influence upon linguistic devel
opments.15

1.2.2, oh duo on In order

to study language, either in its st ucture or its function,

16
one must obtain speech. The basic technical problem is to
analyze non-standard lino' stic structures from behavioral
evidence, and in order to obtain this behavioral evidence
one must know a great deal about the factors which control
speech production. In the course of earlier studies
and in the current investigation, we have continually im-
proved our understanding of what social and situational fac-
tors will control speech. The fundamental question to .be
answered, is, of course, "Why does anyone say anything?"
More immediate questions cover most of the speech factors
listed by Hymes(1962): the influence of the physical set-
ting, the numbers, sizes, ages, and cultural background of
the participants, the history of their social relations,
and the topic, the code and message used. A great deal of
previous research within working-class and Negro communities
has 14ven an inaccurate view of the verbal capacities of
the members, because the investigators had an inadequate
knowledge of these factors.

The technical knowledge required to obtain the data

can also become an object of inquiry in itself.

Earlier studies of sociolinguistic structure have

been based upon random samples or judgment samples of
isolated individuals and their families. To obtain a
representative cross-section of the population, such
methods are invaluable, but the face-to-face interview
itself, with questions and answers, controls the object
of investigation. To break through the constraints imposed
by the interview, various devices were used with some success
to obtain samples of casual speech or spontaneous speech
(Labov 1966a: IV). However, such interviews still do not
permit direct observation of the social factors which con
trol speech production and influence language* The tech
niques for studying groups used by Gumperz in Hemnes,
Norway (1966) permit one to observe language in use, con
trolled by the same social networks which operate in every
-day situations. The current investigation utilized random
samples, but put primary emphasis on the study of natural
peer groups which form relatively closed networks. The
basic paradigm of operation is discussed below in Chapter
II; it allows us to compare for each individual his speech
in face-to-face situations with his speech in spontaneous
interaction with peers. Prom the educational viewpoint,
there is reason to believe that the constraints imposed by
the peer group upon language behavior are a powerful factor
in the individual's failure to read, write, and speak SE.
One of the basic tasks of this investigation, then, is to
see exactly how the peer group affects language production,
in what way, and what are the positive and negative effects
exerted by peer group pressures. It is possible that
some (but not all) of the social factors which promote speech
within the peer group can be utilized within the educational

17
system.
Participant-observer work in urban ghetto areas requires
more than a knowledge of such general principles as are
indicated above. Specific know3edge of the culture is nee-
ded, and furthermore, detailed knowledge of the local situa
tion. In general, success in contacting, assembling, and
studying natural peer groups depends upon the use of members'
knowledge--that is, the kind of extra-linguistic and lingui
stic behavior which is available only to members of the sub-
culture. One can use this knowledge, as we have done, to
produce and control the linguistic data--and also study it
as an object in itself.

1.2.3. The cultur m t x un er stud Studies of

the functions of language relate linguistic behavior directly
to a social or cultural context. In studying generalized
style shifting and in the study of speech events, it i9
necessary to study specifically the cultures we are dealing
with. Generalized style shift.Lng can be studied with minimal
reference to specific sub-cultures. But the study of specific
speech events requires careful inquiry into the particular
cultural matrix in which each event is located. In this study
but dis-
we will be dealing primarily with two intersecting
tinct patterns, which we may call "lower class culture" and
"Negro sub-culture".
Ito er c e The basic vernacular to
be studied in this research is used by those adolescent
peer-groups who are wholly involved in lower-class culture,
in the sense outlined by Walter B. Miller (1958). Although
the definition of the values or focuses given by Miller are
informal, they seem persuasive to those familiar with the
forms of behavior in both white and Negro society. The
cultural foci given by Miller are important in our own
work: (a) smartness, (b) trouble, (c) toughness, (d)
violence, (e) kicks or excitement, (f) fate, (g) autonomy
or freedom. Speech events revolving around these foci appear
again and again as central points in the spontaneous inter
actions of the groups we deal with, and one of the problems
of this research is to show how such values influence and
constraif. the use of language. The term "lower class" does
not mean here that the forms of behavior are confined to
boys from lower-class homes. On the contrary, the base of
this cultural form is quite broad in early adolescence, and
influences almost all boys in the urban ghettos (and a great
many in the suburbs). The number who participate fully in
this culture drops off sharply with age.

Eftag_ggkaaltam. The particular sub-culture

we are studying here is differentiated from white lower-class

-18--
culture by a large number of specific cultural patterns.
There is no question but that the reading problems of Vi:
Negro and Puerto Rican population in the urban ghettos are
more severe than in other lower-class groups. The ways in
which specific cultural characteristics of the Negro culture
affect the use of language are to be studied here. One
principal means is to investigate the areas of verbal skill
which are highly evaluated and developed within the Negro
society. No sharp contrast with the Puerto Rican group
will be attempted: the Puerto Ricans studied in this report
participate in Negro sub-culture to varying degrees, rather
than in an integral Puerto Rican sub-culture. It will be
possible to make some comparisons of these cu7tural features
across a number of ghetto areas in Korthorn cities; just as
in the case of structural fact)rs, and obtain some estima
tion of the extent and importance of local differentiation.
The groups studied are isolated from white society; in no
nase are there any non-Puerto Rican members of any group
who are white. We can contrast the behavior of the Negro
groups studied with two working-class white groups--a pre
adolescent and an adolescent group--chosen from an area of
Manhattan which shows relatively low Negro influence on the
white population.
One aspect of Negro culture of considerable importance
for linguistic behavior is black nationalist ideology. With
increasing emphasis on independence and ethnic pride for
blaok people, one mighb expect a radical change in attitudes
towards language. One important aim of this study is then
to determine the relationship of black nationalie i. ideology
to dialect differentiation, style shifting, and linguistic
norms, One of the major peer groups studied was under strong
nationalist influence at the outset of our contact with them,
and in the course of two years' observation became increa
singly dominated by the nationalist outlook in attitude and
behavior. MembershJp in the Nation of Islam. involved parti
cipation in its complex ideology and mythology, sets of
food taboos, and a number of specific speech events not known
to the general population. In the spring of 1966, the group's
ideology would no longer permit contact with any group such
as our own which included whites, and contact was broken off,
although some contact was re-established later.

1.2.4. GenerallgaLgtae si tJnNIV. In the

present study, we will concentrate upon the form of NNE
spoken by pre-adolescent and adolescent Negro boys on the
one hand, and adults on the other. Within the peer groups
themselves, we can expect a great many invariant rules which
are characteristic of NNE as opposed to SE; when we move from
boys to adults, the contrast of NNE and SE becomes sharper
(and more clearly defined in subjective evaluation tests,
see 4.6), and we would therefore expect that some of these

-19-
invariant rules would become variable and take on social
significance.

The adolescent population of the urban ghettos is not

uniform, some are more dominated by lower-class culture than
others, and some are more influenced by family, school, and
the values of middle-class society. Furthermore, all of
the boys concerned use language in a variety of social set
tings--in spontaneous interaction with their peers, in face
to-face conversation with adults, in school and other formal
then,
situations. The fundamental socio-linguistic problem,
is not only to outline the structural contrasts of NNE and
SE as discussed in 1.2 above, but to show how the vernacular
responds to various social factors in different ways among
various sub-groups of the population. In accordance with
the discussion given above, one would not expect all of the
rules of NNE to vary under social pressures, since some are
relatively invariant. From the standpoint of English as a
whole, any rule of NNE which differs from SB is a variable;
but within the relatively stable grammar of NNE, some rules
are variable and others are constant, and it is the former
which show social influence more readily.

To study generalized style shifting, we can focus on

a linguistic variable common to both WNS and NNE, such as
the interdental fricatives, and see whether the variablewith
shifts at the same rate for various age and peer groups
a comparable change of stylistic context. Or one can take
a specific NNE variable--the deletion of 1A--and study
its variation from one context to pnother. By this means,
one can find behavioral evidence Jr the speakers's recog-
nition of norms of correctness or explicitness, internal or
external to NNE. Studies of such generalized style shifting
enable one to answer many specific questions of great impor
tame to educational tactics:* (1) does the speaker recognize
in his linguistic behavior an exterior standard of correct
shift greater
ness? (2) do some speakers show a rate of style
or less than groups of the same age in other sub-groups?
(3) do the speakers show a tendency to hyper-correct behavior--
do they go beyond the target model, tither in lexical dis
tribution of the variable or in the extent of shifting?
In studies of New York City speech in general, it was found
that various socio-economic groups were sharply differen
tiated by answers to these questions. Lower-class white
speakers, for example, showed little or no evidence of
recognizing an exterior standard of correctness, while
lower riddle-class speakers characteristically displayed
hypercorrect patterns. Such behavioral differences would
imply very different educational policies in dealing with
the two groups.

-20-
 1.2,5 The_ ub ve v
The regular pattern o enera1ized s y e ahiiting thL8cu8sed
above reflect d set of relatively uniform value8 about speech
which are held by members of the speech community with a
surprising aegree of uniformity. In earlier studies, it was
shown that members of the New York City speech community
reacted unconsciously to specific linguistic variables in a
manner that reflected uniform definitions of correctness
with extraordinary regularity even though their actual use
of these variables showed sharp social stratification.
(Labov 1966a: XI). Such subjective reaction tests were made
on a scale of occupational suitability of speech which reflect
ed only one value system: the dimension of middle class values.
In fact) the more a given sub-group used a stigmatized feature
in spontaneous speech, the more likely they were to down-grade
others for the use of it. The work of Lambert and his asso
ciates (1967) measuring subjective attitudes toward dialects
as a whole on a wide range of values showed the same uniformity:
both English- and French-Canadians share the same
negative set of attitudes about the use of French as opposed
to the use of English. In order to explain the constraints
on linguistic behavior in the ghetto areas, it would be
desirable to focus on some of the subjective correlates of the
structural variables characteristic of NNE, not merely on one
dimension of middle class values, but along several dimensions--
including such lower class values as toughness) smartness,
and specific values drawn from Negro society in the ghetto.
In order to understand how social and cultural factors control
the use of language in this community) it will be crucial to
determine how social values are distributed among specific
linguistic variables.

The development of nationalist ideology in Harlem and

other ghetto areas raises the question as to how nationalism
affecte the norms for linguistic behavior. In other studies,
it has appeared that linguistic norms are relatively stable
and independent) free from the effects of revolutions in other
value systems which accompany rapid social change. Tucker
and Lambert (1967) found that Negro college students at
Tougaloo College, Mississippi, had most positive attitudes
towards the SE of the broadcast media, and most negative
attitudes towards the regional white speech, educated or
uneducated. General questions about speech in the earlier
New York City interviews showed that the same attitudes were
characteristic of Negro speakers in New York City: in particular,
Negroes reversed the white attitude) which was extremely neg
ative towards New York City vernacular and reasonably favorable
towards Southern white rpeech; the Negro subjects favored any
Northern form, including New York City vernacular, and were
very hostile towards Southern white speech.

Subjective reaction tests of the type mentioned above

are not the only means of registering the evaluation of speech.

-21
It is al o possible to simulate cl ssroom situations and see
whether subjects can identify NNE forms in print (see Class-
room Correction tests, 4.5); conversely, one can see if
speakers have the competence to detect SE forms in an NNE
context, and correct the standard to the vernacular (see
Vernacular Correction test, 4.5).

In addition to the basic methods of measuring generalized

style shifting and unconscious subjective evaluation, there
are many unique and anecdotal events which illustrate the
values accorded to speech systems. Some such events involving
NNE are presented in "Stages in the Acquisition of Standard
English" (liabov 1964b); one of the aims of the present studies
of the use of language will be to report such unique events.
Finally, we can look to our speakers' direct comments on the
values accorded to speech, in answers to such questions as
"Did you ever try to learn different ways of rapping?"
(section 4.8), A small number of members have the ability
to express these values clearly, concisely and directly: in
some ways their statements are more effective than any
controlled and universal test. It is of considerable
significance for educators that most of these spokesmen for
the vernacular culture are many years behind in school and
are considered essentially unteachable or even non verbal
by teachers.

1.2.60 S eech en s and verb k 1 The basic means

of studying the use of language is to isolate specific
speech events--structured occasions in which the use of
language is governed by specific (though implicit) rules
(Hymes 1962). Negro sub-culture provides us with a number
of such highly structured speech events which play an important
part in day-to-Lday interaction, and exist in only rudimentary
form in white society: e.g., Altaillag, a system of ritual
insults; Ed...0Am (obligatory for Negro groups); xj.f.thil, a
means of demonstrating occult knowledge; IgagIsi, the long
rhymed poems of Negro folk lore which reflect lower-class
culture in a heroic mold; and a number of others considered
in 4.2. The development of verbal skills within these speech
events, highly evaluated by group members, is not at all
uniform from group to group among individuals. It can be
contrasted with the middle-class stress on reading considered
as a verbal skill; the relation between skill in vernacular
speech events and skill in reading and other school events
will be an important object of this investigation.

Then $ onsaj421. The most complete

analysis of the use of language within this study is in the
study of oral versions of personal experience. A preliminary
structural analysis of narrative has already appeared (Labov
and Waletzky 1967) in this report, we will inquire more

22
 syntactic comp exity
deep y into the relationship between within narrat
and the development and use of complex syntax skills
ive, as well as the development of narrative

1.3 Objectives
study are to describe
The object.ves of the present between SE and
the most important structural differences
in great detail all
MB, We will not attempt to describe but rather
of the lexical and phonological differences,phonological
concentrate upon [1] a set of interrelated and morpho
processes in NNE which intersect with syntactic
syntactic processes
logical rules: and [2] those productive
changes in the surface
in NNE which result in systematic stem from
structure, Reading problems do not necessarily
phrase structures and
the fundamental differences in the from the ways in
semantic systems of SE and NNE, but ratherdiffe=ent superficial
which the same meanings are encoded in unimportant
forms. Such surface differences are by no means
because they are superficial: in some ways they pose more
and interpreter than
difficult problems for the NNE reader
The Puerto Rican members
for speakers of foreign languages. contrast.
of the NNE groups yield some insight into this
problems of
It is not proposed that the most serious
mismatching. The
the NNE reader stem from a mechanical to
interaction between SE teacher and NNE speaker appears
this study will also outline
be a major source of difficulty:
ignorance of NNE by the teacher
ways in which knowledge or
affects the teaching of reading.

The second set of objectives of this study are the

Whereas the uses to
differences in the use of SE and NNE.
reasonably well known,
which SE is put in the schoolroom are verbal skills
there is little knowledge of the speech events, development
which govern the
and social controls of speech the notion of the
NNE This study will attempt to replace
ghetto with a better
"verbally deprived° child in the which
estimation of the rich and varied verbal cultureAn account of
Negro children acquire in the urban ghetto.
the striking differences between the spectra of speech uses
problems
will help to show the full extent of the cultural
which lie behind reading failure.
unconscious
This study will also outline the sets ofin the adult
norms in regard to language which prevail shifting within
speech community, and the ways in which style
the Negro community reflects these values. The linguistic
the Negro
correlateo,of the sharp social stratification of

-23
community wili be explored.

In general, the over-all objective of this study is to

portray the relations between a superordinate and a subor
dinate dialect of English. In both of these community
dialects, we find rules with inherent variability, and
patterns of class and style shifting which require more
sophisticated theoretical apparatus than the categorial
rules of traditional grammars can provide. The fact that
both grammars show variation does not mean that SE and NNE
elements are freely interchangeable: they are closely
related but distinct sub-systems.. Attempts of teachers to
deal with individual items of NNE have generally failed:
we have every reason to believe that we are dealing with a
system in equilibrium which cannot be easily changed by
pressure on any one point. Knowledge of the 'system as a
whole is required as a first step in any educational program*

24
 CHAPTER II
I 7THODS

This chapter will deal with the methods used for pamlo4ng
(2.l)--selecting subjects whose linguistic behavior is repre-
sentative of the use of language in the urban ghetto areas;
for 9jdzttgLttez (2.2)--obtaining data from subjects which show
their full range of speech behavior, in perception and pro
duction, their values and norms in regard to language, their
verbal skills in the use of language in normal social context,
as well az data on their personal histories, peer group
relations, family situation? and social attitudes outside of
language; for Pn4vsles (2.3)--coding and transcribing the data,
correlating linguistic and extra-linguistic factors, and inte
grating the facts on linguistic and social variation into a
coherent set of linguistic rules which embody categorical and
variable relations.

2.1. lampling. The objectivv of this 'investigation is

to describe the grammar of a speech community, not of a
series of individuals. The speech community which is the
main target is Central Harlem--the area outlined in Pigure
2-1; the population of 200,000 people is 97'/0 Negro. The only
other group of speakers of any size within the community
participate to some
is a smaller number of Puerto Ricans who
degree in the cultural and linguistic system of the Negro
people. Within that community, we are primarily interested
in the vernacular used in casual and spontaneous interaction,
for two reasons: first, since previous research has shown that
this vernacular shows the most systematic aspect of the
linguistic pattern, as opposed to more formal styles; second,
because this is the vernacular used by the adolescent youth
who are having the greatest problems in reading. (Whether
or not the vernacular in its fully developed adolescent form
is identical with that used by 6-7 year olds when they first
learn to read is at present an unresolved issue.) The sub
population of greatest interest will be Negro boys from
10 to 17 years old in working-class and lower-class areas.
The linguistic behavior of this group will be viewed against
a background provided by a random survey ofdelineating
100 Negro adults
the
from middle class and working class areas,
sociolinguistic structure of the adult community, and of
course the general sociolinguistic structure of New York City
as a whole as developed in previous studies. The relation of
this central population of Negro boys to other populations
will be explored in a series of smaller, less systematic
studies which include: the linguistic behavior of younger boys,
members of Negro
7-9 years old; adolescent girls; Puerto Rlcan

25
Figu e 2 1. Central Harlem

-* Vacation Day Camps

to Lenox Terrace
R Riverton Apte
T 1390 5th Ave.
nJetu and "Cobra" areas
(mum" Outline of Central Harlem

-26-
peer groups; isolated boys who do not participate in the
vernacular culture; groups of white boys of similar.age and
background; and speakers from similar areas in other cities:
Philadelphia, Clcveland, Detroit, Chicago, and Venice,
California. These auxiliary studies will make it possible
to estimate the generality of our findings, and the extent
to which they apply to the problem of reading failure in
other areas.

The logic behind this order of sampling may be sketched

as follows. First it was necessary to deepen and broaden
our knowledge of the language and sub-culture of Central
Harlem, and build up a library of recordings to be used for
subjective reaction tests. Second, we had to establish a
base for studying adolescent peer groups in their natural
setting. Third, we had to move away from peer-groups operat-
ing under adult influence to those most removed from the
influence of adults, and maintain long-term contact with
participant-observer techniques. Finally, we wisned to
utilize our acquired knowledge of the vernacular culture in
order to obtain the widest range of response from adults in
a systematic random survey of individua1s.
In the course of this investigation, including both
CRP 3091 and 3288, 388 individuals were interviewed, and
34 group sessions were recorded. The quantitative distri
bution of these interviews is given in Table 2 1.

2.1.1 E lo nt vi ws The series of explora

tory interviews shown in Table 2 I began with an adult
series which was continued throughout the other studies
for approximately 12 months until a finished adult interview
form Q-HAR-Ad-IV (Appendix A) was constructed. These
exploratory interviews were generally scattered throughout
Central Harlem. They included four individuals who were
considered outstanding in their verbal skills, in narration
and in toasts (Chapter 4). A total of 37 adults were
included in this series which utilized various early stages
of Q-HAR-Ad.

Exploratory interviews with pre adolescent individuals

were conducted at the same time in variotts areas of Central
Harlem, especially the working class of Morningside Avenue
(see Figure 2-1) leading to the development of Q-HAR-PA-III
This exploratory series overlapped the random sample in
Vacation Day Camps. In addition, five groups were studied
and techniques were developed which were later utilized with
the Thunderbirds and other peer groups. A smaller number of
teen-age interviews were carried out in recreation centers
and other locations) but the Q-HAR-TA forms were not fully
developed until the peer group studies themselves were well
under way.

27-
 TABLE 2-1
INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS INTERVIEWED POR CRP 3288

Exploratory Other cities

New York City TOTAL
ZA IA As..1 EN Ma
13 37 21 21 97
Single 5
7 2 15
Groups 6

Pre-Adolescent [PA] Area

Vacation 1390 5th Ave. and environs 116th St. 112th St. Inwood
May Camp T-Birls loam's Aces EcsaA Milb. Cobras lagma iltIATTRIes

Single 50 16 9 4 8 5 4 5 5 106
c°

Group 4 1 1 1
sessions

Adolettcent (TA]
Oscar Bros.

Single 9 16 3 34 18 5 85
Group 2 4 5 12
sessions

Mat [Ad]
Lenox 112th St.
Terrace Linz= 116t4 St.

40 40 100
10 10
TOTAL INDIVIDUALS 388

TOTAL GROUP SESgtONS 34

 Interviews were conducted by the principal investigator
in a number of other cities. Although the selection of
informants was not systematic, the procedure was to locate
a low-income ghetto area comparable to Harlem, and to inter-
view several adolescent and pre-adolescent individuals and
groups. Several white working class groups were also
interviewed in most cities.

In this manner, data was obtained in ghetto areas of

Philadelphia, Cleveland, Detroit and Chicago. One area of
South Carolina was selected for more extensive study, since
the largest number of individuals encountered from any one
community was from the Sea Island area of South Carolina.
An extended visit to Beaufort County and St. Helena Island
in 1966 yielded interviews with three Negro adolescents
and four Negro adults, two Negro groups, and four white
informants as well.
Interviews in other Northern cities provide a useful
contrast since the speakers come from very different areas
of the South. For example, the subjects in Cleveland,
Detroit and Chicago were primarily from Alabama, a number
of those in Chicago were first or second generation migrants
from Missippippi. In Venice, California, many of the
Negro speakers were first or second generation migrants
from Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas. We are thus
able to make some informal estimate of the following
questions:

(1) how uniform is NNE from one Northern city to another?

(2) which regional features of various Southern dialects
survive in Northern Ghettos?
(3) what aspects of NNE are due to the influence of the
local Northern dialect?
(4) which rules of NNE are most subject to change from
the influence of the local white dialect?

For a comparable set of contrasts with Puerto Rican speakers,

interviews were carried out in Vineland, New Jersey, with
two groups of Puerto Rican adolescents who were first and
second generation migrants from Puerto Rico. Since these
groups were influenced only by the local r-pronouncing
Midland dialect and not by the New York City vernacular, they
form:id a useful contrast with the New York City Puerto Rican
speakers.

2.1.2 eries. In the summer

of 1965, permission was obtained from the New York City
Board of Education to interview boys in the Vacation
Day Camps', [NDC]; these were recreation centers set up in

-29-
various school yards throughout the city, with games and
outside trips for boys enrolled. This series was used to
generate a geographically random sample of pre adolescent
boys in Central Harlem to determine:
(1) the constant and variable characteristics of NNE
(2) any obvious geographic variation within Central
Harlem
(3) reading skills among pre-adolescents
(4) ability to perceive standard distinctions in
phonology and grammar.

The location of the day camps is indicated on Figure 2 1.

Each camp was weighted according to the population serviced
(calculated on number of blocks of tenement areas or low
income projects) and a total of 50 boys were interviewed
at the schools.

Only a part of the linguistic data from the VDC

interviews was utilized; however, the entire sample provides
information on perception through the PT tests and a number
served as a group contrasting with the vernacular peer
possible and
groups discussed below. Such contrast was built into the
enhanced through several biases which were
selection of VDC subjects:

1. With a few exceptions, the boys had to be enrol

led in the VDO program by their parents; therefore only
boys with favorable home environments were selected.
2. The boys interviewed at each center were selected
randomly; those chosen were not involved at the time in
tended to be drawn
any group activity. They therefore than those
from more isolated and semi-isolated individuals
participating fully in peer groups.
3. The day camps were an adult organized activity,
most antagon
run by the school system, and boys who showed This laias
ism to this system were less apt to be present. banned from
operates through two mechanisms: some boys are and
the centers for undisciplined or disruptive behavior,
others avoid them, preferring other activities.
4. The day camps provided a social setting which
favored careful style, as typically employed in face-to
face interaction with an adult; the various devices
utilized to obtain casual and spontaneous speech werethe inter-
therefore only partially effective. The fact that
view's were often held in a school room made this effect a
very strong one.
members of
Some of the VDC subjects later turned up as
of them did not
the peer groups studied, but the majority

-30-
appear to be full participants in the street culture.

2.1.3 2=2A21gggRII.SX23M. Tha next step taken in

approaching the NNE peer group and its use of the basic
vernacular was to study a particular recreation center in
detail. For longer-term observation, it was decided to
work in a permanent recreation center outside of the school
system. The Ohildren's Aid Society operates two such
centers: Stephen Foster at 1390 Fifth Avenue, and Dunlevy
Milbank at 32 West 118th Street. In 1965-6, we carried out
an extended series of interviews and observations pt Stephen
Foster, and a smaller number at Dunlevy Milbank.2I

The ilThuilLizdjin. In the initial series of

discussions and interviews, we located one major peer group
at the Stephen Foster Oenter, and began to study it using
the nS-G-Su paradigm. The procedure followed consists of
three basic steps: (1) locating a few members of the group,
including the leaders, and interviewing them in single
face-to-face sessions; (2) becoming acquainted with the
group in outings and then holding several group sessions
with multi-track recording; (3) finally holding single
interviews with all others who were present at the group
session,

This first group studied will be referred to through

out this report as the Thunder-birde or T-Birdsn. It
consisted of 18 boys 9 to 13 years old, including one
Puerto Rican boy. The nThunder-birdsu is merely one of
the names which were the successive formal transformations
the group went through under the influence of the Center
staff.

When we speak of umembere of the group, we mean the

mmbers of the peer-group structure formed by the daily
activities of the boys, and delineated most clearly by
hang-out patterns. (For the detailed structure of the
T-Birds, see 4.1 below). Although the center imposed some
structure on the group, the leadership and membership was
partlj independent of the center: some members were banned
from the center for bad behavior) and of the two co-equal
leaders, only one was officially recognized as an officer
at any one time.

We completed tha S-G-S paradigm with-the T Birds between

August 1965 and February 1966. Figure 2-3 shows graphically
the age range and history of our contacts with the group.
In the fall of 1965, we endeavored to place the T-Birds
against the over-all population from which the members were
chosen. The entire population of the 13-story low-income
project apartment was enumerated: names and ages,of all
children living in each apartment were obtained.4 Table 2-2

-31-
 F gu; .2 2, The Cobra and Jet ter t ries
Athat Adult
" obir
r a
FiXth
lilliatii.
v e niu e
1114.141011,olloitoolnlimlifoI4a,v
"Jet"
area

0 wow

enox Avenue

eventh Avenue
11111111111111111111111111PIIIIIIIIIIIMIHMIIIIIII

Eighth Avenue aNt

ale
John Lewis,
Club House
32-
 MN,

Figure 2 3. ntact with Thunder

birds over rle and age profile
of membera.
1 Thunderbirds
Group sea ions

Single interviews

9 L'UL2 1 2 4 7 31 2 23 4
1 965 6 6 19 7

8 9'1()U121314
Age

9 1234 56 789
1965 1 9 6 6

Figure 2 4, Contact with

Oobras over time and age 9 0114121314 6' 7
profile of members,
A g e

-33-
 house by ages, and
shows the population of this apartment
the manner in which the T-Birds dominate the,9-13 year age
4r/o of the
group. The fact that the T-Birds Include of the cen
population in this age group ie only one measure members were
trality of the group: most of those who were not indicated in
isolated by family pressure or other reasons, as and are kept°
footnotes. Some are of West Indian background,
Others are Puerto Rican
at home by strong family pressure.
and attend Catholic school. "Memberahip" is illustrated by
show the network of
the sociemetric diagrams in 4.14 which
marginal members and isol
associations which define members,
In this report, we shall
ated individuals in the project. members within the
not enter into detailed differentiation of with isolated indi
peer grouplbut we shall contrast members
best comparison
viduals, and the T-Birds project gives us the
population with which to do so.

Tale..449.2j/". We also studied a smaller group located

in another of the projects serviced by the Stephen Poster
group, the "Aces", were studied
Center. Pour members of thisindividual and group behavior.
in the complete paradigm of
detail to establidh the
The Aces were not studied in enough
full outlines of the group and of its relation to the building
whole; and this peer group therefore plays a minor part
as a
in our report.

The Children's Aid Roc

2 1.4 22920' effective adult
reation Center/3 repre ented a definite and
in the 1390 project. We
influence upon the social behavior in the tenement
therefore decided to study other peer-groups
the project area (see Figure 2-2). This
areas located west of
of Central Harlem shows minimum activity
region of28blocks In several years of
of any social service or youth agencies.
evidence of any such community
work in the area, the only recreation centers
agency we encountered was that several play basketball if
boys could
were maintained at which the scale gang fights are no longer
they wanted to. Sinoe large any contact
reported, no youth agency appears to maintain
with groups in the area, .34/
Several of the boys who used the
Thg..2g9trae. of a teen-age group called
ephen Foster Center were aware
appeared to be a fairly extensive groxp
e "Cobras", which the 116th-118th Street
influence located in
free of adult Avenues. Mr. Robins made the
area between Fifth and Seventh which appeared to show
with this group,
initial contact
nationalist influence and a pattern of fighting
fairly strong
characteristic of the vernacular culture.
and minor delinquency be known as the "Cobra" area
This tenement area, which will delineated in more detail
in the balance of the report, is in
It is one of the most depressed areas
in Figure 2-2.

34
 TABLE 2 2

RELATION OF TIL THUNDERBIRD OSCAR BROTHER

TO TOTAL POPULATION OF BOYS LI G IN 1390 5TH AVE.

Floor
.15 .1Q 11 za utai
10 10 10 10 10 10 10 121
Pamiliea 10 10 10 10 10

22 19 19 16 20 24 16 23 223
Children 19 19 11 15

Boys age 3
1 *
* * ** 6
2
3
3
1
4
2
5
4
6
** 4
7
* ** 5
8
TT * ** 9
9
T *4
10
de TT 7
11 *
12 T T
13 *;
12
* * 10
*0 10
6 * ** 0
0 *0 0 6
Oscar 17
Bros 0 * *4 5
18
19
20

;11 Puerto Rican

T Thunderbird
0 Oscar Brother West Indian
* non member p. kept at home

[NB one family on first floor, no children]

5
£Iax'lem, bc,rderiug on a region of 8t2fOflg acvy naxeo
tics,

At this time, Mr. John Lewis joined the OR $288 staff

as an interviewer and participant observer. He developed
further the contacts with the Cobras, whose social structure
and history Js discussed further in 4,1. During the period
of our study, the Cobras actually appear to have dissolved,
and a large section of the membership integrated into a new
group called the "Bohemian Brothers", which showed much
stronger commitment to nationalist ideology. As discussed
in 4.11 all Bohemian Brothers bore Muslim attributes in
addition to their slave (Christian and family) names and
participated in a rich development of verbal rituals and
other speech events under adult nationalist influence.
During the course of this transition, the Cobras and
Bohemian Brothers were studied through the S-G-S paradigm,
outingsl and several
including candid recordings en route to
Late in 1966,
group sessions with video-taped sections, dissolved
the Bohemian Brothers as a formal organizationofwasIslam.
in favor of general membership in the Nation broken off; .

After the second graup session, contact with

was
a group including
the members considered that any contact them
whites was not possible because it would render
knowledge (see
ritually unclean and lead to loss of occult
observations of Cobras and
4a), In late 1967, some further Lewis, Figure 2-4 shows
Bohemian Brothers were made by Mr. of our
the age profile of the Cobras and the history
contacts with them

While the T-Birds showed fairly stable membership

radical
despite changes of format, the Cobras underwent aIn this
change of membership, leadership and ideology. of the
report, the "Cobras" will include both members Brothers",
original Cobras and the re-formed "Bohemian
individuals who were
despite the fact that there are some observations of
not members of both groups. No extensive Cobra area.
isolated individuals were made in the

ItuLNEstte. The Cobras fought at various times

One of the largest
with a number of neighboring groups. of the Cobra
such groups, the "Jets", was located south primarily
region in the area from llth to 113th Street, Avenue.
on 112th Street between Lenox Avenue and Eighth
Mr. Lewis made contact with this group in January 1966.
rented to serve as a
An apartment on 112th Street was observer. The
base for Mr. Lewis's work as a participant
but contact with
basic S-G-S series was completed by May,
year. A fairly large
the Jets was continued over the next interviewed in this
number of isolated individuals were full and marginal members
area--23--to provide contrast with
of the Jets.

-36
 group see ions
single interviews
Pig. 2-5a. Contact over time
with Jets: 1001s block
8

17 12 1415 6 171819
Pig. 2 b. Age profile
of Jet 1001s block

1 234 7 8 9 10 11 1 23 4 5 6 7
9 6 6 1 9 6 7

8
Pig. 2 5c. Contact over ti e
with Jets: 200's block
1121 1415
Pig. 2-5d. Age profile
of Jets: 2001s block

Pig. 2 6. Contact over

time and age profile
of the Oscar Brothers

2'3 4 5 15 1.171819
1 9 6 6 A g e
..37
 At about the period of our first contact with the,Jeto
the group was considerably enlarged by the joining of a
somewhat younger_.peexh-group network located one block to the
west, on 112th Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues
see Figure 2-2). While this group remained somewhat self
contained from the point of view of immediate, day-to-day
hang. out patterns, it became officially and ideologically a
member of the "Jets

The age profile of the central and marginal members of

the two Jets groups is shown in Figure 2-5a-d, and the time-
profile of our contact with them is shown as well.
0obras
It must be understood that contact with the Jets and Mr.
was far more extensive than the interviews themselves:
saw the groups
Lewis was in the neighborhood every day, extenstve notes
on many casual sad social occasions, and made important
on the day-to-day activities of the groups and on
of the neighborhood
events. He was identified by the adults attributing
with the groups, and a social mythology grew up
The Cobras and the Jets
various anti-social motives to him,
many adults in the
were considered relatively "bad" by generally
community; the term "hoodlums" was applied, Once
it was
Mt, Lewis had been identified with the groups, groups.
difficult for him to deal directly with other age
f t n 0 br
population can
The question natura ly arises, what larger There is no
the Jets and Cobras be taken to represent? in a given
known method of enumerating all of the groups form and re-form,
neighborhood, since informal associations
over-lap, Our study did not select groups on the
cross and formed by day-to
level of the immediate or primarr group
level selectedthe Jets and the
day contact, Instead, the
level of teen-age
Cobras-- repzesents the next higher and can be
organization which is more precisely defined
Cobras are "named groups" whicho d
enumerated. The Jets and the 10-17 year
dominate a particular neighborhood within can exist on a
range, No more than one
such named group
block has such a
given block or neighborhood. Not every indicated on
named group--the geographical distr:Lbutiondensely concentrated,
Pigure 2-2 shows that the Jets are quite of the boys in that age
representing a very large proportion Cobras is a much more
range within a given block, while the is that we can assert
diffuse group. Yet the important fact the Jets and the Cobras
that no other named group lies between with which they are
Both groups refer to many other groups
directions, and both groups
in contact, in other geographiccontacts with each other. If
frequently refer to hostile
extst between the two, it could not have
any third group did the members.
escaped the "social knowledge° of

38-
 The Jets and Cobras a e clubs, spontaneously organized
by the members. As formal organizations, they have the fol-
lowing characteristics:
1. A name,
2 Membership,
3. Officers: president, vice p e ident, war lord,
prime minister.
4. A song.
5. A history.
6. A mythology, centering about certain encounters'
with other groups.
7. Initiation practices.
8. (A junior organization)a/

More important than these particular characteristics is the

very fact of group existence. Not everyone is equal y clear
on what the Jets and Cobras are, and it is very diff cult
to state when the group is meeting or operating as a group
(see 4.1). The actual texture of day-to-day contact is
formed by smaller "primary groups" which we investigate by
a number of means (one of the most important is the question,
"Who are the guys (cats) you hang around with?") Yet the
fact of Jet and Cobra existence, and their real or mytho in
logical role in influencing behavior at critical moments
grcyup history, cannot be denied.
"gang" activity
It must be nderstood that the pattern of In the 1950's
has changed radically in the past ten years. York City,
there was a great deal of gang fighting in New
and most young men in their 20's look back on the ganc as
essentially a fighting organization (Yablonsky 1963), but
The few
gang fighting is practically extinguished today. ideological
gang fights that do occur are magnified throughearlier period
lenses which are perhaps inherited from this the Cobras
of gang activity. Yet the ro31 of the Jets and solidarity in
as fighting groups is intact in the sense that
fighting with other groups provides the warrant, history,
is one of the primary
and justification of the group, and
sources of prestige for individual members.
began with the
In studying the Jets and the Cobras, we
leaders and central members, proceeded to the general memthe
bership, marginal members, and isolated individuals*on
number of individuals
fringes of the group. We also studied a the Jets
in the Jet neighborhood who had no connection with
language behavior of
at all. We thus obtained data on the most bound by the
the central members, most typical and number of
vernacular culture, as well as the language of a
individuals who participate only partly in this culture.
relation of these groups
One can make a rough estimate of the block on
to the total population as follows:. In the 100's
*names',
-39
L

112th Street, between $t Nicholas and Seventh Avenue, there

are 421 dwelling units. The 1960 Census shows an average of
3.05 persons per household in Central Harlem, which yields an
estipated 1284 individuals.6 Of these we can expect that
13.5',/0 will be males between 10 and 19 years old; that is,
an expected 173 individuals. Half of these would be
within our age range of 12-17 and we can therefore expect
from 70 to 90 adolescent boys in the area. We actually
interviewed 14 individuals from this block. The total popu
lation of adolescents includes many boys who are kept at
home by strong family influence or in other ways prevented
from participating fully in the street culture. The Jets
therefore represent a large proportion of the adolescent
members of the street culture on this particular block.

The selection of the two major adolescent peer groups,

the Jets and the Cobras, was particularly fortunate since
these two groups contrasted sharply in their attitudes toward
and participation in nationalist ideology. The Cobras [later
the Bohemian Brothers and members of the Nation of Islam] were
always influenced by nationalism and Muslim thinking, and
gradually became more deeply involved in the verbal rituals
of Muslim ideology. The Jets were completely uninfluenced
by the entire religious movement; in fact they expressed
hostility towards it. Even on the fundamental question of
eating pork--a life and death issue among the Oobras--the
Jets were indifferent. They rejected the notion that pork
was unclean, although they knew that it had to be cooked
well, and ate it without any feelings of guilt. The T-Birds
were in the Cobra area, and as noted above, older members
had contacts with the Cobras. We were able to observe the
gradual penetration of Muslim ideology into the T-Birds.

Th1.11mEaUthlE1. A third adolescent group of teen age

boys was studied in some detail--a group located in 1390
Fifth Avenue, the same project building as the T-Birds. This
was a somewhat older group, 16 to 18 years old, who did not
in fact form a club or formal organization on the level of
the Jets or Cobras. As Table 2-2 shows, they represent the
dominant group in the 16 to 18-year-old range in the project.
The name "Oscar Brothers" was conferred on them by the T-Birds,
who had called upon them for help In a number of fights; the
cry "Go get the Oscar Brothers!" had become a standard ele
ment in the history of T-Bird fights with other blocks. How
ever, the group was embarrassed by this label, and rejected
any such identification. In many ways, they tended to resist
the organizational pressures put on them by such highly orga-
nized groups as the nationalist Five Per Centers; even though
the T-Birds themselves showed the effectscof nationalist
ideology late in 1966 and 1967, the Oscar Brothers rejected
social organization of this type and hewed to a purely indi
vidual line. The "Oscar Brothers" is therefore a primary

-40
group and no more.
The age profile and our historj of contact with the
Oscar Brothers is shown on Figure 2-6. Their use of NNE
represents the first steps in the transition between ado-
lescent culture and entry into the adult community, and in
many ways provides us with insight into the linguistic shifts
characteristic of that movement.

2.1.5. Yrattg_ustung, In order to evaluate the

of Negro peer groups, and distin-
data derived from a study
guish NNE rules from general non-standard WNS grammars, it
is plainly necessary to make a close comparison with closely
matched white groups. In the Lower Bast Side study (Labov
1966a), it is possible to compare a good number of white and
Negro adolescent speakers from individual interviews carried
out in the home. One of these sessions, with a working-class
Irish-Italian family, brought together seven boys
in excited interaction, although the S-G-S paradigm was not
applied. Some comparisons of NNE and WNS are made from
these materials. However, we wished to include in the present
study a close examination of a pre-adolescent and a teen-age
white group, following the S-G-S paradigm with identical
intsrviews and *,7eading texts

It is difficult to find any section of Manhattan where

working-class whites are not in close contact with a Negro
population, In some areas, the cultural and linguistic
influence of the Negro group is very strong (Labov 1960:98).
To minimize such influence, a section of Manhattan was chosen
where the residential pattern separates the white and Negro
groups fairly well, and where extenstve contact occurs only
One
in schools: the Inwood section of Washington Heights.
pre-adolescent peer group was located in this area, and one
closely related adolescent group (that is, pairs of brothers
form the nucleus of both groups, a pattern similar to that
which prevails with the Cobras and Uets--see 4,1). These
were not named groups, but informal primary associations
similar to the Oscar Brothers. The S-G-S paradigm was
completed with the two Inwood groups, and these will form
an important base for comparison and interpretation in the
presentation of the results in Chapter 3.

2.1.6. othcs.12mth.ln.clatnalJaarlam. Adallftaants.ktla.

All of the approaches to peer-groups mentioned above involved
males. Comparison of male and female groups is unquestionably
an important step in the analysis of NNE; however, since
males are the chief exemplars of the vernacular culture, and
also show the most serious reading problems, it was decided
to concentrate upon males exclusively. One female group
associated with the Cobras, the uDanger Girlsn, was inter-
viewed at length in one session, but no individual interviews
were carried out.

-41-
 To study groups properly, it will be necessary to train
could duplicate Mr. Lewis's
several participant-observers who
work.
interviews,
Pre-Tn.:adolescents. From our exploratory would be
it was apparent that a different set of techniques is, our
necessary to work with boys nine and younger--that
methods were designed to elicit speech from the age ranges
the range of
of 10 to 12, and 13 to 17. In order to examine boys, a set
variation characteristic of grammars of boys
younger
7 to 8 years old
of five interviews was carried out with
from the Stephen Foster area. Many of these were younger
session was held
brothers of the T-Birds. One small group
basic
which showed that appropriate modifications of our
techniques for group work could be successful in eliciting
spontaneous speech from this age range.
While the work
2.1.7. Tia0...22.0APTO.ZURIL.a.L.ZAMlia.
out, Mr
on the adolescent peer groups was being carried
Robins continued to do exploratory work with adults in
Central Harlem. When the adult instrument (Q-HAR-Ad-IV)
stratified
was completed, it was decided to use it with a
random sample of three selected areas in Central Harlem.

1.Val.almtmiktaul.t.Taltaxy. the An area of high

and middle-income housing projects where maximum concen
tration of residents at the upper end of the socio-economic
of
scale in Harlem could be located. Two adjacent groups
apartments were selected: the Lenox Terrace (2186 Fifth
Avenue) and the Riverton middle income projects at E. 135
138th Sts. between 5th and Madison (see Figure 2-1).

2. The tenement working-class

The ILIQble?12.,tuzittuy.
Seventh Ave
area of 115th-116th Szreets between Fifth and projects
nues including that portion of the Stephen Foster terri-
studied previously, and the tenement area of the Cobra
tory. (See Figure 2-2).

3. Thg.uat2Limitgry. The working-class area of

112th Street, between Fifth Avenue and Eighth.. Avenue,
including the tenement area of the Jet territory and the
lower portion of the Stephen Foster low-income projects
(see Figure 2-2).
Sampling of these three areas provided us with the
maximum contrast between middle-class and working-class
the Jet
groups. The conditions of the tenement houses in
and Cobra territory and other information led us to believe
that the Jet area would show a higher concentration of
employed working-class families, and the Cobra territory a

-42-
higher concentration of unemployed families on welfare.
Random samples of adults in these areas gave us a view of
the linguistic behavior of the adult society which surrounded
the T-Birds, Jets and Cobras. It would have been possible
to interview only the families of the boys already studied;
however, it was felt that it would be more realistic to
adult
compare adolescent behavior with that of the entire
community, since The immediate family is only one of many
adult influences on the boys, and many of the Cobras, for in
example, lived away from home for long stretches of time
empty apartments talcen over by the group. Secondly, extensiva
contact with the adult families would have made it difficult
to maintain contact with the Cobras and Jets on the same the
Lewis; much of
direct relationship, particularly for Mr.
free communication between him and the Cobras andtouch
the Jets
with
was based on the premise that he would not be in
their families.

Anuaalmjszlia. The following sample design was set

up for the three areas:
TABLE 3
Z f 11 ;. gar.A.A7.222 Att.Arm.
Age Male Female Male Female
Male Female
level 10 10
20-39 5 10 10
5
10 10 10 10
40- 5 5
from the
These cells were to be filled by random selection
entire population; when a given cell was completed, any
fall into that
further subjects selected randomly who would
Tftis procedure was
category were ineligible for the sample. studies that men
followed since it was found in previous espe-
were much harder to locate and interview than women, not
cially men in the 20-30 age range, so that samples .

so stratified had an excess o_ females and

older males 7/
unstratified
An even more serious bias is found with an
levels. A
sample in the completion rates for socio-economic sociologists
.

survey conducted by HARYOU in 1965 by the following com

well trained in survey techniques, showed
parison with census figures of family incomes:
Percent Percent
Puday..inresm In...aumle, ill cells110

wider 1,000 12 32
$30000- 4)999 34 32
M000- 6,999 26 21 N:453
$7,000 and over 28 15
(HARYOU-ACT 1965:130)

-43-
 inverts
This result of differential completion rates actually
it very dif
the 300.0 tructure of the community, and makes Almost two
ficult to interpret the results of the survey. the
thirds of the lowest income group was absent, and twice
proportion of the highest income group was represented.
Clearly it is essential to avoid such a bias if we are to
obtain any realistic view of the sociolinguistic structure
designed 1Jo that end.
of the community, and Table 2-3 is
It is of course not difficult to weight these sub-groups
relation of our own s-
by the census figures and show tile
ple to the over-all population of Harlem.

AguctimmmagAgtla. In the Lenox Terrace projects,

and
one apartment house was selected: 2186 Fifth Avenue,
twelve buildings were selected in the Riverton projects.
seventh apartment
The apartments were enumerated and every of
selected. In the Jet and Cobra areas, the total number
number
dwelling units was first estimated by counting the basic
of floors in each building and multiplying by the
totals were
number of apartments in each. The approximate
tenements low income projects total

2327 550 2877

Cobra area

Jet area 1968 520 2.40

5,365

The 1960 census average of 3.05 persons per family would

sampling from a total
then lead us to expect that we were unit' was
population of about 16,000 people. A 'building
defined as follows:
No, of residential No. of building
units in building units

15-24
1
2
25-49
50-75 3
76-100 4

Every third building unit was selected for study. Within

selected by a table of
this unit one dwelling unit was
random numbers. If the apartment was empty, or the person
incapacity, place of birth,
ineligible (by reason of physical
made by *he following rule
age, or sex), selection was
a. rightmost adjacent
b. leftmost adjacent
0. second on right
d, second on left, etc,

44-
 rates ac u lly inve ts
This result of differential completion
and makes it very di
the socio-structure of the community, Almost two
ficult to interpret the results of the survey. the
thirds of the lowest income group was absent, and twice
proportion of the highest income group was represented.
Clearly it is essential to avoid such a bias if we are to
obtain any realistic view of the sociolinguistic structure
o that end.
of the community, and Table 2-3 is designed
It is of course not difficult to weight these sub-groups
relation of our own sam
by the census figures and show the
ple to the over all population of Harlem.

Se eot n Dro edutgA. In the Lenox Terrace projects,

and
one apartment house was selected: 2186 Fifth Avenue,
twelve buildings were selected in the Riverton projects,
seventh apartment
The apartments were enumerated and every
selected. In the Jet and Cobra areas, the total number of
number
dwelling units was first estimated by counting thebasic
of floors in each building and multiplying by the
totals were
number of apartments in each. The approximate
tenements low-income projects total

2327 550 2877

Cobra area

Jet area 1968 520 ZAN

5, 365

The 1960 census average of 3.05 persons per family would

sampling from s total
then lead us to expect that we were unit' was
population of about 16,000 people. A 'building
defined as follows.
No, of residential No. of building
units in building units

15-24 1
2
25-49
50-75 3
76-100 4

selected for study. Within

Every third building unit was selected by a table of
this unit one dwelling unit was
random numbers. If the apartment was empty, or the person
place of birth,
ineligible (by reason of physical incapacity,
made by the following rule:
age, or sex), selection was
a. rightmost adjacent
b. leftmost adjacent
a. second on right
d second on left, etc.

-44
 1ot Totof t rv ews, Letters were sent and
addresee"l to t e male imad of the household, or to the
female if no male was present. The form of the letter is
given in Appendix B. The focus of the letter was on the
exploration of regional customs in general, rather than
language in partiovlar; explicit discussion of language, as
one of these customs, was not introduced until the second,
formal part of the interview. Although the letter is effec
tive in reducing suspicion and resistance to interviewing,
it was not as effective in working-class areas. As indi
cated by the HARYOU survey, the normal resistance to inter
viewing and suspicion and fear of the interviewer's motives,
is exaggerated in Central Harlem. A much greater number of
broken appointments and outright refusals was found than
is normal in such surveys, even in urban areas. Although
the letter had some effect in reducing suspicion and gaining
admittance, a great many people in the Cobra and Jet areas
did not (or could not) read it, The letter was then supple
mented with a coupon (see Appendix B) which was remarkably
effective in increasing the rate of interviews completed.

F na z-q_e e v ew d n c.,_et r t Table

2-4 shows the distribution of the completed sample of 100
subjects, and Table 2-5 shows the completion rates in each
area. The completion rate for the Lenox-Riverton area is
quite low, partly because the survey was conducted in the
summer, and partly because the target sample was overextended
to 58 units from the original 40. The primary target was
the working-class °Jeto and Cobrau areas, where the sampling
and interviewing problems were greatest, and the major effort
in obtaining interviews was made there. The completion rates
for the Jet and Cobra areas are satisfactory, and show that
the principal bias of the HARYOU survey was avoided.

The adult sample shows an equal balance of men and

women because of the special effort made in this direction.
The procedurp with older men did not give much difficulty,
since the 50Vo ratio was achieved by interviewing the male
head of the family whenever he was available; otherwise, the
female head was interviewed. However, the i'undamental dif
ficulty with younger men was not solved, and a supplemantary
group of three younger men was interviewed at the HARYOU
Drug Rehabilitation Center, 2285 Eighth Avenue. We have
reason to believe that many young men in our sample whom
we could not locate or interview are engaged in illegal or
semi-legal occupations, and in one way or another in contact
felt that these
with the narcotics trade. It was thereforesample in a way
three subjects would help to complete the
that would correct the bias in this direction.

2.1.8. Pther interviewa. In addition to these inter

views, a large number of other interviews with Negro and
 TABLE 2 4
DISTRIBUTION OF ADULT SUBJECTS

20 39 ear8 over 40 TOTAL

Nala Ranalk. Maig 7emale
Lennox-Riverton 5 3 7 7 22

Cobra territory 10 9 10 10 39

Jet territory 10 11 11 10 42

Geographic area raised in 4-13 years

AMU N 0 ro
Lennox Riverton 29°,/o
330/0 noro
Cobra territory 57 07 36
Jet territory 62 06 32

TABLE 2 5
COMPLETION RATE FOR ADULT SAMPLE

Sample
Arun. atual InIstralamal
Lennox Terrace 28 3 8 10
Riverton Apts 30 3 12
Cobra territory 64 12 9 39
Jet territory 71 9 16 42**1'

*Including three supplementary informants from Addiction

Rehabilitation Center and one from 1390 5th Ave.
**Including one supplementary informant from Addiction
Rehabilitation Center and one from 1390 5th Ave.

46
Spanlsh-spe king informants was available from the following
series carried out in earlier studies:

201 interviews with New York City informants from

the Lower East Side studies, including 39 Negro
subjects

52 interviews with boys 14 17 years old, represen

ting the population of the Bronx Youth House in
August of 1964, including Negro and Puerto Rican
subjects

85 interviews in Venice, California, carried out by

a class in Sociolinguistic Field Methods conducted
by the principal investigator in tha summer of
1966, including one-third Negro and one third
Spanish-speaking subjects.

A supplementary series of six Negro adolescent boys was

gathered by Mr, John Story for CRP 3288 in the fall of 1966
to ensure greater comparability between the Venice and the
New York City series.

2,1.9.ArdiggLzesaal. With the assistance of the New

York City Board of Education8, we were able t' review the
school records for the following subjects whom we had inter
viewed'
211.2=1.919.29.01 AlatEMI. '29.111,

Peer group members 18 29 47

Isolated individuals 27 9

83

From these school records we obtained data on reading and

other academic skills through scores on the Metropolitan
Reading Achievement Tests and Iowa Tests, Pinter-Cunningham
IQ tests administered in the first grade, recent school
grades, health records, attendance records, parents' birth
place, and some data on behavior and discipline.

2.2, Instruments and methods for eliciting data

A wide variety of means were used for obtaining the

linguistic data and other information: (1) questions asked
in face-to-face interview procedures4 (2) group interview
procedures; (3) reading texts and word lists; (4) perception
and correction tests; (5) subjective evaluation tests; (6)
memory or repetition tests,

47
 2.2.1, pmaauxu, Appendix A
contains the main body of twQ of the basic instruments:
the adult form Q-HAR-Ad IV, and the adolescent form used
by John Lewis, Q-HAR-TA Hip. Excerpts from Q-HAR-PA-III,
the pre-adolescent form, are given in CRP 3091, These
show the general outline and some particular questions
used in the face-to-face interviews. They are not ques-
tionnaires in the sense normally intended in survey method
ology, since they do not obtain identical information from
all subjects in most areas. The questions In the survey
are never asked in exactly the same way, and seldom in the
same order. The purpose of the interview procedures can
be outlined under the following headings:
1 To elicit the maximum amount of speech, in a wide
range of styles.

To obtain demographic data and information on

family structure and peer-group structure.

To obtain specific information on the speaker's

phonological treatment of particular forms.

To elicit a wide range of values and attitudes

towards ihe values of street culture (toughnesst
trouble, excitement, smartness, fate, sex, cool);
values of the ethnic group (nationalism, and other
specifically Negro concerns); values of middle
class society (school and job aspirations); and
attitudes towards speech (SR and other tests).

5. To obtain examples of the use of language which

illustrate the verbal skills of the speaker
(sounding,narratives, toasts).

6. To obtain data on the subject's ability to per

ceive and reproduce certain contrasts between
standard English and the vernacular (PT, CC, and
VC tests)

Many of the questions asked in the interview embodied

several of these purposes, while others were more limited.
In order to ensure the objective of the primary function
(1), a general rule was established that no question take
more +han five seconds to ask, so that the main body of the
recorded material was the speech of the subject, not the
interviewer,

Mr. Robins' interviews were recorded on a Nagra Model

IIIBH full-track tape recorder, and Mr. Lewis's on a Uher
4000-S half-track machine, In all cases, RCA BK6B lavalie e
microphones were used. The primary means of increasing signal
to-noise ratio and obtaining optimum quality was the place
ment of the microphone within twelve inches of tha speaker's
mouth,

48-
 The construction of the interview forms and the general
design are discussed in some detail in CRP 3091, pp, 14-27.
This report will not be concerned with detailed analysis
of the responses to the content questions on values and atti
tudes, but rather with the internal relations of the lin i
stic data and correlations with the most important extra
linguistic facts. We will therefore confine the following
discussion to techniques developed beyond the level indicated
in CRP 3091 and to certain specific issues on the use of the
interview procedures.

rthe r dole nt ni; w o The pre

adolescent form Q HAR PA was used principally in the
Vacation Day-Camp series and with the T-Birds and Aces.
This procedure is discussed most fully in CRP 3091.

Tba_TA:111m_Tataxlm. The teen-age interview

schedule Q-HAR-TA as first developed was based upon the
pre-adolescent form, expanded to take into account the
differing interests of the older boys. While the language
used was info:EalA and intended only as a base for the
actual colloquial forms used in the interview itself, the
phraseology and style were quite distinct from that of the
Negro adolescents in Central Harlem. Mr. Lewis re-wrote the
Q-HAR-TA form entirely to fit in with his own style as Q-
HAR-TA-Hip, which allowed him to perform more naturally
his basic rolt as participant-observer. Some comparisons of
Q-HAR-TA and Q-HAR-TA-Hip are given below,

Q-HAR-TA Q HAR TA Hip

Wetd like to know how differ Weld like to dig how hip
ent people in this town are folks are around here. We
from people in other parts of know folks here in Harlem
the 'wuntry...we know people have a hipper way of doing
around here have their glva way things than folks in other
of doing things. Weld like to parts of the country.
sit down with you and get xam
ideas on what makes this town
tick--like I wlnt to know from
you what's happening.

2.0. Is there one guy the others 2.0. Is one cat the leade
listen to? who? who?

2.1. Is ha the smartest, the 2.1. Is he the slickest,

biggest, or the toughest? the biggest, or the
best with his hands?

49
 (Q HAR TA) (Q HAR TA-Hip)
Were you ever in a situa 3*1. Were you ever in a bag
tion, a time or a place4 where you were up tight
where you were in serious and almost blew your
danger of being killed? life?
where you said to your-
self, "This is it"?
3.2. What happened? 3.2. What went down?

For the text of Q HAR TA Hip, see Appendix A.

t rv e fo m n u e. All interviewers
approached the interviews with considerable flexibility.
Whenever possible, specific knowledge of the peer group
being studied was used to produce the greatest possible
volume of casual speech, and any questions which threw
light on peer-group structure were followed up in detail;
a steadily increasing body of knowledge about the particular
events important to that group was effective in decreasing
the distance between interviewers and subject which impedes
the flow of speech. The following excerpts from Mr. Lewis's
interviews will serve to illustrate these principles in action.
From a single interview between John Lewis [0] and the war
lcrd of the Jets [15 years old; Tape 624:164 ff]

KC: What was the best rumble you ever saw?

Bel Um, let me see. With us against the Cobras
KC: What happened?

Bel: See there was only, ylknow, there was eight of us, so
we was in a park, so was all the Cobras there. So
said, so I sent a guy back, I say, "Man, hurry up and
go and tell Hop and fem to hurry up." So Hop and lem
was cowing, yoknow, we didn't know it, so we started,
we got ready to fight. And it was only seven of us
against all the Cobras; then all our boys jumped from
behind the wall. Then the Cobras ran, boy. They was
catching lem all and doing it to 'em, boy...

ICC: Did the Jets ever fight the Cobras when the Jets ran
from the Cobras? Never? Huh?

Bel: Can you explain that all over?

50-
KC: I said, did the Jets ever fight-- well, it's because
I -- see, the reasons I ask you is because, you know,
you told me how the Cobras ran from you, now.

JL: Oh, we never ran.

KO: Huh? Never ran? What happen that time you was
getting ready to fight the Cobras that night?

Bel: You mean when the cops came?

KC:* No, I mean that night when I was around.

Bel: Oh, see, they had called, y'know, there was going to
be that Peaches and Rickie, I think and Rickie ran,
they told lem, so they came to the Center and got us.
So we went looking for Rickie and 'ern, we went around
there. So we was talking to fem, so we start talking,
ylknow. So then we couldn't find Rickie and fem. We
look down there. Somebody said they had saw Rickie
and they came and ran. So then we went back and we
came back again with Micky and them

Without KO's personal knowledge of the situation, the

second narrative would never have been obtained; without his
ability to work with and within the group, neither narrative
Appendix A
would have been recorded. For further examples, see
The basic S-G-S paradigm was
1:1101-fejtatsriLlem.
completed with both the Cobras and the Jets. While Mr. Lewis
a large number
was interviewing the last group of Jets, and shifted to double
of isolated individuals in the Jet area, we
interviews in which two boys who were close aGsociates were
lava-
interviewed together. Two RCA BK-6-B
liere microphones were used through a simple Y-connection.
Without a mixer, one signal was always stronger than the
other, and it was therefore not difficult to distinguish
of the two
one speaker from the other. The interaction
friends led to a considerable increase in the volume of
speech and the spontaneity of response, so that these double
Interviews were one step closer to group sessions than the
single interviews. Considerable skill was needed to obtain
comparable and complete responses from both, and some data
was lost or made less certain, as in responses
to questions on hangout patterns (Who are all the cats you
speech
hang out with?). However, the gains in volume of since
and other data more than offset this loss, especially
sessions.
many of these individuals were not present at group

Atyle_glifiing. One of the basic aims of the

styles,
methods used was to elicit speech in a wide range of

-51-
particularly the basic vernacular characteristic of casual
speech or in spontaneous speech. The fundamental problem
to be solved, as discussed elsewhere, is that the question-
and-answer format and the general social definition of the
interview situation interferes with this aim. For pre-
adolescents and teen-agers, the basic method of obtaining
spontaneous speech is to allow the peer group to control
speech in group sessions, as discussed below. In the Lower
East Side study, it was found that the techniques for
eliciting style shifts with adults were not regularly effec-
tive with adolescents. But the techniques for allowing adults
to shift from careful to a =re casual shift were effective
in the LES study, and the same techniques were used with
adults in the Q-HAR-Ad procedure. Questions on childhood
interests, fighting, and on the danger of death elicited
narratives which were plainly different from other speech.
Long digressions from other questions provided similar
opportunities. However, the para-linguistic criteria for
confirming the existence of a style shift independent of the
phonological and grammatical data were different in the
only
Harlem study. Instead of selecting five channel cues,
one was used: change in intonation pattern. We observed
dramatic shifts from the limited range of intonation con-
tours characteristic of SE and WNS to a much wider range,
including falsetto, which is characteristic of NNE. Thls
pattern is so regular that it proved to be the most reliable
indication of a style shift. All of the passages extracted
from the adult interviews as casual speech were so marked.
The results confirm the fact that such intonation changes,
of
even on an impressionistic basis, are good indicators
a style shift.
RealAilum. Each individual interview included
readings of texts and of isolated words: for detailed
discussion see CRP 3091 pp. 21-28. The pre-adolescent
subjects and most of the adolescents read nine sentences
which test the speaker's ability to decipher the past-
tense meaning of the -ed suffix and transfer it to the
interpretation of the homograph read in a following clause.
The longer reading "Nobody Knows Your Name" was read by
all adults and many teen-agers. Texts of both are given
in Appendix A.

Cl....,Qui,00m,Agamec.s. The pre-adolescent

interviews included a test which determined the subject's
ability to detect NNE forms in an SE context typical of
the classroom. For details of the form see ORP 3091,
pp 21-22, and for results section 4.5 below.
Perception Tests. Pre-adolescent interviews also
included a test of the subject's ability to perceive SE
phonological distinctions which are absent for many NNE
-52-
speakers. Details of the test are given in CRP 3091 pp 23-25,
and results in section 4.5 below.

The ..L.,dul_A_InrverFjam. The last of the inter-

view forms to be developed was Q-HAR-Ad-IV, which enters
more deeply into the value systems of the community than any
of the others. Many of the questions embody our previous
knowledge and assumptions about known behavior patterns and
value systems of Harlem residents, and the questions probe
further into these activities and value systems. Extracts
from the text are given in Appendix A.

pliodective Evaluatlon Tests. For the adult inter-

view, evaluation tests were developed which registered the
subject's unconscious reactions to particular linguistic vari-
ables. The construction of the tests followed the general
principles used in the Lower Bast Side study (Labov 1966a:XI)
but with a richer set of evaluative scales. The key sentences
in which the variables were concentrated were drawn from
the reading "Nobody Knows Your Name" (Appendix .1). All the
speakers were men. The variables selectad for examination
were Northern vs. Southern style, (th), (r) and consonant
cluster simplification (KD). The basic technique used here
was to prepare a aeries of utterances in which the same
speakers are heard using "zero" sentences with no linguistic
variable of interest, and sentences in which particular values
of the variable are concentrated. Rather than have actors
or linguists simlate these variables, we insist upon test
materials in which the natural production of members is
judged. However, it was not possible to locate Negro work-
ing class men in Harlem who used the basic vernacular and
yet read well enough so that their aKticulation rather than
their reading skill would be judged.° Yet it is clearly
essential that the speech heard be controlled so that only
one major variable is contrasted in any pair of sentences.
The technique which was finally adopted was to have a work-
ing class speaker repeat back a given sentence many times,
rather than read it; furthermore, a speaker was located who
could give a wide range of "Southern" or "casual" styles as
opposed to his "cal'eful" or "Northern" style. From twenty-
five such repetitions we selected two polar types which exem-
plified the contrasts we needed. The details of the variables
are given in section 4.6 where the results of the SR test
are discussed.

In the Lower East Side study, only one scale for judg-
ments was used -- a scale of job suitability which measured
overt middle-class values. In this test, the number of sen-
tences was reduced from 22 to 10, and three or four scales
were used:

-53-
 a. Job suitability. In answer to the question, "What
is the highest job this speaker could hold, talking the way
he does?", the listener checked off his judgment on an eight
point scale:

Television announcer
School teacher
Office manager
Salesman
Post Office clerk
Foreman
Factory worker
None of these

Figure 2-7 shows the characteristic format on which judg-

ments were registered.

b. Toughness. There were two forms of this question.

For adults and isolated teen-agers, we asked, "If the speaker
was in a street fight, what are the chances of his coming out
on top?" Por members of the street culture, we asked, "How
tough do you think the speaker would be in a street fight?".
The scales on which judgments were given were:

Q-HAR-Ad
110:1,64-2LIE
Certain Stone killer
Almost certain Killer
Very likely Tough
Zikely Average
Possibly Lame
Not likely Turkey
Very unlikely Punk
Never Faggot

Friendship. In answer to the question, "If you

got to know the speaker very well, what are the chances of
his I.:oming a good friend of yours?", listeners rated the
speakJi on the same eight-point scale from Certain to Never
as with Q HAR Ad, above.

d. Self knowledge, The concept of "self knowledge"

is a measure of participation and knowledge of nationalist
ideology. This scale was used only with peer-group members
who participated in nationalist culture; they responded to
the speakers in answer to the question, 'Tow much self-know
ledge would you guess that the speaker has?", on the following
scale:

-54-
 SR-H-1
Q-HAR Ad

job this speaker could hold, talking the way he doe..

What is the highest
8 3 1.2

Television announcer
School teadher

Office manager
Salesman
Post office clerk

Poreman
%SI

Factory worker
None of these

Figure 2-7. Form for the Subjective Reaction Test,

Job Suitability Scale SR-H-1
 Allah
Brother
Original man
Afro
Negro
Brainwashed
Pork chop
Stone pork chop

In all of these scales, there existed the possibility

that the speakers did not see the labels of the scale as a
linear series, To offset such complications, we indicated
to all subjects that the labels were not important in them-
selves, but that the scale was to resister one's feelings
about the matter -- No. 7 was the umostn, 0 was the nleastu,
and everything else in between. The patterns of responses
confirmed in most cases that the scales were regarsiled as
linear, and that the judgments did not represent specific
selections of the labels.

Scaling difficulties did arise with some of the adoles

cents who used the rating scales, It was found that the ver
nacular forms used for toughness and self-knowledge were not
linear -- many felt that eight distinctions could not be made
with those terms. Items 2, 4 and 6 were then blocked out,
leaving a four-point scale with three mid-points. However,
the scale
many of the subjects did not use the mid points, and
was then functioned on four points only.
The results of the subjective reaction tests (SR tests)
are presented in section 4.6.

F; ALro s. T:tt The first of the evalua

tion tests registered over all ability to identify a given
speaker as a member of a given ethnic group. The primary
focus of the test was upon the contrast of Negro and white
speakers raised in various regions, in a variety of speech
situations which favored or disfavored the use of NNE.
Fourteen speakers were heard, and the subjects asked to
answer the crtAestion, 'That is the family background of
the speaker?ff, by checking off one of the following:

Irish
Italian
Afro-American
Spanish
Jewish
German
Other white
 For any of these, he symbols NI or W could be used
to indicate "Northern", "Southern" or "Western" regional
origin.

The dialects of the first four speakers did not involve

any issue conceroJing the relations of NNE and SE.

They represent (1) working-class Italian New York City

speech, (2) a strong Yiddish accent, (3) a Cuban-Spanish
accent in English, and (4) a strong Irish (Cork) accent.
The remaining ten speakers show various contrasts along the
North-South, Negro-white axes with several cases of the
same speakers in different conditions shifting their posi
tions along these dimensions in varying conditions. These
samples include white Southerners often identified as Negroes;
white Southerners shifting towards NNE in speaking to Negroes;
Northern Negro speakers raised in white communities; white
Northern speakers with strong Negro influence in their speech;
Negro speakers shifting styles radically in talking to Northern
whites or to Southern speakers of NNE. The details of each
case are presented along with the results in section 4.7.

2.2.2. 2stgap.smagna. The most important data

upon which this study is based is the language of pre
adolescent and adolescent speakers of NNE in spontaneous
interaction with each other -- situations in which the peer
group controls language in the same manner as in every
day life, outside of the adult-dominated environments of
the school and the home.

When the peer groups and their leaders were first

located, one or two outings were held in which eight
to fourteen members went with the project staff to var
ious points outside of Manhattan (the members were
selected by the peer group leaders, up to the limit
of the capacity of the Volkswagon Microbus used). These
outings included trips (and cook-outs) to Palisades
Interstate Park across the Hudson River, and to Staten
Island across the Verrazano Bridge. Members were al-
ways quite eager to take part in these expeditions:
the great majority had never visited these places or
other points outside of Harlem, although many had
traveled to family homes in the South.
Wooded parts of New Jersey were strange to the T-Birds, and
many were afraid of snakes and wild animals in the underbrush.
Mr. Lewis used the outings as a strong inducement selected
for individual
from
interviews: the members who could go were often
those who had "had their interview.9
Recordings were made in the microbus on several of these
outings, and valuable records were obtained of extended examples
of sounding, rifting and other speech events (see 4.4 below).
One recording was made of a group discussion with the T-Birds
outdoors in New Jersey. However, these recordings have two
major defects:

(1) Despite the use of the Nagra and good microphones,

talk-
the sound quality and the interference from many speakers
ing at once makes it impossible to transcribe more than 40-60
and
per cent of the text accurately enough for good syntactic
phonological analysis.

(2) It is impossible to be sure of the identity of the

these points
speaker for most utterances. Members' judgments on
were less accurate than our own.
Such group recordings can be utilized as supplementary data
been de
once the range of variation of individual members has whole
termined, and the linguistic behavior of the group as a
data must be derived
can be interpreted. However, the basicindividual is accurately
from recordings in which data on each
preserved.
basic data for the
The group sessions which provide the
analysis of pre-adolescent and adolescent speech were designed
microphone was used for
to solve this problem. A lavaliere recorded on a separate
each individual, and his speech was
track. One or two group microphones were used in addition
listener in the center
to record the over-all sound which a factors whien
of the room would receive. All of the other
determine speech production were favorable to spontaneous
and casual speech, so that the effect of the recording pro
overridden.
cess --though never entirely eliminated -- was
This will be apparent in the excerpts from group sessions
given in Appendix 0.
the
The group sessions took place in the offices of isolated
research project and adjacent areas - several large,
Arrange
rooms in the basement of one univcrsity building. with
ments for the group sessions were made well in advance hours
the leaders of the peer groups; nevertheless, several
However, when the
delay in assembling the group was normal.
microbus was full the desire to attend the "party" or group
session was so strong that some selection had to be made on

58
the basis of previous single interviews, as indicated above.

The structure of the group sessions, as developed over

several early meetings and continued throughout the series,
involved alternations of formal activities and interim per
iods, during whicl-, some of 'lie most important data was re
corded. Figure 2-8 is a whematic diagram of ors( tzation
of group sessions.

1. Sports. In a large 201x 301empty room adjacent

to our offices, various forms of improvised baseball with
wiffle-bat bail and Oastic bat were performed. Mr. Cohen's
athletic style increased his personal contact with the groups
and diminished the Negro-white distance. In another empty
room, several local games were played: 1,02,0, or gMalm
a complex pre-adolescent street game played with weighted
bottle-caps; and see-low, a dice game involving three dice.
Arguments and explin70511 of the rules and conversation in
lie course of the game was recorded by a single microphone
suspended from the ceiling.

2. Card games and recording set-up. The members with

lavaliere microphones on, sat down around a card table facing
each other, while the staff busied themselves setting up and
otestingil the recording equipment for 20 or 30 minutes. The
card games provided an ideal way of allowing members (a) to
choose their own seating arrangements, (b) face each other and
allow staff members take up positions outside the inner ring,
(c) interact with minimum attention paid to speech in a situa
tion which the members assume is noutsiden of any Interview
situation. Furthermore, some kind of cheating is inevitable
within the peer groups, and there are frequent accusations
of cheating: these accusations give us a large corpus of
questions from one member to another - the one type of utter
ance least frequent in face-to-face interviews.

Seats are selected by the members themselves, and seat

positions thus coincide with the actual structure of the group.
Figure 2-9 shows seating structures arrived at in the card
games for the largest group session, Jets II. (See section
4.l.for discussion of the significance of this arrangement.)

3. Group discussion. After the card game was stopped

(a process which sometimes involved some friction) general
questions were raised, usually by Mr. Lewis or Mr. Robins,
for group discussion. The most fruitful of these concerned
important incidents of the previous few weeks or earlier in
cidents which loomed large in the group's history. For tha
T-Birds, several of the classic neighborhood fights wlth rocks
and zip-guns were central; for the Cobras, we have such events
as the time they stole a chicken in Brooklyn, carried it home
on the subway and systematically destroyed it; for tha Jets,

-59-
 Figure 2 Schematic outline of group
sessims as developed for Jets and Cobra
[Solid lines: activities ov which
the sessions were formally ranged.]

1, $ports. Whiff e ball, S e

low, karate exhibition

fl"
Card game and set up time.
Members seated around table
facing each other.
mini WIN MIMI OM. 001. 011

3, Discussion of recent events

between Jets and Cobras. The
fight in Central Park; the
ceafrontation at the door.

e%
/ N 4, Food. Potato chips, pretzels
. . and soda available somewbat be
. ,/ fore and hereafter.

..010 010. IM0 .0.4. ..

/ 5 Sounding. Initiated by staff
/ members, continued among group
members
4.01,

6. Singing. Formal aud o and

video tape recording of group.

7. Video tapes. Watching Law,

Zlay title fights, and amateur
boxing. Members run machine.

8. Break up. Recording continued

outside framework of oesal.on.

60-
 Figure 2-9. 8eatin g a ran ent for second
group session with the Jets, HAR TAG 7.

JETS Feb 21 966

Size of circle
is a rough in
dication of
group status

Notes: Junior, Larry and Peaches are brothers.

Rea_ is Puerto Rican; Spanish is spoken at home.
Stanley is President, Rednall is Vice-President,
Rel is Prime Minister of the Jets.
Tinker, Johnny, Tommy and Stevie are from the
200Is block, the rest from the 1001s block.
Tinker, Johnny and Tommy sounded against each
other through most of the session, Stevie com-
municated alternately with 100's and 200's group.
-60a-
the fight in Central Park with the Cobras and the confron-
tation at the door in their hang out with the Cobras (see
section 4,1 below).

4, Food. Serving of soda, popcorn, potato chips,

and more substantial food provided a long informal period
during which any formal "interview structure" would not
be considered to prevail.

5. Sounding. In this period, a staff member would

initiate sounding or ritual insults by introducing a fairly
simple sound, characteristic of pre-adolescents, and easily
surpassed, such as "Your momma drink pee.". Long sections
of sounding between group members were often recorded, and
in addition, even longer sounding sessions were recorded
en route in the microbus (see section 4,2).

6. Singing. Up to this point, the video camera had

been used off and on to record various sections of group
interaction. It was now used formally to record individual
and group singing.

7. Video tape. The video tape machine was then set

up to play back certain programs of maximum interest --
amateur boxing, heavyweight bouts between Cassius Clay and
Brian London, Clay and Chuvalo, etc. After the machine was
started, the staff member running it would ask a peer-group
member to operate the forward-backward lever so that he could
°see how it looks from the back". The machin-t was then left
under the control of the peer-group member, who could stop
it, go forward or backward at the request of other members.
Staff members' participation was thus at a minimum.

8. Final section. The following and final section of

the group interviews was the least structured; at this time
the party or session was officially "over" and therefore any
type of behavior might be appropriate with no emphasis on re
cording.

It must be emphasized that this structure provided only

a very general guide to the events. In individual interviews
the members often defer to the interviewer as to what is to
come "next". This is a common experience in survey interview
ing: the interviewer is "in charge" and very few subjects
make judgments as to the appropriateness of the questions.
However, in group sessions the situation is just the reverse.
The members know what they are interested in doing, and resist
most attempts to change from one situation to another. To
stop a card game, end a baseball game, turn off the fights on
television - these shifts require considerable time and pressure.
Furthermore, the situation was designed by us to encourage "dis-
ruptive" behavior, which is the highly-developed specialty of
several peer groups. Arguments, insults, punches, and actual
fights between members were common with video and sound
- 61
recording. Just as in every-day behavior on the street the
"seriousness" of any challenge, fight or insult is problemati
and
cal and open to investigation. The amount of spontaneity
disruption is directly proportional to the number of members
present; sessions with four members are relatively quiet;
five or six members provide a considerable increase in the .A
total volume of interaction; the largest meeting, Jets II,
with ten members reached the maximum in this respect. The
total volume of speech can not be determined from a record
ing made from one group microphone. The individual tracks
show that the total amount of speech is much larger than
wan be heard from any one vantage point. For example, in
Jets II, a sub-group of three younger Jets at one end
thR table was quite divorced from any concern of the larger
group. For a long period, these members were continually
sounding against each other, On any microphone located more
toward the center, this interaction ia board only as a con
fused addition to the general noise level. In other cases,
we witnessed the phenomenon of "private speech in public".
The noise level is high enough so tbsgt a member can say
something to himself or to another that normally would not
be overheard. Thus we obtain many asides, whispered or
spoken aloud, about others or us, private jokes, or interior
monologue. For example, in the extract on the following
page from the first group session with the Thunderbirds,
we see the whole group following the verbal leader Boo,
as he makes fun of another member Alv;,n (not present),
for being dumb -- in particular, act being able to spell
barzlaspl. In the midst of this exchange, Soo whispers
to his follower, Money: ("Ask him to spell it out: Mr.
Cohen"), sinoe the norms of the group do not permit him to
ask this question himself directly.
In thres of the sessions, the disruption was heightened
by a certain amount of hostility. At the time of the second
Jets' session, members were still somewhat angry with/dr. Lewis
(referred to hereafter as K.C.) because he had been found to
act as a spokesmen for the Cobras during the confrontation
at the door (see section 4.1 below). During this session,
the president of the Jets was continually calling out "Be
cool, brothers:0, "All right, brothers, be cool!" - with
the apparent intention of producing the opposite effect.
In this extract on the following page from the second group
session with the Jets, we see the kind of raucous obstruction
which arises when K.C. tries to bring the card game to a close,
The members did not, of course, realize that such loud and
disruptiv-) behavior gave us the best record of the basic ver
nacular, In Cobras IL the nationalist ideology of the
group led to a tense situation of a different kind: resent
ment against K.C.'s association with whites led to some
disruption, and periodic outbursts of ritual chorus or
"rifting". In Jets IV, a long session with only three

- 62 -
 tract rom Thunderbird Ox'oup Sess.on II
P.A.G 4
Tapes 451 46

I.V. Who's tougher, Alvin or I) r y

Boo Larry.
Money Larry.
David
Rickey
Roger D-D-D-D-D-Dem nigger's wilds

I.V.
Boo No. And Alvin the dumbest! Alvin don't.
Money No. Alvin.
David
Rickey Uh-uh. Alvin is.
Roger Larry an' Alvin, they ust they didn't

I.V. HOW come?

Boo Aks him to spell ',hurricane yesterday.
Money Alvin don't! [L] Alvin don't! [Screaming]
David
Rickey with
RoPer -they didn't fight with us. They didn't fight

I.V.
Boo
Money Alviinnn!!!
David Why?
That's his.
Rickey
Roger us don't know why; they jus--they turned yellow.

I.V. They did? Why?

Boo Hunh? I know. Alvinn!
Money Oh, damnn!
David
Rickey That's his.
Tsk-Sometime they don't
Roger

1.V.
Boo [Ake him to spell it out: Mr. Cohen.]
Money Alvin!
David
Rickey sometime--dat's why they
Roger wanna fight. You know- and

I.V.
Boo He can't spell it?
Money Everybody alw
David Everybo--
Rickey So I - -I put lem out.
Roger don't come to club meetin'.
- 63 -
 Extract from Jets Group Sess:.on 11

T.A.G 5
Tapes 572 578

KC G Awright, man. Card game over, Okay, Brothel

Rel Hey, you like- Hey, look at dat-±Reg Hey, quit
Stn
Reg
Lar

om
TStv
Jhni-ani Pat an Tinkerrri Blub

KC Grp) Card game over. O.K. Brothers. Brothers put tt

Rel Reg)
Stn
Reg Poh)
Lar Grp) Card game over!!! (shouting)
Stv
Tom Say, Blackmaaan!
Jhn berrrr!
Tnk /

KC f4Grp) cards away, Brothers, put the cards back, put the card
Rel Pch) Now (if) you d (if) you don't stop, man.
Stn
Reg Grp Let!
Lar Grp Card game over!!! (shouting)
Stv om Di-di-di di di-di-(ta?)!* D di-di
Tom
Jhn
Tnk

KC Grp back (intoning).

Rel Reg
Stn
Reg-Grp get some more money, get five dollars and get a bag.
Lar
Sty Tom di-di-di- black maaan! (singing).
Tom
Jhn
Tnk

* Tom (?)

- 6 a
members and K.O., a continual theme for insult and resent
ment was that K.C. had left a party on New Year's Eve and
not returned -- a type of behavior which violates a funda
mental rule of "belonging" in peer group behavior.

In only one session did it appear that members were

conforming to a perceived normative pattern, and producing
careful speech in accordance with an external norm. This
was the group session with vhe second pre-adolescent group,
the "Aces". There were only four members -- below whGt
m4ght be considered the "critical mass" for a fIrst session,
and there is evidence that the Aces were attempting to be
"good", that is follow adult-imposed norms. This session
is therefore not includea in the basic data for calibrating
group sessions against individual interview

It shonld be noted that both the Jets and Cobras were

quite conscious of our contacts with the other group. It
was frequent for the more socialized members (i.e., who
perceived adult uorms more clearly) to criticize members
of their own groups for being too disruptive, and par
ticularly fcr grabbing food "behaving like animals".
They would also inquire, privately, how "the other group"
had behaved when they were at Columbia or on an outing.

In general, one can characterize the

as a successful means of recording the basicgroup sessions
of the peer group under conditions vernacular
quite comparable to
every-day life on the streets. The ma3or factor
controlling
spoech was the interaction of members with members.
constraints were present which would limit Pour
or prevent normal
interaction:

1. The presence of whites.

2. The presence of adults.
3. The presence of non-members.
4. The location in a building belonging to Co3nmbia,
5. Tape recording.
These five conbtraints were overridden by the
ful set of factors operating between members. more power
to excell or gain status through The need
the use of language,
and to respond to challenges from fellow members
paramount factor. was the
The effect of constraints 1 - 5 were
reduced by free use of taboo words,
participation in
sports by staff members, the isolation
in an unpainted basement, and the of the location
of the selbion which focused seating and structures
members' attention upon
one another.

-64-
 The total number
Tagap,satatait9a.a.1112.slata,
2,3. 3288 repre
or tapes regarded in the course of CRP 3091 and
The techniques
sent a very large body of speech materials.
described briefly as
utilized to extract this data may be
follows:

1, Transcripts Twelve individual interviews were

transcribed in their entirety: three of these with complete
transcribed,
phonological data, Three group interviews were
individual tapes,
with all speakers transcribed from their
and the whole synchronized on a single score.

2. Content analysis. The demographic data was

extracted from all interviews. Information on peer-grou
in de
and family structure was transcribed and analyzed
tail. All of the data on values, attitudes and school and
family relations were extracted from the pre-adolescent
interviews, and a large percentage from the teen-age inter
in
views, although most of this data will not be discussed
this report.

1. Phonological analysis. Bight major phonological

variables were studied intensively many with a number of
complex sub-categories - for all of those speakers involved
in the S-G-S paradigm, for a considerable percentage of the
isolated adolescents and pre-adolescents, and for a randomly
selected group of 25 adults. A typical completed phonological
searching form is shown as Pigure 2-10: the principles be
hind this procedure are discussed below, but the significance
of the various symbols will be given in section 3.

4. Strange syntax. A procedure preliminary to

grammatical searching was to isolate all syntactic differenoes
between NNB and SE which we could not account for by rules
already known. Prequent re-categorization of these entries
yields some insight into the general nature of the rules in-
volved. A certain percentage wyre investigated more thoroughly
in the grammatical searching program; some can be described
by fairly simple invariant rules; but many remain for further
analysis,

5. Grammatical searching. Twelve major syntactic

var ables were the subject of a systematic program of gram
matical searching, which extended to the same population
of speakers as in phonological searching, and somewhat beyond.
A completed grammatical searching form is shown as Figure 2-11
The nature of the procedure will be discussed below, and the
significance of the various abbreviations discussed in section 3.

6. Grammatical agreement. The amount of person-

number agreement in the basic vernacular was investigated in
have,
a limited number of searchings for the finite forms of
Jz unit= andleag. The basic patternsemerged with little
- 65
 Da e interviewed /4
Interview No. Da e transcribed 9/40/64

Transcriber
Pig. 2 10. Phonolog cal
searching form for TA-29
te,S0
[VrV] )1
[r/V]
0
4.1 AO
[TH] It AS
[DH] HS

[AY)
[ihr] 14,

[ehr] 10)

[ing]

[KAD] 4
[KwD] egacrit-X.4
[VD] 444 4,04 r/o44 xxxxo
Ws. g
tpcigirlex
04 !mix
[1D] ANINIOr smismi

EaD] "Dilli);:// III/ 11

^% fill
[lCD]

r
PL VBL P05 AD
[ iCz 4YfrIi
In
[NZ] 4fieire r6.1.1.01001m*
cKoz . 00)e

W" 4 tt
EtZ3 1

0%4 le AOX /pH

[Vz ]

........
P C P I 1T-
W Ira I' cpry. [AY°
.[41untl.....
AY
[her EN [AVIv 1
V
[her] [At

c ohr EA I, , 6 tit [Chr] EA

[Oh reg a, aaa. TRIT [42
[hw] co vfic4 [hw] [AH0]
[en] C ]

[OYI '3 NY
[In] CA]
C JA] CA3
YES [Tem.] [YES]
[Tem I n

-66
 woo
p va-
Dog
VO. 41.1.1111Ml 4-.111111111r IBC IMMIMININNIM11111.
'cilia 4. 9.18
Is kalif
Is RIV
easag
sq.ttao
4.11.
sg Sra-a-L.L --
q.sa 2uTpsau 01100 -551141
*oN AI 'OR ads/
S 4, a 11%.-- duchle
V r Vtzszynig 25'Ste, aurell
(51rfict L1 tp aq.sq
1R-HAR-AGza 7/26/67
iwame Ci(ftrn5e. Age SID Date P;71-1V(77
Group
Yirr
Tape 777'....Cala,=7, 7E7
08ITIVE 4.2s +30 3

444c.ves

NEGATIVE a
* OSIO.141 SIMS * Ss or emt

ittavd[Aux]
i. *** MOS ms swo mmot moos
S sot
do (Aux] mg ED
do* sum 5.
mISM
0. ms
Mar
mos SOF
eS

Ot Oth
was [Aux 05 45
44
P08 --SS- SS S SC
[VI)] t$' s 05 S
S
Aux
NG
(Vb]

Pig. 2 11. Grammatical

agreement form for AD-55

68
diff cul n this case, and extensive data was not required;
Pigure 2*. 2 shows the basic grammatical agreement form;
the
results are discussed in section 3

7. Re ding transcriptions. Phonological searching

careful speech.
was applied to reading as well as to casual andcarried out in
In addition, analysis of reading mistakes was
some detail (see sections 4 4 and 5.).
Reading skill wan calibrated with the Metropolitan
Achievement Tests and Gray's Oral Reading Test, and an over
all measure of reading skill baced on nvmber of errors and
time required. The ability to use the -gA suffix as an
indication of past tense context was studied.

8. Narrative analysis. Most of the studies of the

function of language are based on qualitative studies of
speech events and answers to relevant questions. The area
in whieth systematic and quantitative analysis was
carried
out was the analysis of narrative. The methods and forma
and data are discussed in section 4.

Mahy of these procedures do not need further disou sion

here, However, the basic quantitative methode of phonological
principles not gener
and grammatical searching are based upon necessary
ally used in linguistio analysis, and it will be
to explore these principles in some detail.

Success
is ues depends
ful analysis of the linguistic and cultural
data from thia mater-
upon proper selection of he relevant Much of this mater
ial and accurate transcription of it. has not
ial shows systematic and inherent variability which
Since most observations
been reported properly in the past.contexts where one would
were traditionally carried out in
expect SE influence, it was naturally assumed by observers
that the variation was the product of SE behind
influence, and
the data
that a pure and homogeneous NNE existed work with
free from such variation. The results of our
pre-adolescent and adolescent peer groups show that this
is not the case. Therefore, methods for dealing system
atically with inherent variation must be used.

Th great majority of linguistic rules, syntactic

interpre
constructions, morphological forms and semantic To write
tations do not differ observably in NNE and SE.
for NNE would
a completely separate grammar and lexicon
be a pretentious, redundant, and inadequate procedure.
phrase such as
One would hardly wish to argue that in a
th9 giaa.I.140, NNE shows peculiar rules for the definite

-69-
 of =Up or
article, the plural of Ala, the irregular past rules for the
relative foregrounding; on the other hand, the for SE, may
deletion of IhaI, which we do not yet understand
NNE. On the whole, there would
very well be different for linguistic theory or educational
be little gain for either grammar for
practice to begin the task of writing an entire
of interest are
NNE with no reference to SE. The problems
the theoretical prob
those points where NNE and SE differ: between their
lem is to specify the precise relationships what the con
rules, and the educational problem is to see (and speak
sequences of these differences are for reading
ing) SE.
depends upon one
Accurate sociolingui tic analysis Maparingiple
methodological principle which may be called

rule used
A report of a linguistic form or
include an account
in a speech community must utterances
of the total population of from
drawn, and the pro
whiah the observation is which
portion of the expected environments in
this form did in fact occur.
rules. It i
This principle is not limited to variable
matter to apply the principle for the
an exceedingly simple rules, even those which describe
great majority of categorical
forms. For example, one can quickly and sim-
relatively rare of the rule whiah declares
ply confirm the categorical nature not
that (1) is acoeptablelbut (2) and (3) are

(1) He's not as smart as he thinks he is

(2) 1ffe's not as smart as he thinks he's.

(3) *He's not as smart as he thinks he

Any gathering of native speakers can be tested by a brief

trials) no one will declare
inquiry, and (judging by many We are, of course,
that (2) or (3) are acceptable English.
of the many cases in which
in this study dealing with one being studied makes
the subordinate position of the dialect inquiries without
such direct
it impossible to institute about underlying rules must
distortion, and all conclusions
be drawn from observations of the In language in actual use.
a relatively short exami-
The problem is not insuperable. state that one found 25
nation of conversation, one can types (2) or (3). Since
examples of type (1) and none of types (2) and (3) he can
the analyst is now sensitized to
also state that no suoh examples were heard in the course
speech, and by extrapolation,
of many hundreds of hours of type (Ws did occur.
one can expeot that several thousand
include that the rule which produces type (1)
One can then
- 70 -
and forbids type (2) is an inv ri nt rule, without exception.
The word :bliDe represents informally the population to be
formally defined as elliptical comparatives in which the
final element in the surface structure is the copula. Fur
ther observations of a wider range of ellipticals such as
(4.6)confirm the presence of a broader invariant ule.

(4) Are you going? Yes, I am

(5) Are you going? *Yes, I'm

(6) Are you going? *Yes, I.

The final analysis integrates this conclusion into a large

body of variable and invariant rules, in which the categor
lcal nature of the observations above appears as a product
of the categorical s*ress assignment rules, the categorical
vowel reduction rule, and the fact that the variable con
traction rule operates only upon the product of the vowel
reduction rule (see section 3.4 below).

On the other hand, cursory study of a body of NNE text

will show that the great majority of non-elliptical declar
atives with underlying LAsi, are of the form

(7) I'm here.

However, it frequently happens that an ob erver will report

a (9 or even (10)

(8) I here

(9) I is here.

(10) I'm is here.

Because such rare forms do exist, they are highly marked.

And they have become even more marked as they have been taken
as exemplars of a non-English or Creole grammar. It is not
difficult to determine that (8) occurs about once in every
two or three hundred cases of pre-adolescent 2.02 .031.414
that (9) occurs much less often; and that (10) occurs with
such vanishingly small probability that no one can give any
rule or procedure for locating it. It is clear that 01-10)
do not reprer,-Nnt the pattern of NNE. It is no the task of
the linguist ) explain or account for individual utterances
That is a psychological pursuit which could distract us from
the main business at hand: to write the grammar of the lan
guage used by a speech community, rather than account for
every speech variation which occurs in isolated individuals.
 That is not to say that the absolute statistical fre-
quency of forms is any indication of their importance in the
grammar. We do not advocate the return to a stochastic model
of language which investigates the statistical probability
of one language state following another. Chomsky has clearly
demonstrated the inadequacy of such a conception, and shown
that moot utterances of English have a vanishingly small
probability of occurrence in any text. It is also true that
some types of grammatical constructions are extremely rare --
yet quite important for analysis:
(11) What it is that it is that he is, is crazy.
But the total population of utterances from which(1V is drawn
is also quite rare, and 11 is very high in frequency within
that population probably the only variant, though(10 is
encountered:

(12) What it is that it is that he is, is, is crazy.

The problem is clearly to define the zesalatign of utter

onceel by some reliable and systematic method.

The basic unit we are dealing with is a set of utterances

which all represent the saxe set of meaningful choices. For
example, 01-24 are all alternative ways of saying °the same
thing°.
Quantitative analysis is called into effect when we
find inherent variability within the language being studied.
It is a trivial and obvious procedure in dealing with in
variants such as 4,-14above. The problem of defining a
population of utterance3is best illustrated by choosing a
real set of alternatives in a population with more than one
major variant. We take (13 15)as such a case:

(13) He is crazy.

(14) He's crazy.

(15) He crazy.

However, (1.6) is not a member of the same set, since

it may represent a different intention or choice of the
speaker in terms of the underlying structure.

(16) He be crazy.

We might also consider such forms as

- 72 -
 (17) It's crazy that he is.

(18) Crazy is what he i

(19) Crazy he is

since the referents of these utterances may be considered

to have the same truth value as 13-16, even though their
deep structure, syntactically speaking, is different. (17-19)
would indeed be relevant to a study of alternant methods
of foregrounding or topicalization. But they are not rele
vant to the axes of variation shown in 02 15) i.e., mor-
phological condensation.
The simplest proposal is to study the population of
03-19 as a unite The next and most obvious step is a general-
ization to the more abstract population

(20) He (i (s)) Irssiad

(21) NP gzad
In actual practice,vone usually begins with a fairly large
population such as (21), and proceeds to make smaller sub-
divisions as it becomes apparent that various sub-types
of NP's and Predicates are relevant and show different effects
upon the variable realization of the copula (see section
304 bslow). It should be evident that many of the decisions
which we would make in establishing categories of populations
in NNE are informed by our knowledge of English structure
in general: not necessarily the structure of SE, but of all
E dialects. To approach ENE as completely independent of
E, and assume that any given construction such as (15) may
have any arbitrary semantic and syntactic relation to (13)
whatsoever, is to open the way to the wildest sort of un
provable semantic speculation, and abandon all possibility
of precise delineation of the relations of NNE and SE. When
we find(1$ and(1$ alternating in the spontaneous ver
nacular of all peer groups, we assert that these utterances
mean lithe same. It is our knowledge of E which is the
basis of this conclusion. It is possible that deeper studies
of NNE will reveal a semantic difference, but the burden
of proof is on those who would establish such a difference.

The process of differentiating larger abstract popula

tions of utterances may actually bring us to the point where
we suspect that every phonological, grammatical and even
semantic difference has its effect upon the frequency of the
variable rule. However, recording such fine Sects as the
difference between

(22) He's crazy.

(23) He's nuts.

7 73
 would involve us in endless hair sp itting, with no imme-
diate benefit to linguistic analysis. It appears that there
is a discontinuity between major sub-categories such as -
+pro 4. 924 + greS. vs. -Pro + .g.g2 +

and such fine effects as the choice of le. vs. AU, as the
pronoun.

In the same way, we can assert that (20, (2 and (26 are
the same

(24) He told me about it.

(25) He tolf me about it.

(26) He tol me about it.

and that 191A, Igif and tof are representatives of a single

population of utterances of the underlying form IAA. One
could then analyze ula as a member of one of the more ab-
stract populations.

a. Verbs ending in consonant cluste s

h ld, )1211d, etc.

b. Words ending iu -214, including

1P14, SIM etc.
0. Verbs ending in 71gat such as
etc.
VAL last 19.111-0,,

In fact, none of these represent the optimal population for

of
analysis: the most uniform population is the past tense
irregular verbs ending in -ILA clustors such as mad:, laxd
Q014, etc. At the same time, the
phonological shape of :bold
is not irrelevant, and it is possible that it forms a truly
homogeneous sub-class with only one other member -- gold.
The choice of populations is therefore relevant to the
theoretical question as to the ultimate determing factors
of consonant cluster simplification.

Where preliminary observations indicate that NNE shows

an invariant form differing from SE, no extensive quantitative
study is undertaken. The relevant population to be described
is expanded to include the largest class which is invariant.
Por example, negative concord applies uniformly in NNE with
in the clause to all indefinites, but the negative shows
variation in pre-verbal position in following clauses. Thus,
(27 20are all in the same population.

-73a-
 (27) Nobody never goes there.

(28) He don't think of nothinl

(29) None of them knows nothin about it.

But 30 - 31 represent separate sub populations to be coded

for negative concord

(30) Nobody don't know nothinl - Nobody knows nothin'.

(31) Nobody knows where he put nothint. - Nobody knows

where he put anythin'.

The basic procedure for achieving sociolinguistic account

ability may therefore be outlined as follows:

a. The linguistic feature to be studied is defined as

accurately as possible in terms of our knowledge of under
lying B structure. If the point of :,uerest is the tradi
tional odouble negative,' we state that the variable is the
appearance of more than one negative element in the surface
structure when only one negative appears in the deep structure.

If the point of interest is the appearance of the copula

as indicated above it is necessary to expand our definition
to include the auxiliary kg, as well: the feature is not ac
tually the copula, but rather the finite forms of the verb
le, whether it precedes bare predicates or verbs.

b. The number of variants which can be accurately and

reliably coded are then specified. In the case of 1,1, we
call code reliably three variants:

P full forms: Dz, tz, ez)

contracted forms: fs, zj

D zero form

There is A, point in coding the occurences of the two con

tracted forms [s]vs.[z], since they are automatic and pre
dictable. The three variants of the full form might be
coded (and it turns out that such informatian might have
been useful) but one can not make reliable decisions be-
tween these variants. In the case of glx,...e the situation
is somewhat different:

r full form [a, ael e)

o contracted form: 0, lowering of vowel of preceding

pronoun: your, their= [jo,
D deleted form: 0
74 -
 a. The set of linguistic environments in which these
variants occur is then specified. In the case of the copula,
we would be concerned with declarative sentences in which
a lexical item in the verb phrase follows the finite form
of kt and is in construction with it. Thus, questions follow
a different pattern, as do modals, and elliptical forms of
the type,
d. The total population of environments is then sub
divided :lato the major sub-claomes which are significantly
different from one another. If homogeneous sab-classes are
J.ound in which no variation occurs, these are excluded from
the variable as a whole. Thus, ful is split off from go,
and la, since it follows a completely different invariant
pattern; and .azg andla are considered separately. In con-
traction and deletion, the grammatical character of the
subject and of the predicate both determine a large number
of intersecting sub-classes, as do certain gross phonological
featur/ of the preceding and following elements. Thus,
Li9_10. is differentiated from
and from Egaja..gajag, (For more details see section 3.4 below.)
If the relevant sub-categories are not grasped, then many
quantitative relations,which are actually quite sharp, will
be obscured.

e, A numerical index is derived to express the value

of the variable along one or several dimensions. In the
current investigation, these indices are quite simple:
usually the percentage of a certain group of variants in
the total population. This is possible because most of
the variation studied here, such as consonant cluster
simplification, is coded as a simple two-choice, yes-no
situation. In the case of the colmla, we find tbat each
sub-category is summarized as a triple: the numbers or
percentages of full, contracted and deleted forms
f. The values of the variables are then correlated
with a number of larger environments: single vs, group
context, or careful vs. casual style; pre-adolescent
vs. adolescent vs, adult values; central vs, peripheral
members of the vernacular culture; working class vs.
middle class,and so on. Within the system of NNE,
therefore, we will find both linguistic and extra-lin
guistic constraints upon the variables.

These procedures will be illustrated by the analyses

in Chapter 3 to follow. The most critical steps in the
analysis are not, however, The study of individual variables
but the integration of the variables into a single system.
If NNE does indeed form a system distinct from SE, it is
necessary for us to assemble our data into coherent formal
statements which can be ordered in relation to each other
and contrasted to the corresponding rules in SE.

- 75
2.4 Form 1 ana ysis of variation

The discussion of methods and transcription in section

2.3 above, has introduced the concept of inherent and system
atic variability. In this section we will discuss methods
for incorporating this concept into the formal representation
of linguistic rules. These uletheds will be utilized through
out Chapter 3 in presenting the results of phonological and
grammatical analysis of NNE.

At present, we have a great deal of data which establishes

the fact of inherent variability of linguistic rules, but we
do not fully understand the mechanism which produces the extra
ordinary regularities expressed by these rules. Let us consider
first some typical data. Below are shown the figures for sim
plification of clusters ending in 71..d for a number of the Jets
in single interviews.
TABL97 2 6

PROPORTION OF IAA DELETION IN CLUSTERS FOR ELEVEN MEMBERS OF

TWE JETS IN SINGLE INTERVIEWS

Nonomortbemic Past t

(lomm) (KD )
P
before before before before
conponapt vowel; 220=01 7.92121
19/20 7/10 2/6 0/14
Stanley
25/26 5/9 2/5 0/3
Rednall
18/21 04/9 5/7 1/3
Hop
2/8 5/9 0/25
Larry 36/38
4/11 4/12 1/16
Vaughn 35/42
4/8 1/3 0/3
Doug 28/30
4/7 1/5 0'2
Tyler 16/17
1/1 1/4 0/3
Its 9/15

21/21 2/4 7/11 2/13

Stevie
11/13 0/1 3/3 2/13
Turkey
11/12 1/2 2/1 1/8
Rip
34/70 33/72 7/103
TOTAL1 229/255
46 07
imil Del tien: 90 49
76
0014 can hardly acoount for the regularity of this table by
invoking such ',performance,' factors as length of utterance,
diffioulty of articulation, and so on. For each individual
we see that more clusters are simplified before a following
consonant than a following vowel, and at the same time, more
clusters are simplified in monomorphemic forms than were
the S.4 represents the past tense.

Thus we have four inequalities:

MOM 400.1P OM. 4.1140, 41111/ *I* #

T.101W 1.M N.

a 1> 2
b: 3 4
o: 1> 3
INW ilOnt NNW INNIM WIC a
d: 2 > 4

These four relationships are universal and binding on each

individual, except in the trivial cases where there is only
ono membersin a cell. One might argue that an articulatory
difficulty is responsible for the consonant vowel effect,
and that this is a typIcal "performance,' factor independent
of the grammatical rules; however, the same environment pro
duces the reverse effect on clusters ending in third sin
gular -- so that we are plainly dealing with linguistic
rules specific to E. Burthermore, there is no way that
the effect of the past-tense morpheme boundary can be con
strued as a simple performance effect it obviously shows
the speaker's knowledge of the morphemic status of -id in
the lowbr frequency of simplification for past-tense clusters
The speakers of NNE plainly uknown about the padt in
a linguistic sense. Why then do they not always preserve
the -.la suffix as some SE speakers do? We might argue that
some performance factor interferes with the employmant of
their knowledge, or that their knowledge is iteelf imper
feet. Neither of these hypotheses add to our understand
ing of the regularities of table 2-6. These regular patterns
are plainly the intersection of one linguistic factor (the
effect of a following vowel), and another (the effect of
a morpheme boundary). The result is embodied in a vari
able rule, of the type we shall develop below. We will
see other evidence in regard to reading the -AA suffix
which confirms that this regular variability does repre
sent the grammatical competence of the speaker (see sec
tion 362

77
 It is still diffi ult for us to understand how such
regularities can appear in a variable rule with such small
numbers of utterances. Plainly, the monomorphemic forms
before vowels, even with very few items in a cell, are
centered quite closely about the 50 per cent mark; the
overall figure is 49 per cent. Our immediate problem is
to integrate such facts of regular behavior into a set
of linguistic rules.

2,4.1. 0 s n A/1 of the

general assumptions about language structure which we have
inherited from the nineteenth century, associate structure
with homogeneity (cf. Weinreich, Labov and Herzog 1968,
pp. 1-12). This concept has been further developed in
almost all schools of twer°"..th century linguistics into
a gig c (Labov 1966e): linguistic structure is
composed of elements which are discrete, indivisible,
qualitatively different, essentially and conjunctively
defined. Such elements are related by categorical rules
which operate without exceptions in a synchronic as well
as diachronic sense.

Thus the general form of the categorical rule appears

in generative grammar as

(32) Y/A B

Sometimes the rule is designated as =mai. In phrase

structure, optional choices are generally meaningful choices--
they represent the decision to say one thing rather than
represent
another, But options in transformational rules
alternative ways of saying the "same thing",and phonological
rules are even more plainly independent of meaning..

The variable behavior which we have described above

saying the same thing,
clearly represents alternative ways of
described by labeling the
and in traditional terms would be such optionality by pa
rule 9.32,112nals, We can represent
rentheses around the left-hand member of tha rule

(33) 3C--0 (Y)/A B

meaning no more
However, if we interpret this notation as to embed
than a label "optional", it will hardly allow us
into our grammar the facts of systematic variation with
which we are concerned. It is no more useful than the
label "free variation". It is true that we would come
closer to the actual situation of NNE by rule
writing an op-
than an obl g
tional consonant cluster simplification
story one. But in so doing, we are
only portraying NNE
pattern quite
as a mixture of other systems -- a random mixture".
consistent with the usual conception of "dialect

78
However, it is not the object of Bociolinguistic investiga
tion to reduce the precision of linguistic rules, nor to
add to the vagueness with which linguistic structure is
perceived. Simply indicating an option is tantamount to a
traditional rule of the type "frequently" "occasionally".
By introducing such free variation into our rules, we make
it more difficult to apply the generative notion of account
ability.

If the data of Taiile 2 6 is to be utilized, the task

is to show how the study of variation adds to our knowledge
of linguistic structure, and simplifies the situation, rather
than reducing the certainty of the rules by uncontrolled and
unaccountable notations. In previous discussions of linguis
tic variables (Labov 1966e) it was required that the variable
element show regular co-variation with another lingnistic
or extra-linguistic variable. The notion of free variation
is thus constrained by the internal or external relations
which are stated -- the more detailed the constraints, the
more closely do we approach to the notion of homogeneous
sub-classes which vary uniformly and regularly. In the
present discussion, we will be considering only oases where
the rule applies to discrete categories rather than con-
tinuous categories, and the variability is expressed in
the frequency with which the rule applies.

2.4.2. If we consider that the fre

3rjaialike.iniat,
quency with which a variable rule applies is determinate,
within certain limits, and not random, we can express this
concept by associating with each rrle a variable frequency
which represents the proportion of cases in which the rule
is in fact applied out of the total number of eases in
which the rule can possibly apply. Plainly 0t9t1, and
the categorical rules of the type 111823are the special oases
in which 4) = 1. It is normally the case that rules do apply
categorically, without exception, although there are a great
many cases, some of which we consider here, in which some
factor interferes with or impedes the full application of
the rule so that it is not categorical, It is thus conve
nient to define tha variable frequency as

(34) 1? = 1-k0

The quantity k is the zaziausjamt to the rule -- the

factor which limits the application of the rule. With
categorical rules of the type RI, it follows that there
is
is no variable input, and k = 0. In many cases, ko
governed by extra-linguistid factors, and may be expressed
socio-economic
as a function of contextual style, sex, age,
class, ethnic group and so on. Por example, if we examine
the merger in NNE of ,baer and bear, ch9er and phajx, etc.,

79
independent of other linguistic factors, we have

4.voc
(35) E (1 high]) / cons
grave.

That is, the rule variably lowers any high front vowel be
fore schwa to merge with the mid vowel. The proportion of
cases in which such a rule applies is 1-k, where 1E0 is in
versely proportional to age and determined by other factors
as well.

2.4,3. Variable constraints. We may want to incor

porate this rule with the one which merges popr and pour,
lure and lore, glap, and shore. However, the frequency of
merger of the back vowels in NNE is much greater than the
front; it is almost total in the main working class popu-
lation.

Clearly the two rules are part of a single process,

and we would lose seriously in generality if we could not
incorporate them into a single rule. At the same time,
the variable frequencies of each rule are different: to
write a single noptionalo rule at this point would capture
the generality of the front-back symmetry, but lose the
important difference in the relative positions of the two:
in the study of change in progxess, it would lose the vital
information about which change was leading and which follow
ing. Therefore it is necessary to allow the internal, lin
guistic factor of front vs, back to affect the value of q?
In this case, gravity or backness favors the merger we 14
write
+vac 1
(36) ([-high]) / -cons
agnave

where cK is for xi= but - for Deer We adopt the 3on

vention that

(37) c4k 1)
q?36 .0

The Greek letters 04 (3,1 range over and - just as in tha

usual conventions for variable features. In the case when
c< is then k, is diminished, qp is larger and the rule
applies in a griater proportion of cases; when cx is ,
then k is increased, IQ is smaller, and the rule is more
limitea in its application. In general, given a rule of
the form

80
 lisfea

[irfea
k vfea,
- "
there is an automatic reading that

(39) op = 1- oco-c<ki-e2-Irk3...

The Greek 3,etters a, 0,T represent variable con

AtaajaLs, upon the rule; the conventions are so arranged
that these variables mark the features which favor or pro
mote the application of the rule. The notation -0 be-
fore a feature will of course indicate the opposite effect--
the rnle.
a factor which impedes or limits the application of

Ord he v le con tr t The

2.4.4.
constants k, can be, and are determined through
empirical iiivestigatTon, in the same manner as the ex-
Yet
ternal variables which contri41 the input value lc,
we can raise the question, yjuy should one wish to deter-
interest is it that
mine their values? Of what linguistic
= .36, say rather than .39? Sociolinguistic analysis
Uses not consist of simply obtaining more and more precise
data on social differentiation or linguistic variation,
but rather on showing more clearly the internal and exter
nal relations of the elements of the rules, i.e., the offac
tors which govern the use, structure and development
ordering
language. Not only the order of the rules, but
of elements within rules is the object of investigation.
It will be shown that the order of the linguistic variables
and this
is cracial in determining relations betymen rules,
order is an important element in the linguistic competencewith
of the speakers. Although this report is not concernedthat
problems of linguistic evolution, it is worth noting
re-ordering of variables within rules appears to be an im-
portant mechanism of linguistic change. The quantitative
values of the constants are not always of critical impor
shown by the
tance, but the over-all fit to a given model
ordering of the variables will be important. Furthermore,
in the values
as op approaches 1.00 or .00, small changes
of the variables suddenly convert the rule from In
a variable
this re
rule to what is in effect a categorical rule. to
port, we will not consider a rule with up m .97 or .98
be a variable rule. Instead, these will be called "semi
of
categorical" or Type II rules, in which the expectation
regularity is great enough to make exceptions or violations
reportable (see section 2.5 below).

-81
 There are three possible models of the relations be
tween variables: (1) that they are strictly ordered in
their effects upon the application of the rule, (2) that
they have approximately the same effects, and ($) that they
have no fixed order of magnitude or relative magnitude at
all. The last conception is equivalent to the notion of
ufree variationu considered and rejected in section 2.4,2.
and although it is alien to our finding of systematic and
regular variation, there may indeed be cases where we fail
to find any consistent pattern in the relations of the var
iable constraints. In cases where

(40) (W) / (0(pai) (05eaj)

Such cases do indeed occur, but the more general situation

is the first case.

It is a common practice in sociology and other fields

to assemble large bodies of statistical evidence which are
used to establish a series of unrelated qualitative rela
tions. Thus a great mass of quaLtitative survey data may
be used to establish the weak qualitative finding that the
more highly integrated a housing project, the more positive
the resulting attitudes of whites towards Negroes. Similar
ly, our own quantitative data of Table 2-6 could be summed
up by the statements (1) a folloWIng consonant favors con
sonant cluster simplification of clusters ending in
and a following vowel has the opposite effect; (2) the
existence of a morpheme boundary in the cluster (separating
the -14 suffix from the root) disfavors simplification,
while the absence of a boundary favors the rule. Thus
we could write

(41) (0) / [aeons]

where
(42) (C) 42 (ko c4k1 (1k2)

To leave tha statement at this stage is equivalent to giving

two qualitative, unordered relationships which do not estab
lish any fixed relation between 'lc, and ko. (CI) is a single
rule only by a notational convention, not by any inherent
relationship stated within the rule relating ot and 18. In
this report, we will attempt to establish such relationships
and integrate the various statements about the variable con
straints into a single coherent rule. We will not always
have sufficient data to order all of the variables, but the
important cases will be handled in this way.

There are many interesting and important empirical

questions concerning the degree to which the variable con
straints are ordered. The strongest position is that these
82
constraints would show a o tu te sf eo etr
Informally, this notion is that there is a hierarchical
ordering of the constraints such that if a given variable
is 4-, and therefore favorable to the rule, it will out
weigh all the other variable constraints lower in the
hierarchy, even if they are all or unfavorable. To
state this concisely, the following convention is useful.
r(X) will indicate the frequency of application of rule
in that subset of cases where the feature FX is present,
or 44, The complementary set is 4)(- )<), where the feature
X is not present, or -, Furthermore, the order in the
hierarchy will follow the order of the Greek letters oK,
cap T.... The postulate of geometric ordering therefore
establishes that in all cases.

(43)

More generally, the postulate can be expressed formally as

(44) If -)Ci, X2, ...Xn are variable constraints

upon a rule r, then for any given iL11)C2, ...

(1)r( (Pr(" X i).

The subscripts onPwill be used only when the possibility
of ambiguity is present.

A set of geometrically ordered variable constraints

forms a tree, of the sort that has been displayed for cer-
tain low-level phonetic characteristics such as vowel length.
In House 1961, we find such a tree, displaying geometric
ordering for the effect upon vowel lengths of (ol voicing of
the following consonant, and (p) tensing of the vowel. The
third variable constraint--the'openness of the vowel) shows
some departures from geometric ordering--a few cases where
neighboring sub-sets are equivalent but not overlapping.
Independent of any particular quantitative data, we can
generate geometrically ordered trees, such as Figure 2-13,
by setting Ica = 1/21 1E1 = 1/4, k2 =

In Figure 2-13 (see following page), it is evident

that the critical ordering occurs between or esp
i.e., where one constraint is favorable and the other is
unfavorable. These relationships, which express the
hierarchical nature of the ordering, may be symbolized as
(45):whereo< is favorable, and is unfavorable,

(45) c (cx > (9(-

the rule applies in a greater proportion of cases than
where 0( is favorable and c6 is unfavorable. If the cross-
products are equal, we are aealing with equivalent con
straints, a situation described in a rule such as (40).

83
Fig. 2 13. Gemcl.rrical order
ing of variable ,,;onstraints

.81

1 2

Pig. 2-14. Equivalence

of variable constraints
cp
1.00

. 5o
1/2 . 50

. 00

-84-
Figure 2 4 (on the preceding page) shows the kind of 41)-dis
tribution characteristic of such equivalence.

As Table 2-6 indicates, the relations symbolized by c<

and ç are quite binding, and the lata for each individual
shows the ordering involved for relatively small numbers of
cases, For example, given four or five cases of monomorphemic
1;,d clusters before consonants, and four or five before vow
els, we are almost certain to show more simplification in the
first case than in the second. But the higher order rela
tionships which concern the position of these constraints
within the hierarchy are not so uniform. For several peer
groups, we will find that the model of Figure 2-13 applies
to -IAA deletion, yet for other groups Figure 2-14 applies.
The position of the variable constraints within the hier
archy may indeed shift from formal to casual style. Most
importantly, there is development and change within trees
such as Figure 2-13 as the individual moves from adolescent
to adult status; aP we will see, the most characteristic
and important change is a rise in the importance of phono
logical constraints such as the influence of a following
vowel. There is reason to believe that changes in the hier
archy of constraints represent a basic mechanism of linguis
tic change, as it affects a whole community, as well as in-
dividuals within the community. The formal conventions of
variable rules given above will enable us to deal with change
and adjustment within the community, to carry sociolinguistic
analysis to the limits of our current data, and pose crucial
questions for further investigation.

The convention of strict geometric ordering also has

a natural interpretation if there are no linguistic vari
ables and no extra-linguistic variables affecting the input
constant k,. If k, is set at 1/2, then 1-k, = 1/2, that
is, the rule appli6s 50 per cent of the time'. This would
be the case for any variable process in which there were
many variable constraints, no one significantly greater
than any other, as in the flip of a coin which yields 50 per
cent heads. "Free variation" would then be an apt descrip
tion of any variable rule for which Q approaches 50 per
cent as the number of trials becomes indefinitely large,
without any major variable constraints. However, other
factors mdy set the input constant at a higher or lower
figure; obviously this is one possibility in the course of
linguistic change, where ko may decline with age, in the
presence of other constraints, until OP reaches a point
sufficiently close to 1.00. In the additive conventions
used here, it is obvious that variable constraints which
add to more than 1.00 or less than 0.00 apply vacuously
beyond these limits, since 0 1.
(c) /4:.

- 85
 2.4.5, Ds.....irmazis=2:1=. In the usual not!,
tion for categorical rules, the environment / (+feai
means that the rule always applies for that subset of seA
tences in whdch Thai ] occurs in that position, and never
applies for the subset where [feat] does not occur. In
other words, OP (feat) = 1, Q(-feal.) = O. For variable
rules, the notation still allows us to register the fact
that the rule never applies in certain cases. Thus in
(35), the rule never applies to raise segments which do
not contain the feature [vocalic]; for any segment con
tainin; (-vocalic], the rule &imply does not apply, On
the other hand, it is not true that the rule always applies
if the feature [vocalic] is found; for a variable rule,
application is then governed by the set of variable con
straints marked olth Greek letters. The meaning of
[0( fea] . is that the rule applies in the propor
tion of cases 1 - (k0-k1) in that subset of sentences
where [Thai] occurs, and 1- (k0l-k1) in the subset where
[fea ] does not occur; more concisely, g)(fea )
1 - (ko-ki), and p(-feai) = 1 - (k0k1). But so far
we do not have any means for registering the third pos
sibility--that a rule which is otherwise variable will
ql.wayl apply if a certain feature is present.

It does indeed happen that a given variable rule

becomes categorical in the presence of a certain feature.
This is the case, for example, for the copula deletion
rule (section 3.4) when the contracted copula follows a
sibilant. Thus

.4k7
(46) z '."4 (0) / 1.7pro
*strid.

The symbol * is the lnyaLlance condliim. It signifies

the fact that when a sibilant precedes the contracted 2i,
the always disappears--that is, the factor which limits
the rule goes to zero, and 41) = 1. There is a simple con-
vention for interpreting the invariance condition as
- 86
follows which may be incorporated into our most complete
expression for the automatic interpretation of invariable
rules. A variable rule of the form (47)
MIR C".

Y f eak
(47) (Y)
feax fean

is interpreted as applying in the proportion of cases ax

pressed by

1*1)
(48) (k 0-c1(k1

Thus if the feature [f a x ) occurs as -1-, the invariance

factor is 0, the entire variability factor
2
then goes tu zero, and 1 But if (flea x I occurs

as the invariance factor is 1, and the

2
value of(p is unaffected. Thus the expression

is a device for converting +1- values into 0,1 valuee,

it is tha formal equivalent of the statement that *

represents a factor which converts a variable rule into

a )ategorical one. Thus in the case of (46), whenever

the ug
a strident consonant precedes the contracted

is always deleted. When the preceding segment is not

strident, the rule applies with the usual variable con

fitraints. More generally, we can state that the symbol *

has the property that for all rules,

(49) cpc (P(

The range of possible notations can be shown in the

following array

- 87 -
Rule contOns
the notation

e oP
4,
-fea 0
c4fea 1 (k k ,.)
%Thai 1 (k i-k
*fea 1 MgraISLINIMPINIRIF
*fea i 1

2.5 Types of rules.

The diucussion of 2.4 presents two types of rules: cate

gorical and variable rules. We may, however, distinguish two
types of categorical rules: those which are never violated
and those which sometimes are. The latter will be called
nsemi-categoricaln. This typology applies to a wider range
of data than linguistic behavior alone: any form of social
behavior which we understand well can be described in these
terms. In the balance of this report, the categorical rules
will be termed Type I; somi categorical, Type II; and vari
able rules, Type III.

Most linguistic rules are Type I. Because they are

never violated, they are difficult to locate.
Most social
discussion of language, in school rooms and outside, is con-
cerned with Type 11 rules and their violations. These
violations, such as brot e 's o ol th .
arc
reportable and socially significant. But Type I rules are
which dictates
invisible. For example, the Type I ruleviolated to pro-
the conditions for contraction is never
duce such utterances as *Hels....a.lagEt.u.am. When we
asterisk, we can
write *He's 12,..sagrImialm, with an
mean any or all of the following;
though it
a. This utterance is not fused' in speech,
may be 'mentioned'.
b. If it is c rstructed as a violation, or deliberately
uttered by a linguist as if it was being 'used', the native
speakers listening have no means of interpreting the viola-
to say this.
tion. They do not know what it omeansft

88
 cNative li teners therefore account for the utterance
by saying that it is made outside of the rules of English;
that the speaker is probably a foreigner; that one "cannot
say that in English",

On the other hand, Type II violations gr.2 heard, Ars

interpreted, and "can be said" in English. Per example,
there is a Type II rule against foregrounding complements
which are in direct construction within the verb phrase.
oo i k ±or ti, allows us to fore
ground the time adverbia alsaa.am.aas1
sualu but we cannot foreground the inner complement: Per
ood uck I eked for lon trne, without changing the mean
ing. Here; 7.24,...g2s, is interpreted as a manner ad
verbial, which can be foregrounded, not as a direct object,
what the speaker aeked for. However, one can violate this
rule--ax.augy_j_laula; Prbnns d; For ev hn
we vearnted.,. Native listeners, when they have to interpret
the foregrounded item as a direct object, interpret the vio
latlon as somewhat stilted or extreme, or a literary emphasis--
not at all outside of the bounds of English. Furthermore,
Type II violations such as, o h , are x9.
c'llikaklit. that is, their occurrence are rare enough to be
worth reporting to someone else, and the appropriate response
is, "He did? He said that?",

Type III, or variable rules, cannot be violated by any

single act or utterance. These rules are known to the analyst
as a result of his investigations; they may be sensed by naive
native listeners, but not consciously. Actions or utterances
governed by Type III rules give us infomation about the speak
or. If we already know a great deal about the speaker, the
variability open to him under the rule may be so restricted
that his usage can violate our expectation and seem report
able: that is, the rule is Type II for him. For example,
negative concord is governed by a Type III rule. We all
know that English speakers use non-standard negative con
cord (double negatives: He don't do nothing) and that
other speakers do not, and that this is somehow correlated
with style, context, sex, age, education, and the like. One
could not report the use of a double negative as an incident
worth telling in itself:

A: You know what I just heard a guy say? "He don't

know nothing." Eget BI: *He did?

Thus responses which are natural for Type II rules are ab-
surd for Type III and vice versa. Thus Type III rules are
not reportable. If, however, we constrain the context suf-
ficiently, we can report:

89
 president say at a ban-
You know what I heard our
quet? "You guys don't know nothing."

B: So what? B/: He did?

Here our native knowledge of the Type III rule constrains

speech so sharply that
our expectations of formal educated
it becomes rare and reportable even for double negative
reportability of an
concord to appear here. 'Plainly the Utterances
event cannot be separated from its frequency. cent of the
or events which occur in less than 1 or 2 per
which they might have
total population of utterances in
occurred, are quite different from those which appear 5
or 10 per cent of the time.
utilized
This characterization of linguistic rules will be In
at various points throughout the following sections.
differences, we will
the section which reports structural I
explore a great many Type III rules as well as Types
and II, using the methods outlined in 2.4.
 CHAPTER III

RESULTS: STRUCTURAL DIPPERENOES BETWEEN NON

STANDARD NEGRO ENGLISH AND STANDARD ENGLISH

This chapter presents the major results of our lin

guistic investigation of NNE phonology, morphology, and
syntax. The implications of these structural differences
for reading and for teaching standard English are consid
ered briefly in section 3.10, and in greater detail in
Volume II; in sections 3.1 through 3.9, the description
of the characteristic rules of NNE is presented as the
product of a purely linguistic analysis. Some of these
findings will reflect the sociolinguistic structure of
the Harlem community, and4there are a number of sub-sec-
tions on the sociolinguistic stratification of particular
features. This data will provide the background needed
for the study of the use of NNE and SE in Volume II.

However, without considering these further studies,

we believe that the results reported here have consider
able importance for linguistic theory in general. They
provide the substance which illustrates how the formal de
velopments presented in 2.4 are used to handle a large
body of data. Although only a part of the material avail-
able in our records has been analyzed, it is the largest
single body ever gathered on systematic and inherent vari
ation within a speech community. It will immediately be
come apparent that the traditional categorical approach to
linguistic rules will not accommodabe this data. If we were
to view tha speech of Harlem peer groups as an unstruc
tured mixture of SE and some hypothetical, invariant NNE,
we would be forced to conclude that there are no speakers
of NNE. The systematic structure of NNE, its logic and
internal equilibrium, would be hidden from any empirical
investigation. The results of this chapter will document
the need to incorporate the.concept of systematic variation
into the fundatental linguistic notion, 'rule of grammar'.

3.1 Some phonological variables of NNE

3.2 Simplification of -.d clusters: reading
the -TA suffix
3.3 The 11,,az inflections
3.4 Deletion, contraction, and inherent varia
bility of the copula
3.5 The verbal paradigm
3.6 Negative attraction and negative concord
3.7 Questions
3.8 Some other syntactic variables of NNE
3.9 Memory tests
3.10 An overview of the relations between NNE
and SE, and some educational applications
91
3.1. Some phonological variables

Most of the studies of structural differences between

SE and NNE do not deal with phcnological matters in the
simple sense, but rather with phonological variables which
intersect with grammatical variables, or with purely syn
tactic matters. However, there are a certain number of
phonological variables which have no grammatical status,
or a relatively indirect one. In this section, we will
consider some characteristic phonological variables, their
distribution across the various NNE vernacular groups, con
trasts with the adult and white groups, and the way in
which these variables behave with ehange of contextual
style. In this way, we will be drawing a sociolinguistic
profile of NNE, and comparing its structure to the type
of sociolinguistic variation which we find in the New
York speech community as a whole in DigejsciaLStrqtifica-
tion of Engliph in New York Cit (Labov 1966a-- hereafter
referred to as SHIM).

3.1.1. T v bles One of the most

stable sociolinguistic variables in American English is
the realization of the "th" cons lnts. In general, there
is no question that the prestige Xorms are the fricatives;
the affricates have an intermediate value; lenis unaspgated
stopq are stigmatized, and full stops equivalent to [tn]
and are highly stigmatized. Dialect literature and
conventional naive views of this variable refer to "deses",
"dem" and "doses", and it is the general impression that
some speakers always use these forms. However, in the
white community there are no native speakers of English
who always use stops or affricates, and the same situation
prevails in the NNE dialect that we are now studying. No
matter how high the index of affricates and stops becomes,
every speaker that we have studied sometimes uses fries
tives, even in the most spontaneous and excited interaction.
One indication of the fact that this variable shows
inherent and systematic variation is the absence o hyper
correction. We have no recorded cases of such hypercorrec
tion as IligiuLjAgn [salm Ise] for Am.:thus. We have
no cases of hypercorrection which would lead us to hg,
9.11=1WhIll DOri] for he climbed a tree. In other words,
the speakers of the language know which is the variable class
and which is the invariant class.

In approaching the (th) andi(dh) variables for NNE,

we find that there are some striking differences between
WNS and NNE. It is well known that final -th alternates
with -f for NNE speakers, as with Cockney speakers in
England.1 However, there are no cases of initial th-
being replaced by fi which is common in England. The

.92
comparable situation among the voiced elements is that [I]
is replaced by [v] and here, of course, we do not have any
oases of the same shift in the initial position. We also
find occasional replacement of lnter-dentals by labio-
dentals in medial position, as in here gall,mainf or
[fave] for father..

It is possible that there is a shift in the point of

articulation involved here which helps to explain the sub-
stitution of labio-dentals. We find from previous studies
that most Negro speakers habitually use a. dental or pre
dental t and jo while WNS speakers in New York City use
either an alveolar or blade-affricated:U. On the other
hand, whereas WNS speakers use a pre-dental (or possibly
inter-dental) Ill and AIL, Negro speakers often pronounce
inter-dentals wlbh the tongue protruding well between the
teeth. This structural shift may possibly lead to a great-
er likelihood of substitution of inter-dentals. On the
other hand, it is much more likely that the substitution of
-1 for the inter-dental fricatives is a matter of acoustic
similarity. The mellow [0] and [I] . are extremely low
in energy, and the [f] and [v] are somewhat higher. In
fact, this low energy level makes it impossible for us to
make accurate judgments of [0] versus [f] on even the best
tape recordings; reliability is so low in this matter, that
no quantitative studies were made for this report. At the
same time, it should be emphasized that it is widespread
and natural procedure for NNE speakers to use final (f]
in place of SE final [0], and any perception test which
does not take this into account will give a very odd pib
ture of the auditory capabilities of Negro children.2
Again, we find no hypercorrection; despite the high fre
quency of substitution of final [f] for SE [0] we do not
find hypercorrection the sort
here,
hitjgilailt or Ifldij
Again, we see that speakers of the language can
distinguish a variable class in which [0] alternates with
[f] from the constant class with invariant final [f], and
the variable class in which (#) alternates with [v] from
the word class of live which never alternates.

Our quantitative studies of the (th) and (dh) var

iables were therefore confined to initial position, and
it is*natural that figures would be slightly higher than
for the SSENYC in which medial and final position was
included. We are not interested in absolute numerical
figures of course, but rather in the relative indices for
various groups and the direction of shift.

Table 3-1 shows the (th) and (dh) indices for vari
ous peer groups, adults, and the white Inwood groupd for
several styl9s.

93
 TABLE 3 1

MEAN (TH) AND (DH) INDEX SCOREJ FOR PEER GROUPS AND ADULTS

(th) (dh)
Contextual style Contextual s yle

Thunderbirds (8)
A
52
B
86 80
ABcp
139 114 57 70

113 75 144 92 108

Aces (4)
Lames (17) 90 75 139 29 67

Cobras (9) 71 67 30 148 135 57 37

79 58 43 147 133 60 38
Jets (13)

Adults 17
Middle class (14) (22) 11 32 19
Working class
--upper
Northern (4) 46 33 67 111 108 67

13 14 08 78 67 22
Southern (4)
Working class
--lower
Northern (7) 25 10 00 134 116 50

Southern (7) 14 32 36 84 99 42

Inwood (6) 66 81 30 160 114 54 33

Style A: Group or casual

B: Single or careful
C: Reading style
D: Word lists
No. in parentheses after group
indicates no. of subjects inIa.

-94-
 The values of the variables were

(th-1) [e] (dh 1)

[te] (dh 4)
(th-3) [t] (dh 3)

Both indices are computed as

1-41 100

where is te sum of the numerical value of the variables,

and N is the total number of occurrences. Thus (th) -00
represents the consistent use of [e],and (th) -200 would
represent consistent use of [t).

First of all, we note that the (th) totals are lower

than (dh), less regular, and do not show as much shift down
ward with change of stylistic context. This contrasts with
the pattern of the white community where we find that (th)
and (dh) are extremely similar--see Figures 3-1 and 3 2
taken from pp. 246, 253 and 260 of SSENYC.

(th (dh

60 Class 6 Class

40 04 40 0-4

20 20 5-6
56 7-9
7-9 00
Style Style
Pig. 3-1. Class strati- Pig, 3-2, Class strati-
fication of (th) in fication of (dh) in
New York City New York City

It must be remembered that (th) is not exactly compar

able to (dh) for Negro speakers because [0] alternates with
[f] in medial and final position, much more f..lequently than
[t] alternates with [v], and even though we are considering
only initial position here, it is plain that the parallelism
between (th) and (dh), characteristic of the white community,

795-
does not prevail F rthermore, we find that Negro speakers
use a great many affricates for (th), (th-2), but that the
prevailing form for (dh) is the stop, (dh-3). This lack
of parallelism of (th) and (dh) for Negro speakers is shown
most clearly in Figures 3 'and 4 from the discussion of SUM,
P. 645. Here we see that (dh) levels are much higher and
show much sharper decline (that is, shift toward the pres-
tige forms from speech to reading), This data is based on
a relatively small number of 21 out-of-town Negro adult
speakers, but it agrees well with the more definitive data
which we have gathered from our present work. In studying
Table 3-1, we find that the pre-adolescent Thunderbirds
do show a very definite stylistic shift from casual speech
(dh)-139 to single interviews (dh)-114 to reading (dh)-57
However, this stylistic shift does not continue with iso
lated words, which show a little higher (dh) index than
reading sentences. This result is not difficult to interrupt,
since the stylistic continuum reflects the amount of atten
tion paid to speech. Many of our subjects are such poor
readers that the sentences are frequently read as isolated
words;.the word lists are read somewhat easier, because
most of the words are quite familiar, and if the reader
is wrong, there is no context to puzzle him. In any case,
it is plain that the frequency of non-standard (dh) formi
is a reliable and consistent phonological marker for Negro
subjects. At a very early age, speakers have the conscious
or unconscious knowledge that one uses more fricatives in
more careful speech, and they have no difficulty in recog
nizing this variable (dh) class as opposed to the /d/ class.
Another interesting aspect of the (dh) variable is its
extreme comparative regularity. A large number of speakers
show (dh) values of about 150, though some show lower fig
ures. For example, we find that the five Thunderbirds pres-
ent in second group sessions show values of:

Boot 129
Roger 163
Money 80
David 161
Ricky 161

The most constant aspect of (dh) behavior is the downward

shift of style B to C. The regularity of this shift can
be shown as follows for the data utilized here.

13) 0 B=C
Thunderbirds 7 1
Lames 10 .
Aces 3 1
Cobras 5
.
Jets 10 1
Inwood 5 .
40 3
- 96 -
The most important result in Table 3-1 is the differentia
tion of thalames from the peer-group members. These lames
are isolated individuals and include four boys from 1390
Fifth Avenue that we know are definitely not members of the
dominant peer group, but are influenced far more heavily
by a restricted home environment. There are also twelve
individuals from the Vacation Day Camp series, and as point
ed out in section 2.1, there are many reasons 14.4 this group
shows less connection with vernacular culture thhn the peer
groups. It is interesting to note that the values for speech
are quite comparable with those for the Thunderbirds and Aces.
But the lames show a much greater drop of (dh) in reading
and as shown in Ch-pter 5, they are, on the average, much
better readers than the peer-group members. Again, we find
that style D is intermediate.

When we turn to the (th) and (dh) variables as used

by adolescents--the Cobras and Jets--we see essentially
the same picture. (th) levels are of the same order of
magnitude, but we find regular stylistic stratification:
group sessions show the highest indices, there is a slight
drop to single interviews, style B, and a sharper drop
to word lists. In the case of (dh) we again find the same
order of magnitude, with casual speech beginning at the
extraordinarily uniform mode of (dh) -150, falling off
slightly in single interviews, and falling very sharply
with reading styles. Here, however, style 0 (reading)
is definitely higher than style D (word lists), so that
it is obvious in some respects that the adolescents have
approached closer to the adult New York City norms shown
in SSENYC.

The adult sample gives us a view of the mature, well

formed sociolinguistic structure which is parallel to the
data given in SSENYO. Figure 3-3 shows the (dh) pattern
of the adult Negro community
(dh)
15
lower Nolern.-.
working upper Nolern
class 10
lower Sotern... ....

upper Solern--
5
middle class -

0
A 13 (0) D Style
Pig. 3-3. Social and geographic strati
fication of (dh) for adult Negro speakers

-97-
and may be contrasted with the (dh) pattern of New York
City as a whole. In Figure 3-2, it is obvious that North-
ern and Southern speakers alike show regular stylistic strat-
ifieation for (dh), although the drop from casual to care-
ful speech is quite smali for thfi working-class groups and
even reversed for the lower-class Southern groups. The
composition of the Harlem sample is, of course, quite
different from that of the SSENYO sample. The large work
ing-class group is divided into an upper section which
wouldparallel the lower middle-class and the upper section
of the working class in MENU. These include speakers
with high school educations who are engaged as stock clerks
or in skilled occupations. The lower section of the work-
ing class consists of those with less than a high school
education who are engaged in unskilled occupations or who
are on welfare. Furthermore, we have to separate for some
variables, those raised in the North from those raised in
the South. From Table 3-1, we see that the lower-cLaas
Southern group does not show the pattern of stylistic shift
characteristic of the other grolps. All of these findings
are consistent with the general view that patterns of sty
listic stratification become clearer as a speaker enters
the adult community and that they are clearest (because
established earlier in life) for the higher status groups.
At the same time, it should be obvious that the peer groups
who cannot read well, still have relatively clear patterns
of stylistic shifting in passing from style B to C.

Table 3-1 also shows that (th) is n...21. an important

sociolinguistic variable for adult speakers. We see no
clear evidence of regular style shifting of the group as
a whole. There is an extraordinary amount of individual
variation; some individuals use only fricatives, and others
use a great many affricates in formal style. We can find
some explanation for this fact when we see that the adult
(th) indices are very low, and that Southerners use mostly
fricatives. The moderate use of affricates and stops by
the peer groups represent the acquisition of the Northern
working-claPs pattern. Thus, the parallel treatment of
(th) and (dh) is essentially a white phenomenon which is
being acquired only slowly in the Northern ghettos.

Finally, we can examine on Table 3-1 the (th) (dh)

pattern of the comparable white working-class youth, the
Inwood groups. Both pre-adolescents and adolescents will
be grouped together in this and other phonological analyses.
The pattern is almost identical with that of the Negro peer
groups in respect to both (th) and (dh). There is regular
stratification with (dh) across all styles, and it may be
remarked that the pattern holds for almost every speaker.
In the case of (th), the figures are lower in connected
speech, and we find that stylistic stratification is not
as clear as with (dh). Although these Inwood groups do
not represent a very large number, it gives us some in-
dication that in the Northern ghettos white and Negro
. 98 -
working-class youth are converging on the same pattern.

One way of summing up the information presented on

(th) and (dh) is to write a formal rule, In most cases,
we will be beginning with the same lexical underlying form
as wtth $E, since we see little evidence of confusion of
word classes. A low level phonological rule which con-
verts the inter-dental fricatives variably to non standard
forms would resemble (1)
I.
(1) +cons
-voc contj ((ifabro ))) #110(vo ed
+diff
-grave
-strid

This rule converts the non str.:dent apical fricatives /0/

and /0/ to affricates, [-cont], with one input variable,
and as a second option with another input variable, to the
corresponding lenis [-tense] stops. The feature (+abrupt
offset) seems appropriate here, since we are dealing with
mellow affricates which are not continuants, but do not
have the abrupt offset character:lstic of stops. It is the
addition of this feature that converts an affricate into
a stop, which is defined by an abrupt onset and offset.
The input variables are plainly funotions of contextual
style and socio economic class in NNE

(2) ko f(style, SEC)

and as we have seen above, the feature of Noice favors the

application of the rule in NNE, though not in WNS.

3.L2. T e Although the vocalization

.

of final and pre-consonantal will be an important factor

in dealing with the contraction and deletion of the copula
Aim the major effect of the vocalization of r is upon in
dividual lexical terms, and we deal with it here as a phono-
logical variable.

Just as we saw thaid NNE has characteristic ways of

treating the (th) and (dh) variables slightly different
from the WNS of New York 0i.4, so NNE diffeAls from WNS
and various SE dialects dn the quantitative treatment of
the vocalizstion of r. The situation for the WNS of New
York City may be summarized as follows: in final and pre
consonantal position, underlying r is vocalized according
to a variable rule which is sensitive to age, sex, socio
economic class, and contextual style (SSENYC: 240, 345).
In the basic vernacular of casual speech, the rule is al-
most categorical for all but the upper-middle class. How
evert when the next word begins with a vowel' the rule

99 -
ope ates quite seldom, and constricted Er) ±a usua ly found.
There is never any vocalization of in int r vocalie po
sition within a word. In earlier forms a NYC WNS, the
mid vowel of 2.92s, hEzt and Aiaild, was vocalized with a
palatal upglide yielding [eq. However, this has been
stigmatized with extreme force over the past five decades,
and as a rosu2t such a form is rarely found among young
speakers outside of the lower class (SSENYC: 340). The
form which is heard is a constricted central [T] whidh
may be ragarded abstractly as simply consonantal (r)
The rules which accourt for tills WNS pattern may be given
as (3) and (4)

(3) roc (0) / (+cons ooni

Rgeen
c+aorieJ
tensej owj U

(4) Eiscen) (( cons)) / cons]

Rule(3)takes care of the case of =a, ngxxg, galg, urk,

removing the vowel so that rule (4) does not apply. Rule
(4) Orms that the vocalization of z is variable only in
the cabeethat a vowel does not follow directly after the
z. If a word boundary intervenes and then a vowel, the
rule is variable as indicated but at a lower level than
otherwise. This rulq is subject to a rather complex set
of conditions on k

The NNE treatment of variable (R) may be summed up

by saying that this dialect shows a higher degree of
lessness. Wherever WNS shows a variable rule, we find
that the NNE rule goes to completion. And in cases where
WNS never applies tha rule, we find NNE applying it at
low frequency.
Vocalization of
Environment namma
semi-categorical semi-categorical
infrequent very frequent
V V unknown infrequent

Where a consonant precedes the z and a vowel follows, we

find a very complex set of conditions, with considerable
lexical variation, in NNE. Thus Du] is quite common for
Samer, and tbxsagb, but before front voweis as in t ree the
is normally retained. We will not consider postconsondntal
z in this report, but confine our attention to the three (In-
vironments listed above.

- 100
 In the bas c vernacular, we do not expect to find any
constrictedzIs in final and pre consonantal position.
Furthermore, we find that the rule applies with very high
frequency when the next word begins with a vowel. As a
result, there are many words where there is no morphopho
nemic alternation to support a final z in the underlying
forma, and we would expect to find that many NNE speakers
find great difficulty in reading and writing fcrms with
final zfs; furthermore, we wculd expect to find a great
deal of irregularity in the spelling of such words. For
WNS speakers, the phonetic quality of most vowels indi-
cates an underlying z, but for NNE speakere there is an
additional rule which removes the phonetic heritage of
the z. This is the rule which we entitle uloss of post
vocalic schwau; it is the one which operates in non
standard Southern speech to giveJth2,, p2,, 12', and also
Ilagy in place of thalr and ygg in place of yggE. When
the schwa which replaced the z is removed after a vowel,
only a small difference in height separates Ibly from
jawdx, ygg from yoz, a situation which is predictably
unstable.5 As a result, many Southern dialects show
a collapse or merger of bhese two lexical forms and the
dialect spelling sagy...boojg, yglaggh, seems to represent
the actual situation as tar as native speakers are oon-
corned. (Thls is treated in greater detail on pagV106-7
and 3.36 below in relation to the possessive in general

) When we consider inter-vo

(laic z which is nev r vocalized in WNS, we find that
there is a certain percentage of cases in which the rule
applies. Some of these seem to be lexically conditioned,
as in Plo,ida for ?lorida: Other words are sometimes vo
calize , so at can by homonymous with 9=1 and
mu with =lg. However, as Table 3-2 shows, the fre
quency of vocalization of inter-vocalic position within
a word is much lower than for inter-vocalic position at
the ends of words. Table 3-2 shows the frequency of the
z vocalization rule as the percentage of oases in which
the rule does not apply- that is, the percentage of con
stricted [xi].

As we examine figures in this table, it is apparent

that there is a fairly uniform percentage--from 2 to 15
percent at most--of cases in which inter-vocalic er is
vocalized and perhaps deleted. There is reason to think
that this characteristic is disappearing from the speech
of the younger generation, since the working-class adults
allow about twice as high a frequency as the peer groups.
Though the rule applies in only a small percentage of
cases, we can observe social stratification, since the
middle-class adults shows the highest percentages of
consonantal z and the upper section of the Northern

101-
 TABLE 3 2

SOCIAL A1V 8YIIISTIC STRATIFICATION OF

AVERAGE (R) INDICES FOR NNE AND WNS GROUPS

(r0V) (r)

Style Style

AI 1! A A A
Tht derbirds 98 98 100 15 04 01 00 10 23
(5 8)
Aces 100 100 06 00 00 03 26
(4)

Lames (17) 87 100 11 02 25 26

Cobras (5/9) 97 93 100 00 04 00 02 13 24

100 80 11 02 00 00 19 07
Jets (12/13) 96

Adults
Middle class 100 95 100 52 77 10 25 67
Working class
--upper
89 100 40 00 08 61
Northern
Southern 78 10C 23 40 09 11 34
--lower' '
Northern 79 80 100 22 06 01 05 44

Southern 79 100 37 12 (08) 09 37

Inwood (6) 100 100 100 95 80 00 00 00 13

Alag
A: group or casual style
B: single or careful style
0: reading style
D: word lists
Numbers in parentheses represent numbers
of subjects in Style B or Style AiStyle B
Adults: MC: (10/1 )
INC--u/N
u/t: 7
1/N: 5
1/St 8

102
working class is next. We therefore observe that the inter
vocallo sub-rule is subject to the same conditions on the
input variable as the main rule for final and pre-conso
nantal [r], discussed below.

There is no lexical confusion at all due to the vocal

ization of inter-vocalic z we find that it does not oper
ate at all n reading texts or word lists: consonantal z
appears 100`Vo of the time. The figures on the Inwood
group show that there is no tendency at all for inter-vo
calic z to be vocalized among white speakers, so this
extension of thy rule is a purely Negro characteristic in
this Northern area.
V The picture is quite othe
wise as far as r##V is concerned. Here the rule operates
far more elenaively with the youth, who show nothing high
er than 15 /o constricted z, while the adults range from
(r01)-06 to (r0V)-77. Among the peer groups, there is
no sign of regular stylistic stratification, nor of any
marked shift with age, as far as styles A and B are con
corned. Unfortunately, we do not have sufficient data on
any of the formal styles to observe the behavior of (r##V
in reading or word lists. We might well expect to find
a marked increase in consonantal [r].

When we examine the figures for the adults, we do find

very clear social and stylistic stratification, as indicated
in Figure 3-4. The middle class is opposed to the work-
ing-class groups by the high level of (Off). Both upper
sections of the working class follow the middle class in
using more consonantal x in careful speech, while the lower
sections do not,

When we consider the Inwood groups, we find again that

the Negro groups show a much higher degree of x-lessness
than the white groups. The rule does operate to a very
slight extent for the Inwood groups, but in the great ma
jority of cases, they preserve the lz of the underlying
form before a vowel.

Eina1 .a0.1421=29219.11111t41.(r). The most impor

tant (R) variable is the residual casc of final and pre
consontal (r), In HMO, it was found that this showed
the most regular and fine-grained stratification through
out the white population; all groups except the upper
middle class are z-less in casual speech. Thair use of
consonantal r slopes upward regularly as they shift to
formal styles. The Negro group of SHIM is no excep-
tion; if anything they respond more sensitively to z
in formal style than white speakers, although as pointed
out here, their vernacular is even more r-less as shown

-103
by their extension of the rules to other environments (SSE-
NYC: 647). The data of this study confirms this view. Table
3-2 shows again that very little is used in casual speech
or group style. The peer groups do not show any signifi
cant increase in until they reach reading style or word
lists. The lames;* who read best, show the most in read
ing style. The white adolescents are almost exactly the
same as the Negro adolescents; if anything, they show less z
As far as the adults are concerned, we find a regular
pattern of social and stylistic stratification. Only the
middle class uses a significant percentage of in casual
speech; the (r)-10 is a mixed figure, since about half of
the speakers use (r)-00 and the others (r) 15 30, in a
manner comparable to SSENYO.
When we examine the working class adults, it seems at
fi st glance as if the Southern speakers reverse the pattern
in casual speechl but this is only due to the fact that
some of the Southerners come from North Carolina and ad
jacent areas where considerable is found in the vernacu
lar.6 As we expand our working-class data, it will be
possible to show clearly how the mixtures of various South-
ern dialects among first-generation immigrants merged to
a uniform s-less pattern in the second generation.

The (r) values for word lists show very clear social
and stylistic stratification; as indicated in:Figure 3-4.
We have not yet analysed the nNobody Knows Your Name!'
readings for adults, but when style C is filled in we
expect to see the same regular pattern as in SSBNYO.

To conclude, we find that (r) is a variable which

sponds to the prestige norm of z-pronunciation which is
rapidly penetrating all of the i-less dialects of the Ea t
ern United States. The youngest members of the society
do have as clear a'perception of this norm as the adults,
but there can be no question that they recognize it in
their speech patterns. In Chapter 4, the data on sub-
jective reaction tests will show the relation of this norm
to speech patterns, and in Chapter 5 we will consider the
implications of this situation for reading.

As far as (work) and (her) is concerned, w'e find that

the prevailing pattern is the use of constricted [r]. We
also find some vocalization of her and were as [he:) and
(we:), but we do not find the full short vowel of WNS
[hA] and (wA]. There is some tendency for the palatal up-
glide to survive; its source is various Southern dialects7
rather than the New York City pattern, where it has been
fairly well extinguished in this generation (SSENYC: 340).
*isolated individuals

104-
 We therefore wish to remove these two wora classes
from the operation of the rule. The best way to do this
in our formal treatment is to show that certain lax vowels
are deleted before as shown below, using rule (3) above.
This rule can be simplified if we consider only the basic
vernacular of casual speech or group interaction, which
will be the main object of study in this chapter. For
NNE, as reflected in Table 3-2, we have the form

(5) (+con) ((-cons)) / cons] 00##) ( V)

This rule states that a central consonant becomes a con

tinuant after a vowel or glide, and the rule applies cate
gorically unless a vowel follows. If a word boundary comes
before the vowel, the rule is favored: in other words, (r##V)
shows less constricted [r] than (VrV). Rule (5) is some-
what easier to follow if AT expand it Into the four possible
combinations of o( and *:

9jayirm1g1Ji sigja
1 (ko + k )
1 (ko k )

4. 1
0

A comparable rule for the Inwood groups is shown in 6)

(6) (+cen) ([ cons]) [ cons] pli40 pird

Here the additional complication is that the rule cannot

apply at all if a vowel follows the z directly. In other
words, the case of GI=
shown above has a 4>of 0, since
it does not satisfy the condition that -V follow immed
iately. The rule still applies categorically if a con
sonant follows the r, or if it follows after a word boundary,
or if nothing follows after the word boundary. However,
if a word boundary follows the r, and then a vowel, the
rule is variable. It is not necessary to mark an o( con
straint in rule (6), since there is no variation possible
if a word boundary does not follow. However, with this
vacuousc6 we can combine (5) and (6) into a single rule,
using an extra-lInguistic environment:

(7) [4-cen] ([ cons]) / cons] .44J4)74,,,v;.1

- 105 -
Rules of this sort have been utilized by WOlck and De Camp
in explorations of pan-dialectal grammars.8 Normally, we
would enter the effect of ethnic group into the rule as
an operator upon the input variable Ito

(8) ko = f(style, class, age, ethnic group)

However, in this and other sections we will see that there

are differences between WNS and NNE which are of just this
nature: the NNE form is somewhat more general, and the rule
will show a restriction or extra condition in SE or WNS
which is missing in NNE.

The condition on the input variable (9) will still

include ethnic group, even if we utilize rules such as
(7), but the exact specification of this expression does
not fall within the province of this report.

It can be dbserved that rules (5-7) convert [3:) into

NI but there are many cases where it is not realized
as (e) in the phonetic output. Thus we have long mono
phthongs such as [Icun] and (la:] for the low vowels. The
rule which converts certain diphthongs into equivalent
monophthongs is not presented in this report but can be
derived from certein general quantitative considerations
based on the underlying phonetic grid.9 On the other
hand, deletion of a centering glide after high and mid
vowels is not a feature of English in general, but is one
of the most characteristic features of NNE. A special
rule deletes post-vocalic schwa, leaving not a long
vowel, but a short monophthong.

(9) r+cenl_t, (0) / hoc

L-cons :cons]

We do not have figures for how frequently this rule

applies, but it is clearly a variable rule that is well
known and stigmatized in the South. Thus, white South
erners will frequently say lisliof InuffH and ushut the
dot Ht
with clear vocal markers of uquotationu, much as middle
class Northerners will use uatnitu, This rule is deeply
embedded in NNE. It leads to such derivations as

(10) their there your

*U+r -6er jo+r underlying form
Iev+r )Ser ja+r layering before r
'Sev+0 )6evo jo+e vocalization of r
jo loss of post-vocalic o

-106-
It is this last series of forms which apparently fall to
get,her with ,they and =I. We are plainly dealing with a
phonological process which affects unstressed Ilwaz max
(and in Southern white speech, aux). In the contracted
phonological spacq of unstressed vowels, the distinction of
[a - 0 and (u a] is unstable; the net effect, which
shows up in restressed /bay and y211, is a re-ordering of
the rules so that disappears before lowering, and so
leaves no trace at all.
Although there is then no distinction between the 'base
form of the pronouns ygli and jaw, and the attributive pos
sessive for these persons, the possessive category remaine
the
intact. The absolute forms remain Zara and yourgland
other pronouns which are not affected by such phonological
processes retain their attributive possessive forms
If there was no re-ordering, or lexicalization of
this change, we would expect to find it reversed whenever
final and pre-consonantal re-entered the dialect, This
is happening in those ghetto areas where the Negro communi
ty is surrounded by a white, x-pronouncing dialect. We ex
amined 'ale speech of solx exploratory inIerviews with Negro
adolescent boys in Venice, California.lu Although thee()
informants showed ielatively careful speech, face-to-face
with a white interviewer, we would heve expected (4-00 in
Harlem; the actual (r) indices ranged from -25 to -50. But
wy did not observe in this limited data any shift in the
possessives tlagy and yma, which indicates that change in
the underlying forms may have taken place.

kerggr gaigr1.0.1.19110. One of the char

acteristic developments of the WNS of NYC is the merger
of high and mid vowels before underlying /r/, so that
Alm and 91gliK, pure, and All= are homonymous for many
speakers of the younger generation. This merger is the
product of a general tensing and raising of the low
and mid ingliding vowels--a process in which Negro speak
ers do not participate. In SSENYC, it was shown that
the vowels used by Negro speakers, raised in New York
and out-of-towners, were much lower than for white speak-
ers, and showed no stylistic stratification (SSENYC: 303).

On the other hand, there is a reverse process opc

ating in several Southern dialects, principally in coaotal
South Carolina,11 which produces the same result in the
speech of Negro immigrants to Northern cities. Cheer
and chAlr, poor and pour, fall together at an intermediate
range, usually closer to the mid vowel than the high
vowel, and not necessarily tonse and fronted as with the
WNS of NYC.

The values of the variables were initially the same

as for white speakers (SSENYC: 52,54) but it soon became
- 107 -
apparent that these cutting points were not optimal for
NNE speakers. We therefore re organized the coding as
shown below.

blight...of nucleus WNS

e.

C 3
"

The index was constructed as in SSENYC by taking the numer-

ical total of the variables, dividing by the number of occur
rences, and multiplying by ten.

(11) (ihr) (ehr) = 10

Table 3 3 shows the data on the front vowels, in the

word classes of boll and loamgd on tha one hand, and
and barlg, on the other. There is considerable evidence
of lexical confusion, and even in most formal styles we
find some speakers who show an absolute merger. Yet most
spaakers still make the distinction. There is no obvious
sign of stylistic stratification, as in the case of white
speakers. Where the merger exists, the vowels seem to come
closer in reading word lists, rather than show their great
est approximation in casual style. On the whole, then, we
can say that the merger of (ihr) and (ehr) does not have
great social significance for NNE speakers: it is distrib-
uted unevenly among tha population, and exists for SOMB as
an absolute fact, for others as a slight tendency. It is
stronger among adults than among adolescents and of course
shows up most strikingly in emigrants from coastal South
Carolina. There is apparently a greater tendency for merger
of the back vowels than the front ones, but since these
are not as frequent as the front vowels, ye decided to con-
centrate our attention in one area only.

-108-
 TABLE 3-3

CONTRAST OF (ihr) AfiD (ehr) FOR Nlib

AND WNS PEER GROUPS AND ADULT SAMPLE

(ihr) (ehr)
Style St yl
CD B B C P..
Thunderbirds (5/6) 12 13 14 12 16 16 20 19

Aces (4) 13 15 15 18 18 17

Lames (17) 12 13 12 19 20 17

Cobras (5t9) 14 15 19 14 21 20 18 15

Jets (12/13) 14 13 10 12 18 18 14 14

Adults
Middle class (4) 10 10 19 17
Working class
Upper Nolern 13 12 12 15 20 16
Solern 10 12 10 18 18 20

Lower Note= hti.

10 10 10 18 19 19
Solern 7 14 11 21 20 27

Inwood (6) 14 12 12 13 20 20 18 19

giY2.912
A: group or casual
B: single or careful
C: reading
D: word lists
Numbers in parentheses represent number of
subjects in Style B or Style A/Style B

-109-
 Among eight Thunderbir0s, we find only oneDavid--
who shows a total merger o, the word classes of beer
andlaa. If we match his (ihr) and (ehr) average indices
for four styles, we findno firm distinction.

(ihr) (ehr)
David
Style A (group) 17 16
B sinGle) 16 14
C reading) 20 20
D word lists) 12 15

In three of the four styles, these indices show the total

lack of a distinction between the two word classes, and
David's response to the minimal pair question followed
this indication: to him, here and hair, bear and beer sound
ed the same. In contrast, the indices of Roger show a
clear distinction in every style.

(ihr) (ehr)
r
Style A 10 18
B 11 20
C 10 2C
D 10 20

--even though he was not entirely clear about the question

of same and different. In general, we consider the evidence
of actual speech behavior, and the separation of word classes
by the phonemes used in casual speech, to be the soundest
indication of the phonetic structure of the language.

The situation in regard to the (ihr) and (ehr) contrast

is not uniform throughout the peer groups. Three of the
four Aces showed the merger in speech as well as a usamen
reaction to minimal pairs.

Aces (ihr) (ehr)

Style B 0 D B 0 D
Tony G. 13 10 10 14 10 10
Renard G. 10 20 18 15 20 20
Ted 10 10 12 21 20 20
Joseph 20 20 20 22 20 18

Note that Tony shows a merger in the high position,while

Renard, his brother, shows a merger at (ehr-2); the only
person who shows a distinction is Ted, who shows a clear
differentiation in speech, although he did react to one
minimal pair as the same.

-110-
-R4matoomorrliramoriwoorimp,ommnItoWftw,"

The Lames are not too different from the Thunderbirds

pair
Six out of nine show a firm reaction to the minimal
test, and most speakers show comparable indices in speech
that confusion in the
in styles B, C and D. Again, we find in the
minimal pair test is usually matched by overlapping
pattern of speech.

When we examine the Jets and the Cobras, we find items,

that
the uniformity that prevails on the other The
linguistic
records of
again does not hold for (ihr) and distinction
(ehr).
in styles A
the Cobras show a rather uniform
and B, but merger and confusion in styles C and D. On the
approximation, but
other hand, the Jetof records show an classes.
much less tendency to confusion of these two-word shows the
The following comparison of the average indices
tendency which prevails for most individuals.
(ihr) (ehr)
B C D A B C

14 15 19 14 21 20 18 15
Cobras
14 13 10 12 18 18 14 14
Jets

The middle-class adults, as indicated in Table 3-3,

show about the same ratio of merger as the pre-adolescent
confusion in the
speakers. We find 4 out of 13 showing
minimal pair test; a confusion which is matched in the
pattern of speech. Furthermore, there is one individual
who shows a merger in speech but who hears the word classes
part
as different. This sporadic merger is therefore now
of the Northern pattern, since all of these adu:its were
raised in the North. When we examine the working-class
adults, we find roughly the same situation; there is no
difference between the upper and lower sections as far as
the (ihr) and (ehr) distinction is concerned. Those raised
in coastal South Carolina naturally show the merger which
is characteristic of that region, and which also appears
at dur interviews in Beaufort, South Carolina. There are
5 individuals who show clear evidence of merger, and allin
were raised in South Carolina. The only person raised
South Carolina who does not show this merger was raised in
Spartenberg--well out of the area of merger (Kurath and
McDavid 1961, Maps 34-40).
It is therefore apparent that among the adults, there
is a close match between currmt dialect patterns and geo
graphical origin. In general, we find that those Southern
features which are mergers expand in the North, but those
Southern features which represent distinctions not char
acteristic of Northern cities disappear in the Northern
ghetto areas. Thus, for example, the merger of Ain and pen
expands, like the merger o ate.ex and alaim, but the Soul, ern
distinction of fox. vs. Let, w4404 vs. witch, disappears in
the Northern ghetto areas. We observe here the very general
tendency for mergers to expand at the expense of distinctions
(Weinreich, Isabov and Herzog 1968).

It wou1.4 be natural to ask if there was any correlation

between the existence of merger between (ihr) and (ehr) in
second-generation residents with the geographical origin
of either parents, So far, we have not been able to establish
any such correlation, and this fincling is consistent with
our general observations that the details of children's
dialect features are not determined by their parents' dialect.

3.1 4. ) v b e We have not studied the

(ohr) variable in the same detail as (ihr) and (ehr), The
high back vowel or (uhr) is relatively rare, and the most
common words have generally been re-assigned to other classes.
Thus, pau is often pronounced with a mid-central vowel and
pggE is pronounced with a mid vowel by many who,preserve
)rarg and ips,gE as hIgh vowels, The data on (ohr) whidh we
will present here is based upon the common minimal pairs
galgEt vs. algs. and pagE vs. pgRE. In general, we find a
widespread tendency to merger--more common than in the case
of the front vowels. It may be the case that pggE is a
speciallexical item, re-assigned to the mid vowels, and does
not give evidence of a general merger.
We can generally report that of 15 adolescents, only
one sneaker showed a clear distinction between these tio
word pairs, and reacted to them as different. Curiously
enough, he is the one Thunderbird--David--who showed a
merger of (ehr) and (ihr). It is worth noting that the
merger of (uhr) and (ohr) does not occur in high position,
as with NYC WNS (SSENYC:513). Most of the merged vowels
are at the level of [o] or even lower, at [o]. A more de
tailed discussion of the coding of the (ohr) variable is to
be found on page 35 of CRP #3091.

The adults dhow widespread-merger of (uhr) and (ohr).

Of the middle-class adults, we find only four who show a clear
distinction between the two word pairs. We find three
who merge poor and Am at the (ohr-1) level [ye], that is
the high vowels characteristic of NYC WNS. It is interest
ing to note that this characteristic is found only among
middle-class speakers raised in the North (with one exception--
a working-class speaker raised in Georgia), and this data fits
in well with the findings of SSENY0:303--which show Negro
speakers using a much lower level of (ohr) than white
speakers. We do not observe any of the adolescent boys using
this high level of (ohr) and in general, we see that the vowel
systems of NNE are quite independent of the development of
the white vernacular in NYC.
112
 Among the 23 working class speakers examined here, we
nd only one who makes a clear distinction in both word
pairs. Among those raised in the North, we find four out
of eight who make tld recognize a distinction between
pga and po.u., and in general, most Northerners believe
there is a difference even if they do not make one, How
ever, none of the Southerners made a clear difference be
tween poor and pour.; and only one thought that the two
words sounded alike. This is a reflection of the fact
that Aux is generally realized as [in] throughout the
South (Kurath and McDavid 1961: Map 42). There is far
more uniformity in this feature than with the correiponding
front vowels (Kurath and McDavid 1961: Maps 37 and 38). In
this case then, we observe a slight dilution of this uni
form Southern characteristic in the Northern ghetto, Our
current data on Southern phonology does not allow us to say
whether the merger of max or mix corresponds generally
to a merger of the larger word classes involved.

3.1.5. In many ways, the

vocalizatIon or velarization of dark (1) is parallel to
the vocalization or centralization of (r). Both are liquids
having the features [+consonantal, +vocalic] and both lose
their consonantal or constricted characteristic at the
ends of words. However the process which affects (1)
is much less regular than that which operates on (r) and
even though it is more general among NNE speakers than
other it still shows a great deal of variability. The
vocalization of (1) is especially important because it
affects the expression of the future; when y411 is con
tracted and vocalized, it frequently disappearstespecially
before a labial, so that 1....ba.shug may be derived from
.1,..:...1.flayajggat]...+ her& or from je...1....i-yal,Lij-mmtokerst (3.4.12).

The constraining conditions on the vocalization of (1)

have nevtlr been investigated beforej to our knowledge. We
did not give a major share of our attention to this variable,
but we did analyze a good portion of the data to see what
the (I) vocalization rule looks like

The Nrooali
zation or velarization of dark or velar & produces a
range of back, unrounded glides and occasionally a central
glide. These back unrounded glJdes are difficult to hear
for those unaccustomed to them, and there is no standard
IPA symbol to represent them. One might use any of the
symbols for back unrounded vowels with non-syllabic marks
on them: Ny74,11 ]. However, the variation in height
and sonority makes any of these designations somewhat
too specific. The symbol (,,] will be used to designate
this unrounded velar glide. The notation suggests that it
113
 but we have
is lateral, and some observers think that it
no evidence to confirm this impression.
The glide is frequently rounded in the neighborhood
feature as far
labial consonants, an extremely important
wt13, are con
as the ultimate development of such words asrule parallel
cerned, This glide is often deleted, by a In a few
to rule (9)*which deletes post-vocalic schwa. not seem to
cases it is centralized to (0, but this does
be a regular tendency.
The value of the (1) variables are therefore designated
as

These apply to (IG), (ID) and (I). The schwa variant is

not common, although it may be an underlying, immediate
form between -2 and -4. We will not include data on
the (1-3) variant in our tables, but i.ead, concentrate
on -1, -2 and -4. The data in Table 3-4 will therefore
be given as triplets representing the numbers of (1-4) /
(I-2) / (1-1).

kasinaLson r _1 u on It was observed

early in the study of 1 that the vocalization rule applied
much more often when the (I) was followed by a liquid or a
glide -y, -1, and -r. Thus, the rule applies much more
often in NNE for mrds such as

21 y .E

always William all right

all week will you already
million all wrong

It is important in defining the (1) to exclude the (IG) class

outlined above if the basic vocalization rule is to be out
lined most clearly. Purthermore, we found it necessary to
separate the (ID) class from the others, since there are
special problems involved in the intersection of the
(ID) rules and the (I) vocalization rule. Some of these
problems are touched on in sections 3.2 and 3.4 below, and
* See section 3.4.6.
114
 TABLE 3 4
DISTRIBUTION OF (1) VARIANTS FOR NNE
GROUPS ACCORDING TO PRECEDING VOWEL

I. (1G): with following liquid or glide

STYLE RB TOTAL

T Birds A 3/3/1 0/2/0 21/2/0 24/ 7/1

(5/7) 1/84 0/4/0 13/4/1 14/16/2
Aces (4) 1/2/1 0/2/0 5/4/0 6/ 8/1
Cobras A 8/2/1 0/1/1 7/0/0 15/ 3/2
(4/5) 2/9/1 0/2/0 11/3/1 13/14/2
Jets A 7/10,/1 2/1/0 14/4/0 23/15/i
(3/4) 0/570 0/3/0 17/5/0 37/13/0
Oscar Br os,A 4/6/3 0/24 11/2/1 15/10/5
(4)
Lames 2/4/0 0/2/0 7/2/1 9/ 8/1
(7)
273747979 273.-972 16-6-7674 13 V90.5

x/y/z = CIJ/L.43/0
(1)
011100.0,
RB
STYLE V

T Birds A. 2/406 1/2/10

0/33/2 0/3/1 28/19/4 1/1/22
(5/7) B 1/45/7 0/4/3 0/34/7 0/1/3 12/19/3 31544
Aces B 0/35// 1/1/2 0/19/5 0/1/1 6/20/4 1/5/22
(4) 0/1/0 15/10/0 0/0/21
Cobras A 0/13/4 0/1/13 5/15/0
(4/5) B 2/38/b 0/2/17 0/31/4 0/0/5 17/16/4 4/2/28
Jets A 0/29/10 0/5/8 2/26/8 0/1/4 18/13/1 0/2/12
(3/4) B 0/20/7 0/2/7 4/35/0 0/1/3 18/22/2 0/0/20
Oscar Br A 0/24/4 0/0/6 1/26/7 1/5/1 17/13/3 1/0/16
(4)
Lames B 1/38/4 0/3/3 1/36/1 0/5/1 17/33/6 7/3/24
(7)
11157ER.59 2/20/69 13/255/34 1/18/19 1548/179
148/165/27
Numbelm in parentheses represent
subjects in Style a or Style A/Style B

115
there are some particular problems of ordering of the two
sets of rules which will be mentioned at the end of section
3.4, In this section, we will consider the (IG) and re-
sidual (I) class.

It is, of course, es ential to consider the influence

of a following vowel, just as with Cr), (0) or any of the
word-final variables. As we shall see, a following vowel
has a much stronger influence on (I) than on (r), in line
wtth the previous observation that the vocalization of (r)
is much further advanced and more general,

One of the most interesting questions concerning (I)

is the influence of the preceding vowel, and the effect
of this vowel upon the phonetic variant (I). Initial
observations led us to the belief that front vowel VB
back vowel was the primary consideration, and furthermore,
that it was the rounded feature of the back vowel that was
critical. We thqrefore subdivided the (I) classes into
four sub-classes:

P-- front vowel preceding (I)

C-- central vowel preceding (I)
RB--rounded back vowel preceding (I)
UB--unrouLded back vowel preceding (I)

It is, of course, the last category which is most critical

for deciding between backness and roundedness; unfortunately,
words such as shaj, and ILIsk are relatively rare, and our
data is hardly conclusive. As far as we can see, there
is no major constraint dependent upon the height of the
preceding vowel.11

The d n o nts. Table 3 4

shows datR for selected groups of NNE speakers, Complete
datalis given on the Thunderbirds and partial daba on the
Aces, Lames, Cobras, Jets and Oscar Brothers. The study
of (I) was not continued through the major portion of
the Jets and the adults since the data given here seems
to be quite clear cut. The actual numbers of variants are
given in Table 3-4, and Figure 3-4 shows frequency
distributions--i.e., values of(p. Here again, we note
the extreme regularity of the systematic variation found
in NNE. The fundamental relationships repeat for each
peer group and for each stylistic shift within each
vowel class. We find no difference between the effect
of front vowels and central vowels as opposed to rounded
back vowels, but we have retained these separate cate-
gories in Table 3-4, so that the reader may see how such
fundamental relationships are repeated within these

116
 elluivalent s b c es-was some measure of the regularity
of the data,

Table 3 4 shows that the effect of a following vawel

on (I) is extremely strong in all cases. For all of the
peer groups, in both group and single style, (1) is in-
frequently vocalized before a following vowel.

The second effect which is worth noting is that the

zero variant is far more frequent after a rounded vowel than
after an unrounded vowel. We can account for this phonetic-
ally by observing that two glides are not as a rule per-
mitted after an English nucleus, and the vocalization of
follows the dipthongization rule. There are many dialects
which do not vocalize but Which change the rounded up-
glide to an unrounded upglide or a centering glide before
dark (I]. Thus, in New York City, we find that sway, and
jail frequently have the same vowel as 1A4 andwherek^e).
In this cas, we find that the normal resolution of the
sequence (1)3[4] is for the unrounded back g2ide to disappear.
Abstractly', we might say that it assimilates to the
rounding of the previous glide and the two glides merge
into one, but it will be simpler for us to write a rule
which deletes the glide in one step. It it true that we
also get some zero forms after front vowels but Table 3-4
shows that the frequency is extremely low.

The third constraint upon the form of (1),is a stylis-

tic one. We find that the Thunderbirds use 20v/o more
zero fors in group style than ig single style; the Cobras
show 21 dio more; and the Jets 13 //o. One might suppose
that this is merely a reflection of the allegro character
of group sessions, but we will notein 3.4 a contrary find-
ing--that the number of full forms of IA increases in
group style.

Figure 3 4 superimposes the values of i for the

(I) vocalization rule and for the deletion of the major
glide, for the Thunderbirds, the Jets and the Cobrasunroun'aed
in
both group and single style. The upper set of lines
presents the operation of the rule finally and before re
sonants (except liquidslo glides, and -1,,s1); con-
the bottom set
before vowels. It is immediately apparent that the fol-
lowing vowel is the primary, ft< effect, since there is no
overlap at all.

The three major peer groups are remarkably

in their treatment of (I). The upper set of linessimilar
in
each sub-set represents the over-all application of the
I-vocalization rule. Where there is a lower set, this
represents the retention ofthe lateral =rounded glide.
The
gap between the tvg) lines therefore represents the percent

-117
111111111/7"

Figure 3-4. Vocalization of (I)

and deletion of unrounded glide
by Thunderbirds, Jets and Cobras

op after unrounded vowel after rounded vowel

1.0 .....

' .. ........

'
/ ." .....

/ /. Set I
/ 1/ 7// ///
......
..... Af/ps /

s0 0 , / / 0. before
/.
,
consonant
e r
or final

.
,/, / / / /

''i /
/ / <;'
'.
.% A/ /
A
/
//
. ,A#

.......
....

.. ""
.......

Set II
...

0
....
befoie
vowel
V
.....

......
.
....
1/1111/11
...........
......... .........

0
Single Group le
Group
S t

Thunderbirds Upper lines within each

set = (I) vocalization
......... - Cobras Lower lines = mtention
Jets of back unrounded glide

= zero forms

-117a-
of zero forms: [tu] for :tool. It is plain that these forms
are infrequent after unrounded vowels, and are used more
often in group than in single style--by all peer groups.
As will observe in many other cases, the constraint of a
following vowel increases with age: it is weakest with the
Thunderbirds.

41-4 noted above, the major constraint upon the 1-vocaliza-

tion rule is the influence of a following vowel. We can ob-
serve that when a vowel does follow, the effect of a pre-
ceding rounded vowel is to make the rule operate less fre-
quently, just the reverse of the case before consonants. The
explanation for this is not obvious. It may be that the in-
fluence of the back rounded upglide of o and u reinforces
the tendency to assign the [1] to the next syllable, favoring
the CVO syllable structure. In any case, this is a minor
effect compared to the overall effect of the following vowel
in repressing the operation of the rule.

The vocalization of (I) for the major class operates

at very high levels, and is favored slightly by the influence
of the preceding rounded vowel. We see no major etylistic
effect upon the operation of this rule. The 1-voca]..ization
rule therefore takes the following form:

(11) -V
[Tall 4. ([ -cons]) / [((3)( -0)round]
-00#V)
(*)(Y)cons
Imo

This rule is somewhat more complex than any of those

which have been introduced so far, in two respects. Pirst
of all, it is necessary to indicate that the class of liquids
and glides has a categorical effect on the rule. This class
is designated usually as [xconsonantal,o(vocalic]. We can
achieve the desired result by placing an asterisk before
one of the variables, in this case utilizingT. The effect
of multiplying variables follows the usual interpretation of
multiplying signs: if the vocalic and consonantal featured
agree, then the result is positive and the * applies to
eliminate all variation. In the two other cases, the re-
sult is -, and the * does not affect variation. In one
of these oases, we have a vowel which is taken care of by
the two other features above. In the case of [+cons, -voc],
the`r effect is simply added to the others.

The second example of multiplication of features is

found in the reversal of the effect of a rounded vowel
before the [IL The notation (0(-00 operates so that a
rounded vowel favors the rule except when a vowel (after
a word boundary) follows, in which case this preceding
rounded vowel has the reverse effect. The convention
utilized here is that the ordering of the variables is
determined by the first in the series, and this constraint
is therefore a minor one as compared to the effect 0(of a
- 118 -
following vowel. It is obvious from Figure 3-4 that these
two constraints are geometrically ordered, as noted above.

Rule for deletion of the lateral glidg. The rule

which responds most sharply to the preceding vehicle is the
deletion of the lateral glide. All of the groups studied
show a very strong effect in which the rounding of the pre-
ceding vowel favors the rule. This applies, of course, to
all but positions before a following vowel, where such dele-
tion is almost zero. We also observe a marked stylistic
effect upon the operation of this rule. The Thunderbirds,
the Cobras, and the Jets all show lower values ofdp in
single style as compared to group style. Furthermorei the
lames show comparatively low values in this case, compared
to the Thunderbirds who are full group members. We can
conclude that the deletion of the lateral glide is a vari-
able with affective value in NNE, and which operates most
frequently in the vernacular itself. The form of the rule
would therefore resemble (11').

(11') r_cen
oasoundi
I-voc 1---+ (0) /1
-cons (0) -V
L-cons

3.1.6. The distinction of j1/ and ie/ before nasglg.

One of the most general phonological c.1',aracteristics of
Southern English is the merger of /i/ and /e/ before nasals.
Thus pin and pen, tin and ten are homonymous. In a large
portion of the Southern United States, including most of
the border states, this characteristic has been expanding
beyond the South, and in some exploratory interviews, we
find it as far north as Gary, Indiana. Its outward ex-
pansion is another evidence of the tendency of mergers
to expand at the expense of distinctions.

In the interviews carried out on the lower East Side

for SSENYC, it was observed that some evidence of this
merger was found in almost all Negro speakers but not in
any white speakers. It was quite common for Negro child-
ren to report that they had asked for one kind of [pin]
and gotten a different kind. The Southern custom of re-
ferring to a fountain pen as an ink pen was also found
occasionally in New York City. 12/
41

It is of course not material whether the speaker uses

the vowel [1] or [e]. The important question is whether
or not he makes the decision consistently.

-119-
 In this study, we did not at empt to study these
vowels in all styles of speech in detail, but we did
observe that the merger is not quite as uniform as SSE=
indicates. Furthermore, there is some reversal of the
merger brought about by school contacts, and the evidence
of minimal pairs is therefore suspect. However, the
followiag observations based on the minimal pairs pin
vs. pen and vs. ign gives some idea of the pattern

Among the pre-adolescents, only 4 out of 19 responded

consistently to the minimal pair test, pronouncing both
pairs as different and hearing them as different in accor
dance with the Northern pattern. Quite a few pronounce
the pairs differently, but thought that one or both pairs
sounded "the same"--seven in all. As far as the vowel
itself is concerned, most of those who showed the merger
in their pronunciation used the high vowel [Is], but
one speaker used the low vowel and two were mixed. There
was no obvious social stratification with this variable
since the lames or isolated members showed the same ten-
dency as the peer groups.

When we turn to the adults, we find that ten of

fourteen middle-class speakers made the distinction in
speech and heard the pairs as different. But this is not
a clear sign of social stratification, since seven of the
nine members of the Northern working-class group did the
same. On the other hand, only four of the fourteen speak
ers raised in the South made the distinction consistently.
Those who did not were equally divided between the high
and mid vowels.

Our view of the (in) variable is therefore that of

a rapidly expanding regional feature whidh has been import
ed from the South into the Northern ghetto areas. Except
for a few speakers who have 3earned the Northern pattern,
mostly in school, there is a consistent merger among the
younger NNE speakers. In this respect, it is quite simi
lar to four vs. itpx or phich vs. witch, with the exception
that the South shows the merger in one case and the dis-
tinction in the other case. The direction of change
vain favors the merger.
Some further indication of the status of the pin vs.
an distinction is given in a discussion of perception tests
PT) in Volime

3 1.7. Dropping tlie varia,111. One of

the sociolinguistic variables whidh has been studied most,
and which is most stable throughout the United States is
the (ing) variable. The early observations of Pischer (1958)
show that boys use more of the stigmatized -int variant
than girls, and the boys that conformed most used less of
-120
this variants In SSENYO:398 it was shown that the .ing vari
able shows some of the same stable patterns of stylistic
and social stratification as (dh) and (th). When we studied
the pattern of Negro speakers, we immediately found a very
clear and extreme type of style shifting which runs across
all social classes and age ranges. The normal pattern for
NNE speakers is to use all 71a1 in casual or group style,
and all -ing in formal styles There is no other sociolin-
guistic variable which shows such an extreme style shift,
except ;atterns of intonation which are not as easily re
corded in discreet terms. We did not attempt to accumulate
a great deal of data on the (ing) variable since, as
Table
3 5 shows, ;this overall pattern is extremely regular.
Comparatively little attention has been given to the
definition of the jag variable as far as the class of total
occurrences which are to be counted. We are not, of course,
dealing with the suffix -ins, since words like Apaettimg,
Anything and notIling follow the same pattern as working
and fl,shing. But it is only the unstressed -lng which is
to be counted, since words such as =lig and Alm never
lose their velar final. Variant forms such as (sAmpm]
which do not show apical finals are not included in this
word class. We therefore take the (-1ng) index as the
frequency of the [Ixj] or (ing-1) in the total number of
occurrences of unstressed /ing/.

We do find considerable sociolinguistic stratification

in the (-ing) index in careful speech. Among the adolescents,
it is noteworthy that only the lames use a significant per-
cent of [Ia3] in style B. Among the adults, we find that
there is a small but regular effect by which those raised
in the South even show less (4)] in word lists than those
raised in the North or middle-class groups. Finally, we
note that the Inwood group is just as extreme in this re-
spect as the NNE peer groups.

In general, we can say that the (-ing) variable is

one of the simplest and most straightforward sociolin
guistic indicators in NNE, and NNE differs from SE pri
marily in the wider range of style shifting. This probably
can be attributed to the fact that uniform -in pronuncia
tion is more regular in the South, which determines the
form of the NNE vernacular; but since formal speech is
associated with Northern patterns, speakers move as far
away from this Southern pattern as possible in reading
word lists.

It is interesting to note that the shift of underlyine.

tog tq (in] is a rule which eliminates one of the few
non-apical inflections in English; leaving only the stable
fa of the contracted coupla in the first person singular.
-121
All other inflections (even the marginal ly and az forms
are formed in the favored apical position. In the next
sections, we will consider the treatment of the major
apical inflections which utilize /LA and aguz,

TABLE 3 5.
STYLISTIC STRATIFICATION OF (ing)

Style
FOR PEER. GROUPS, ADMITS AND OTHERS

Thunderbirds 00 O. 94
Aces 00 00 100
Cobras 01 67
Jets 03 08 100

Lames 23 100

Adults
Middle class 67 100
Working class
Upper--Nolern 65 87
Upper--Solern 10 75
Ilower--Nolern 23 93
Lower--Solern 15 86

Inwood 02 100

-122-
 Simpli ation of dc see; reading the re/ suffix

3.2.0. C altiaatim, There is a

general tendency in t e evolu4on of Indo-European languages,
and especiplly the Romance, Celtic and Germanic members, to
lose information at the ends of words; it is illustrated
in the phonological variables of tile last section. This
tendency shows up even more sharply in the treatment of
consonant clusters. In addition to the more general trend,
there is an inherent articulatory difficu2ty in final clue
ters of the CVO type, and even more so in OVOCC forms.
There appears to be a universal tendency for CV forms to
be unmarked in respect to CVC--that is, the existence
of the latter forms implies the former, and in turn CVC is
unmarked with respect to CVCC. We have seen that in many
phonological variables, the effect of the following vowel
upon CVC forms is to reduce the tendency to lose the final
consonant: final liquids which are normally vocalized are
converted to initial liquids when words such as )1.0111 are
found in sequences such as haulmay--that is, a CVC form
becomes in surface phonetics, OVCV0V. Similarly, following
vowels will serve to convert CVCC forms to simpler ones,
so that LW. does not have a surface cluster in last of all:
CVCC becomes CVO (UVCVC). Thus there are two routes in
the reduction of OVOC to OVC: either of the two con
sonants is vocalized or dropped, or the second is re-assign
ed to a following syllable. That is not to say that such
a process is normally obligatory: it merely reflects the
general tendency toward the simplification of consonant
clusters.

On first approaching NNE, the existence of this general

tendency is quite striking. All of the processes suggested
above are active. First members of clusters are vocalized
1, sometimes nasals); second members are dropped
IJAJO sometimes p, k, s, z), and second members are free
ly re-assigned tO'following syllables.
Furthermore, we find some speakers who go to extremes
in their reduction of syllable form, and a general tendency
to lose final consonants, especially apioals. Thus one
illiterate speaker from North Carolina, from the Youth House
series

nI fontthink I talk too good, lkol [ko ] when

I come up down South...up here, dey don't under
mah--sometime I be sayin'. Bal [be] speech.
..,Every time I say a work [wok] or sumplm, I try
to make it--befer, (To) oorreok (kerel myself
every time I, you know, make a ba' bal speak.
[bev be*.

123-
 However, these tendencies are not so general as to allow
us to set up a general variable as (KKL), consonant cluster
simplification".
The treatment of clusters is quite specific to pa ticu
lar phonetic forms and grammatical constructions For ex
ample

1. Some clusters are never simplified so that the in

formation is lost entirely. Final nasals m, 13 plus stop
may show coalescence of the nasal feature witE the preceding
vowel, but the final consonant is never lost. Thus everyone,
including vernacular speakers, recognize that ium!..updlars
for iamp.smAELEA is quite impossible.

2. There is no general tendency for the treatment of

final stops: apical -1.,a are treated quite differently from
p, k,which are deleted only after

3. Clusters ending in final-D.,7 show no uniform ten

dency, The clusters formed by some morpholo ical processes
appear quite stable, while others are not. See section
3.3 below.)

Our ultimate view of the matter will show that there is

a general tendency towards consonant cluster simplification,
but that it is highly differentiated. There is a specific
rule applying first to all stops following sibilants; then
a general rule for all other clusters ending in -ILA apical
stops. A much weaker process applies to apical tricatives
many of the extreme cases of simplification of final -Aug
clusters are not regular rules of NNE .at all, but cases
where the vernacular has no morpheme / z/ at all. Finally,
we will see in section 3.4 that the weak tendency towards
consonant cluster simplification of /z/ clusters is opera-
tive in the treatment of the copula.

In this section we will consider clusters ending in

as the largest unit which can be treated by a single
rule. In general, we will find that consonant cluster sim
plification is a phonological process which intersects with
grammatical processes, operating upon a number of surface
formatives to produce highly reduced surface forms, and the
general rule which governs simplification can only be written
when these grammatical forms are accurately known. In this
section, we will consider clusters ending in -ILA which
intersect with the -.1.4 suffix for the regular past. The
effect of the phonological process will be to reduce the
frequency and stability of the morphological form, and we
will see that even though the -ed suffix is an inherent
element of NNE, the effect of the variable phonological
rule is to interfere with the efficient decipherment of

124
the pri.7.ted n reading.

3.2.1. uthzur ..and-ragalarity..aLzILA

zimpligaiaattga, The first statement which must be made
about clusters is that they are variable. We have
no NNE speakers, in any context, at any age level, who do
not have some intact clusters; this is true not only of
clusters wit:1 morphemr boundaries asinpasaeA, but also
monomorphemia clusterr as in ?:oel.t. (Mei are F .11akers
who seem to have cc, :'orioal deletion of -st clusters,
however). Purtherm the extraordinary regularity of
.

the processes and the :egularity of the internal constraints

involved, show that these final -IA's are in no case
erratic borrowings from SE (as is the case with certain
third singular s's). An example of such regularity can
be found in Table 2-6, showing simplifications of mono-
morphemic -ILA clusters for 'll members of the Jets. It
is important to emphasize that regularity is consistent
with variability. One might be tempted to hope that fur
ther examination of the data would ultimately eliminate
variability and allow us to predict or account for each
utterance. However, all of our experience has led us 1:o
b-lieve that such hopes are illusory. The relatively rare
cases of monomorphemic -gI before consonants are not pre-
dictable at any one point: what is predictable is that in
every hundred cases, one to five will not be simplified.

We find it difficult at present to explain the extra

ordinary regularity of -.LA simplification, It is likely
that a great many small factors influence simplification
with mutually cancelling effects, to produce the regularity
of Table 2-6. On the other hand, certain major constraints,
such as those discussed below, can easily be distinguished
from background variability.

Another aspect of the regularity of :LA simplifica

tion is the fact that the basic relationships are repeat
ed in group after group, across neighborhoods and age
levels. The rule for -ILA simplification to be developed
in this section describes a fairly uniform NNE grammar
which prevails from pre-adolescence to early adulthood.
Certain quantitative changes take place, and some signifi
cant re-ordering in the variable constraints, but the
fundamental variable input and variable constraints re
main the same.

3.2.2. lxicno,lip ue f t The vari

able referred to as /LA simplification abbreviated
(KD)], shows the following possible variables:

1KD-x): both members of the cluster present

first member present only
KD 2 :second member present only
KD 0 : neither member present

125
The totll population of utterances which must be accounted
for are all forms in which SE has word-final clusters end
ing in (t) or (d). In some of these, such as the past
tense forms, voicing is strictly determined; in others,
such as Rieja vs, gAisa§16 it is not. As always, when SE
forms are used as reference to establish the population
of underlying forms, we must be prepared to revise this
definition if it turns out that some of these forms show
only (KD-1) in NNE. If there is any sizeable population
of NNE forms included which have no underlying clusters,
then of course the variable will be inaccurately defined
and the internal relationships confused. As noted below,
some of the -gt, -gp ..-134 forms may not have a second con
sonant in NNE for some speakers, but these will eventually
be governed by a separate rule.

The transcription ard coding of the (KD) variables as

a rule are fairly straightforward. However, various pho-
netic conditions lead us to re-define the population from
which the values of the variable determined, In a number
of cases, the variable is neutralized and it is impossible
to determine wnich value is present: when the cluster is
followed by /t/ or /d/1 cr /9/ or /V (since the latter
may be represented by stops or affricates). In the case
of nasal /n/ plus /-t,d/,we frequently find that a nasal
flap is formed in which the stop feature is expressed by
the ballistic flap character and the nasal by nasality. Yet
this flap characteristic shades imperceptibly into a single
nasal, and it was found impossible to code the series satis
factorily: that is, the number of indeterminate cases was
large as compared to the clear cases. Therefore after some
initial trials it was decided not to include nasal plus
:b,AL in the variable (KD) population. In the case of -Alp
a certain number of difficult cases were encountered when
the stop feature was expressed as a slight constriction of
the fricative at termination. However, the great majority
of -AI cases were quite clear.

The only cases where the first element disappears

and the second is retained, (KD-2), are those where other
phonological processes remove the first element, such as
11, -14.° This is also the case with (KD-0). Therefore
all of the following data is presented as a ratio of (KD-1)
to the total population: that is, the number of cases in
which is missing from -IJA clusters.
3.2.3, .V.E..1).2....e.somttso There are a num
ber of internal, variable constraints on the simplification
of clusters which operate regularly in the same way,
for all sub-groups of NNE speakers.

126
 of 19winggwal.
As shown in Table
3 6, a following vowel regularly operates to reduce the
amount of consonant cluster simplification, In final or
pre-consonantal position, there is a much higher percentage
of deletion. As suggested by Table 2-6, this is true
for every individual as well as every group, whwiever qlere
is even a moderate amount of data.
ff P.11.2214.ing.M.9.02Ph Table
3 6 also shows that the effect of a preceding morpheme
boundary is to reduce simplification, raid that this effect
is almost as regular as that of a following vowel. Because
the number of cases is considerably lower than for monomor
phemic clusters, there are a few individuals for whom the
relationship does not hold, although it holds for all groups.
Furthermore, as we will see below, the status of the mor
pheme boundary is not equally secure for all individuals.

Tim morpheme boundary here of course marks the -IA

suffix of the regular past tense and past participle. Thus
we are opposing the following type:

A2B2M2EP Ralt.tlallalap)
mist missed
past passed
melt yelled
act packed
apt snapped
lift sniffed
old rolled

Lubj, ou esof One of the first decisions

t a.
forced by the accountability principle is deciding the status
of verbs such as left, Isad, kept., held, etc., where the -t d
is not unambiguously the sign of a past tense. In these ir
regular verbs the past tense is also signalled by the vowel
change kup tell - IsaA, etc, Should
7.141 here be counted under (KDmm) or (KDp)? The line of
thinking characteristic of many linguistic theories is to se
lect either the vowel or the 7.1.J.4 as the essential, distinc-
tive feature and the other as redundant or non-essential. It
is obviously wise to suspend judgment in this case and allow
the data to decide the issue: dven so, it is our conviction
that the search for distinctiveness stems from a theoretical
bias which is itself faulty, and that the choice of (KD )
or (KD ) would represent a misconception of the relation

-.127
 TABLE 3 6

PERCENTAGES OF CONSONANT CLUSTER SIMPLIFICATION FOR

SIX GROUPS OF NNE SPEAKERS IN SINGLE AND GROUP STYLE

KD KDP
Group and number
jfrK jeir .#K .#V

Ainatital
T-Birds (8) 94 59 74 24
98 64 83 43
Aces (4)
97 76 73 15
Cobras (9)
94 49 44 09
Jets (12)
Oscar Bros. (6) 97 69 49 17
86 49 47 18
Working-class
adults (19)

97 36 91 23
T-Birds (5)
98 45 100 12
Cobras (5)
98 82 60 05
Jets (6)
Oscar Bros. (5) 97 54 85 31
89 53 60 22
Working-class
adults (14)
N: 107 22 42 42
56 14 20 14
141 46 56 53
243 68 70 96
196 62 49 17
269 117 115 133
61 14 22 13
47 27 16 25
132 22 63 65
129 29 62 60
54 30 55 51

ea

-128-
between the semantic and formal elements involved. A third
category was therefore established, (KDam) for these ambig-
uous elements. The data on (Kam
D ) is more limited than for
the other categories, but as Table 3-7 shows, the figures
fall squarely between (KDrm) and (KDp). This result plain
ly shows that each of theWlements involved contributes to
the past-tense distinction, and confirms the interpretation
of the previous finding that the morpheme boundary itself
reduces consonant cluster simplification.

It is worth noting here that the effect of te follow

ing vowel upon (KDmm) is quite different than tha. upon
(KD p ) clusters as far as establishing the nature of the
underlying form for NNE speakers. If we consider that the
word plet has a single underlying dictionary form, then
the alternation jaaLig (mIsj rmist lz) will es
tablish //mist// as that form. But that is not the case
with pligs_94. The presence of absence of a past-tense mor
pheme immediately after ml.ss must be decided for each occur
rence. If someone says H as (himis), he cannot
infer that the base form is hi misi-d# because in some
context he says [himIstIm]. What then does
establidh the underlying -gd form for the native speaker?
It is apparently an inference from the entire configuration
of the variables; whon 744 does occur, it is with 'past'.

N tur e prece4ng_amonant. A less power-

fu1 effect upon KD is that of the phonetic character of
the preceding consonant. All of the possible parameters
were examined initially; the most significant seemed to be
the presence or absence of voicing. Clusters with inibial
seemed to behave differently from all others, with the
highest degree of simplification. Clusters in -11, ed
also formed a separate class, since the -1- is most often
non-consonantal. Since nasal plus -ILA is not being con
sidered, the balance can be divided into clusters which
are voiced as a whole or voiceless as a whole (since
clusters whidh are heterogeneous in voicing are confined
to sonorant or nasal plus stop). In monomorphemic clusters,
there is no comparison of voiced vs. voiceless clusters,
since there are no voicea members of this residual sub
class of (KDmm). We do find a comparison in (KD ), how
ever, anc", there is a slight tendency ior voiced clusters
to b..; sir*Iified more.

LIMIS_VALXIXTRE.AiDgle-st2P e VD -
It is natural for us to inquire into the effect of the clus
ter situation as a whole as opposed to single consonants.
We have noti;:ed many striking cases of the weakening and
loss of final directly after a vowel. On the other

-129
 TABLE 3 7

EFFECT OF PRECEDING CONSONANT AND TYPE OF MORPHEtit,

BOUNDARY ON t d DELETION FOR ELEVEN INDIVIDUALS

Jila JP
(f t ..) 90 50

am (hut...)
KID 50 31

KD (panag...) 38 14
P

VD
mm (Eaa. . . ) 22 04

VD am (mia..,) 29 12

VD (giana. . . ) 22 04
P

N: 257 99
59 52
118 115
124 91
97 76
50 59
hand, there are cases where the ed suffix is lost as a
whole when it follows apical stems in -t1s1: stt_PRPIAll
ptarte41 etc. On the face of it, this w^uld seem to re-
present the loss or the complete absence of the suffix
rather tban reduction through phonolgical processes,
however, the evidence of -.14 after 7Ald, especially in
words such as iiazts41-. and 214dado is not essentially dif
ferent from wrds such as paused. There is good reason
to say that the rule which inserts epenthetic [0] fol
lows the simplification of clusters. More detailed
studies of the comparative freouency of 7gA after verbs
ending in -11 -d will be needed to confirm this point.
But the fundamental fact about the (VD) variable, whicb
ie ^entered around monosyllabic forms, ie that the loss of
filica clusters is much lower than for (KD). Table 317
shows (VD) as much lower than the (KD) of Table 3 6.

There are actually several phonetic routes by which

final apical stops are eliminated. Final /4/ is frequent
ly devoiced, and merges with final /t/ to yield [he44] for
lila and (devIsa) for pflau, and this lenis devoiced con
sonant then disappears. Thus _Ka= and za.121,4 would be
homonymous, since the unstressed vowel preceding the final
does not signal the original voiced consonant by it length.
But the distinction between final -t and -d can also be
preserved in this process, as final 7/ goes to glottal
stop, opposed to lenis -g, and then to zero,11/

3.2.4. Thp spgaiglsoe of -430'clugten. There are

several reasons to believe that clusters in 7ap, 7gi,
with first member -s- are governed by a different rule
from other clusters.

a. The frequency of simplification is higher, approach

ing that of a categorical rule for many speakers.

b. These are the only clusters in which final p and

k are effected: that is, after nasals and liquids -Mee
stops are preserved intact.

c. Final sts, -sps) -sks present special iifficulties

for NNE speakers. These clusters are literally unpronounce-
able for most individuals (see the discussion of repetition
tests below, section 3.9), and are resolved by a number of
means all of which involve the loss of thi.) stop. Thus we
have
jgg, pl 14 other
SE: desk NNE: [des] (desez) dest]
test (Us] (tesez, tear.] [testQltested]
ghost (gos] [gosez, gos:]
toast [toe] (tosez, tos;] [tostI13].
wasp (was) fwasez, wapsez,
was:]
131-
The word Agic is of course a spe lal case, since the meta
thesized form Lsgl has been inherited from Old English as
part of a continuous and separate colloquial tradition,
When the alternate Agls is used by NNE speakers, it follows
the same pattern as the above.
The problem which we face here; of course, is whether
the final stop is present in the underlying form for NNE
speakers, The word 149,gd is one of several verbs which are
of crucial importance, since they are found with inflections
beginning with a vowel, and thus give native speakers an
opportunity to observe the final stop, u1-2-3 testine is
a common phrase which our informants use freely, and al
though it may be a quotation from formal contexts, the
basic form seems to be [testi]. Since many of the -Al,
Am, 711 words do not occur freely with suffixes beginning
with a vowel, and the frequency of.-e0 simplification is very
high; it is possible that many spealcers grow up with under
lying forms without the final step. This is one of many
cases in waich the data present to an NNE speaker allows
several analyses and it is reasonable to expect children
to come to school with one or the other. The form [gosez]
is ambiguous: it may be derived from an underlying form
//kOsa with normal epenthetic vowel inserted between two
sibilants; or it may be derived from an underlying //gOstfi
with categorical removal of the //thi; in NNE the epenthetic
vowel rule is plainly ordered after the -5K simplification
rule. The example of Usrl and Ittitting may be enough to
support the SE ghost, //gOst// alternative, especially with
a little exposure to the 71 pronunciation, (Cf. 3.9.5).

The A-130 rule has the following form

rstrid]
(12) [ cont] -.4 (0) / P-strid] #(#) C44 my)

We do not know enough about the effects of derivational vs,

inflectional boundaries to specify these with much precision
at this timeL The situation seems to be that word boundary
haJ little influence but inflectional boundaries do: that
is, we obtain Icating quite often, but the effect of a
following vowel across word boundary is not great enough to
give us more than a small percentage of Iggt_aput Wild?
rather than lw 1.,.usut? At first glance, it may
seem that the -es of the plural tessui, (tesez) may con
tradict this statement, since 7Ag seems to have the same
form as 71ng (both are inflectional, are separated by ib
and have no effect on the phonetic form of the preceding
word). However, this gives us merely one more proof that
the underlying form of the plural suffix is /&//, and
that the epenthetic schwa is inserted after the -sK sim
plification rule. That is, at the point in the derive
tion that the rule applies, we have //test#z//, and the *

-132-
tells us thattet scategorically e inated.

NNE SE

//test#W //testft// underlying form

Mee &a sK simplification
epenthetic schwa
//tee Itez//
fit est#s// voicing assimilation

Starting with the same underlying form, we then arrive at

NNE (tesez] and SE [tests], with the only difference in
the rules being the existence of the specific NNE rule of
obligatory -sK simplification before sibilants. Note that
the same result would have been obtained if the underlying
NNE form was //tes#z// and it is oLly the evidence of forms
such as (testIl) which establish the underlying -t.

3.2.5. Lite...tallarall-A-121) 1 The

data in the previous sections indicate that the general
ILA simplification rule is quite complex. There are a
great many particular variables whidh influence the pro
cess of consonant cluster simplification in NNE, and undoubt-
edly one could pursue the smaller effects of phonetic en
vironment, stress: and juncture indefinitely. As inter-
esting as these minor influences may be from the standpoint
of linguistic structure and linguistic change, we should
not lose sight of the fact that there are two major con-
straints whidh operate in an extremely regular fashion
across all NNE groups: the effect of a following vowel,
and that of a preceding morpheme boundary. Figure 3-5
shows the regular direction of shift for all groups in
both single and group style.

There are two sets of lines in each diagram, the

upper pair show the deletion of final -IA before con
sonants, the lower pair before vowels. There are twenty
two cases, then, where the effect of a following vowel is
to restrain the operation of the rule, and no contrary
cases. In all but one case--the upper dotted line for
the Cobras--the lines slope downward to the right, show-
ing that the effect of the morpheme boundary is to reduce
the deletion of the final -1,A: thus there are twenty
one cases where this relationship can be observed. There
is also a stylistic regularity which can be noted; in
the five cases where we contrast single and group style,
there is more -1,A deletion before consonants in single
than in group style. For the T-Birds and Cobras, this
effect is reversed before vowels; the Jets, Oscar Brothers
and working-class adults show a tendency to retain the"
same effect before vowels. We are not concerned here
with the stylistic shift in itself however, but with the
fact that the fundamental relationships are repeated in

133
 21. e 3-5. Its1 cluster simplification
for NNE peer griqups and Oults in.:two styles

.00 FZDv KD
KD KD KDv ICD1c
mm
MM MM

single or careful style

41MM MO MMM 1111 group or casual style

-134-
the two styles, and that this systematic variat on appears
in the basic vernacular.
In each group, and in each style, the basic relations
are preserved: the effect of a following vowel is to re
duce -1,,d deletion, and the effect of the morpheme bound
ary is in the same direction. It is this type of regular
ity which we term "systematic" or "inherent" variation
in the NNE vernacular.
On the other hand, we have simple phonological con
straints: clusters show much more simplification than
single -1,d; a following vowel reduces simplification;
there is a slight tendency to favor voiced clusters;
finally, we note that clusters with sonorant first mem
bers show less simplification than those with obstruent
first members, On the other hand, there is a very regu
lar and important constraint exerted by the presence of a
morpheme boundary, and since there are two types of bound
aries, the rule must specify this precisely.

We noted that the "ambiguous" boundaries of kepiet,

tol+d, had less effect than a full inflectional boundary
such as 1111014 w..isikclol. We could of course specify this
environment as

1
where the notation states that a 100 0/0 inflectional
boundary retards the rule to some extent, and a lesser
effect is exerted by the "+" boundary of kepiet. However,
this approadh treats the two boundary conditions as
completely independent, which they are not: one could
not have both present--only one or the other. We can
look at the boundary condition more closely in terms of
its significance in the process of analysis of these terms
by a hypothetical native speaker (of SE or NNE). In the
case of work-ed, it is plain that the identification of
the -2A suffix requires nothing more than the following
paradigm:

PM= Pat
work#0 work#d
roll#Ø roll#t

The suffix occurs in various (phonetic) forms which require

some processing, but the stem is unaffected. Such a trans
parent situation is typical of such inflections as -1y,
ness, -er; it is symbolized by the boundary symbol #. On
the other hand, another analytical step is required to recog
nize the stem kep as "the same" as keep

-135
 Rama paaI
keep+ kep+t
tell+0 tOl+d

/e/ to /o/ must be recog

Here the shortening of fie:// to generally, we can sa
nized specifically for each case;
that the -1.4.d suffix has an
effect upon the shape of t e
-
stem, and only after the alternations 1.291)"' " 2r boundary
In- are learned can one recognize the morpheme boundaries.
This is a situation typical of derivational
Some of the analyses required are not at all obvious for
[elafeni] is
sophisticated speakers of SE: for example, [mlefo:n]
difficult for many to recognize as a relative of suffix
effects of the
Even a systematic knowledge of the
+y in Iames/p.e. [teleskoupj telescom [teleskeptj] is
with
nVt sufficient to provide recognition of [elofenxj]
out some help from outside.
related by
We therefore regard the two boundaries as An in
the degree of transparency of analysis required.
composed of two
flectional boundary # may be regarded as
derivational boundaries + and +1 each contributing to
material
the recognition of the analysis. The phonetic part of the
which occurs after a + boundary contributes
material needed to identify the semantic element beingall
signalled; after a # boundary, the suffix contributes
of the information required. Therefore the loss of infor-
bound
mation after a # boundary is greater than after a +
ary, (One might think at first that the loss is total,
other lin
but it must be remembered that there are many for exam
guistic and extra-linguistic signals involved;
ple, adverbs of time, ylgigrAay, which signal the same in
past tense meaning as nag, or the context of narrative
which the form is embedded as a preterit clause referring
to a past event. Therefore only a part of the information
is lost in any case by the operation of -±JA simplification.)

We therefore construct the 131 simplification rule

as follows:

(13) -cont'l
grave (0) / [04cons
-nas 4 obstri lq+) S(+) re voice] c3(-V)
-comp
t, d

The rule applies only to apical stops IA and not to the

palatal or compact stops 6,S, since 1.29Wi and bula are
unaffected just as help, 1=0 milk and hang are. The most
important effect, of course, is that a consonant precede
the -IL4--that is, that we are dealing with a cluster.

136-
The second or effect i the influence of a following
vowel: anything which is ad a vowel favors the rule.
Tbe third and fourth effects are the morpheme boundaries
discussed above which disfavor the rule. Next are two
relatively minor constraints which we have not illustrated
by quantitative evidence: if the cluster is voiced, the
rule is favored somewhat, and if a sonorant precedes, the
rule is not favored as strongly as if an obstruent pre
cedes. It is obvious that we do not have data here to
investigate thoroughly all of the relations of order among
these effects: these are gross effects which have not
been resolved into independent components as we shall do
with the copula contraction and deletion rules of section
3.4. The one relationship of order with which we shall
be deeply concerned is that which holds between the follow-
ing vowel and the preceding morpheme boundary--the char
acteristic phonological and grammatical constraints. A
simplified form of the rule would consider just these two:

(14) -t d (0) / (+cons] q (4) 0(("1/)

These two constraints are displayed regularly in Pi ur

3-5, which shows the effect of a following vowel an
preceding morpheme boundary for all NNE groups in both
group (or casual) and single (or careful) styles. Note
that for all cases the direction of the effect is marked
and consistent, and it is duplicated in both styles. The
order of the two constraints is not as consistent; this
higher-order relationship is illustrated by the cross-
products--that is, the cases where one effect is favor-
able and the other is not. In most cases the phonological
constraint is predominant: in a few cases, it is the
grammatical effect of the morpheme boundary which is c<

In earlier studies, it was shown that in the most

spontaneous NNE vernacular, the phonological constraint
was predominant (Labov 1960, CRP 3091) and that white
speakers contrasted most sharply with Negro speakers in
the reversal of these two effects. Purthermore, we
showed when a Negro speaker switched from a style suit
able for face-to-face interaction with a white inter-
viewer to the intimate style used in her own family, she
reversed the order of these constraints dramatically to
favor the phonological constraint and reduce the role
of the past tense morpheme boundary. In the discussion
lf reading -Id given below, we will be concerned with
the relative positions of these two variable constraints.

Pigure 3-5 shows the predominance of the phonologi

cal constraint for all groups except the Jets. It has
already been stated that the most systematic exemplar
of the vernacular structure is to be found in the records

-137
of spontaneous group interaction, or in casual or intimate
speech. In the case of the T-Birds, the Cobras, the Oscar
Brothers, and the working-class adults, it is clear that
the phonological constraint is far more preaominant in
casual style than in careful style. In fact, the cross
products of the Cobras, Oscar Brothers and adults are
actually reversed in moving from the more careful style
to the spontaneous vernacular. These results justify
our placing the (-V) constraint as (*Ain rule (14).
3.2.6. T.U.Ra2tAgase in NNg. Various forms of the
rules discussed above may result in a weakening of the
status of the -0 suffix, especially if ithe variable
constraints of a preceding boundary conifttions are lower
down in the hierarchy than shown here. However, this is
not to say that the category of the past tense is weak
in NNE. It is only the regular verbs which are affected.
The great majority of verbs in text occurrence are irregu-
lar, and these show the past tense forms.

In this respect, NNE is sharply differentiated

from the English spoken in Jamaica or Trinidad, where the
irregular pasts gm and 19.1.4 do not occur. An NNE speak
er says I aye it to him, I told him; not Istgrsjtto
him, I tell him. Those familiar with WNS may feel "in
tuitively" that NNE uses the historical present freely;
the very frequent use of "say" for the past adds to this
impression, and the use of regular verbs without an audible
-14 suffix reinforces it. Furthermore, the weakness of
the preterit-perfect distinction leads to the general no
tion that the NNE past tense is weak on the semantic level.
Careful observation of NNE narrators shows that nothing
could be further from the case. The simple past is used
much more uniformly than in WNS; Negro narrators do not
use the historical present to any significant degree, If
one considers such common verbs as glut tell, keep, sell,
be, al leave, ete., it immediately becomes apparent
that NNE uses the past where WNS might use the present.
A typical NNE narrative reads like this:

See- he knocked me down,

and i got up,
and he start pickinf on me at first.
He had came over
when they was buildin/ it,
and we was playint in the park.
So he came over
and he had --
he hit me.
So I walked away from him.

138
 So he kept botherinl me,
So I went walked around the monkey race
tryinl to get away,
So I got sick and tired of rannin' away from him
I hit him in the jaw.
So we went up on the sidewalk,
and we start fightin',
(11, N.Y.C,, #424]

A WNS speaker might substitute present forms for each of

these irregular preterits; but we find that this is a rare
usage in NNE,

3.2.7. R.0041 Our interest in the

formal styles of speech as they affect -1,,d simplification
is focused upon more than the general pattern of sociolin
guistic shifting. We are concerned with the effect of this
rule upon readLng performance--not merely with reading as
the translation of printed symbols into Ermnds, but with
reading as the more fundamental process of translating graphic
symbols into the meaningful signals intended by the writer.
The suffix lies on a phonological-grammatical intersec
tion which is especially suitable for analyzing interference
of NNE structure with the speaker's ability to decipher these
meaningful signals over discontinuous text.

It is clear that alphabetic skills are not sufficient

for this purpose. Word-by-word decipherment of the text
is not equivalent to the task of reading, which requires
the perception of discontinuous sifoals, and the transfer
of meaning from one section of the text to another.
The existence of the -ILA simplification rules (12 14)
makes it obvious that one cannot tell by an NNE reader's
pronunciation of regular verbs whether or not he has per
formed the task of reading 71d--that is, translated the
agh on the printed page into the abstract notion "Past".
In 3,10 we discuss the general need for a distinction
between "mistakes in pronunciation" and "mistakes in read
ing", for in general, we find that teachers of reading have
not gone beyond the surface productions of speakers in analyz
ing their oral reading. Here we confine ourselves to the
analysis of the reading of -gd.

We rely upon the unique homograph arml, in order to dis

cover tether or not the reader has succeeded in analyzing
734. There is no other word in English in which the pro-
nunciation alone signals the difference between "Present"
and "Past".

In order to use read to test the reader's ability to

decipher the -la suffix, it is first necessary to be sure
that he (1) knows the two readings of the homograph read
and (2) can use adverbial signals of past or present time
-139
to determine the correct reading. Nine sentences were used
in our reading for Q-HAR-PA and most of Q HAR-TA:
1 Last month J. read five books
2. Tom read all the time.
3, Sow I sold my sou/ to the devil.
4. When I passed by, I read the posters.
5. Don't you dare hit your dear little brother!
6. When I liked a story, I read every word.
7. They cost a nickel yesterday, but today they cost
a dime.
8. Now I read and write better than Alfred does.
9. I looked for trouble when I read the news.

Sentences 4, 6 and 9 were designed to examine the reader's

competence in deciphering the -.la suffix on the printed page.
It is obvious from the preceding discussion that one cannot
use the pronunciation of the NNE speaker, as he is reading
aloud, in order to decide whether he is reading properly.
This is, of course, a fundamental question for teachers of
reading--to distinguish between differences in pronuncia-
tion, governed by such rules as (12-14), and actual mis-
takes in reading--that is, failure to decipher the meaning
'past tense' from the printed -gd on the page..

We utilize the unique homograph raga for this purpose

in sentences 4, 6 and 9. If the reader has correctly read
the 71g. suffix, he will transfer the past tense meaning to
the verb read, in the next clause and pronounce that word
(red], If not, he will pronounce it either [rid] or [red]--
most likely the formerl Evince it is the more common form.
Therefore success in ihis task vpould be signalled by the
pronunciation [red] in all three of the test sentences.

There are °several other.factors which may interfere

here with the direct interpretation of the results. It is
possible that the readerowill decipher 'past', but not re
member it when he comes to the next clause. The distance
between the tvm was made as short as possible for that
reason. The reader may, of course, have no ability to
transfer meanings in general, and in particular, he may
not be able to do this for tense signals. In order to check
these points, we included sentenccs 1, 2 and 8. In sen-
tence 1, the reader uses the nest tense signal Igutmath
to derive the correct pronunciation [red]; in sentence
81 he uses the adverb nsz to yield [rid]. Sentence 2 is
more difficult; even SE speakers sometimes do not use this
unmarked context to give an automatic pronunciation [red],

140-
and NNE speake s are particularly confused because in the
present they do not have a third singular 71. Therefore
nom [rid] all the time', is a perfectly normal NNE sentence,
In any case, we would expect that readers who could interpret
Lem, correctly in context would get sentences 1 and 8 with
out difficulty.

It is also possible that the reader does not know that

there are two reading pronunciatio s of ma. Any case
where the reader always said [rid] ar always said [red) was
therefore set aside,

We will attempt to answer three q,ueetions whi h arise

in connection with this exploration of -4a:

(1) What is the over-all level of performance

of NNE readers on this task?

(2) How does the reading of 2s1 compare with

other reading skills?

(3) What is the relation between the reading of

aa and the rules for .44ma simplification given in
thR section above?

The first two questions can be approached through a

comparison of over-all reading performance as reflected
in Metropolitan Reading Achievemant Test; the reading of
sentences 4, 6 and 9;and the reading of sentences 1, 2
and 8. We obtaped full school records on 46 of the boys
we interviewed,15 including members of all of the groups
we studied, some marginal and some isolated individuals.
It must be borne in mind that reading performance as a whole
for these subANts is very poor, particularly of the peer-
group members-u° The range of Metropolitan reading scores
is therefore quite limited, and the great majority are in
levels 3, 4 and 5; irrespective of age or grade. Hbwever,
there are definite differences in reading scores, which
correlate fairly well with reading scores constructed for
our awn sentences, and with Gray's Oral Reading Test.17
The upper line of Figure 3-6 shows the relation between
the correct reading of sentences 1, 2 and 8 and reading
score: the level begins quite high, and moves upward with
over-all advance in reading. However, the lower line shows
that the ability to use -244 as a context for the past tense
reading of zgea starts at a much lower level, moves down,
and in general, shows no improvement. There has been no
learning in regard to the reading of gven while other
reading skills have been acquired to an e ant.
Re fiaatim
rule,. Since the basic outlines of the -.1,4 simplification
rule hold for all of the NNE speakers, we must examine the
internal structure of the rule if we are to see any connection

141-
 Fig, 3-6. Correlation between Metro-
politan Reading Test scores and reading
of the AA suffix for 46 NNE speakers

fo correct
100

4.0-4.9 5.01:5.9 6.0-6.9

Metropolitan It',e)ading Test scores

12 13 14 3 3

Upper line: 0/o correct for sentences 1,2 and 8

Lower line: 0/0 correct for sentences 4, 5 and 9

-142-
 between these reading tests and the rules. If such a connec-
tion does appear, it will lend confirmation to the abstract
rules which we derived from the study of actual behaviox,
.providing support from a quite independent body of data.
At the same time, the form of the rule may help to explain
some part of the difficulty in reading.
The first point to examine is of course the area of
variability noted in section 3,2.5: cross-products which
relate the effect of a following vowel to the effect of a
morpheme boundary. Since we know that there is room for
variation among NNE speakees, we would expect that those
who do best on sentences 4, 6 and 9, deciphering correctly
the past tense meaning of -ed, would have a rule struature
in which the morpheme boundary is the c< effect, and
the vowel is the effect -- that is, where the gram
t-
matical constraint prevails over the phonological one. Such
a result did not appear forcib7y in the speech of any one
tendency in this
group as a whole, although th Jets show a
direction. Good performance on the -AA test was rare-- there
were only three group members who read all three sentences
correctly, and it is not correlated with membership in any
one group. In order to obtain a larger base for the study
of -,Ad reading, we compared the readings of these sentences
to the treatment of -ILA in speech for a set of 49 individ
uals, including 17 tiAolated individuals from the same area,
v ) and
k Oross-products were examined by comparing (KD 4fl
(KD) in the group sessions, in the speech of sing inter
vie*s, and in reading other text besides the sentences used
above. For each individual, therefore, there were three
opportunities to compare these critical sub-variables. In
eadh case, if data was available for comparison, there were
three possibilities:

a. Kgm KD

Mom.
b. KDv
mm
41110m10

The results of this study are shown in Table 3 8a. In only

one group of readers was (o) the dominant case: that is,
only for this group was the effect of the morpheme boundary
greater than the effect of a following vowel in holding back
the operation of the -ILI deletion rule. This group was the
relatively small group of seven subjects who read the three
sentences 4, 6 and 9 perfectly, deciphering correctly the
past tense meaning of ed and transferring it to the pro
nunciation ofmkg.18

143
 TABLE 3 8a
PREDOMINANCE OF GRAMMATICAL OVER PHONOLOGICAL CONSTRAINTS
ON 1,,A DELETION VS, SUCCESS IN READING THE AA SUFFIX

No. of sentences with past tense

Value of phonological meaning derived from AA suffix
grammatical cross pro
allots 141 VIree stY12.2
;La 212 JaZa

< KDk 15 18 7 5
mm
KDv = KDk 9 9 6 2
mm
Kov ) jok 13 7 3 9
mm

N: 16 17 10 6

TABLE 3-8b
CONSISTENCY OF GRAMMATICAL CONSTRAINT ON 1,4,

DELETION VS, SUCCESS IN READING THE AA SUFFIX

No, of sub-categories in which

the grammatical constraint on
No. of.sentences deletion appeared as
4w, 6, 9 with past KDmm Kp KDmm = Kp KD
tense meaning cor-
Xfati1XCTILLICILL.
0/3 52 18 13

1/3 41 23 22

2/3 16 15 5

3/3 25 7 0

Av. reading scores: 0/3 407; 1/3 4.6; 2/3 4.7;

3/3 4.7

144-
 We are still dealing with a rather weakly determined
and fluctuating effect, and more precise data would be
helpful. These can be obtairled by comparing the operation
of the rule (14) for kA and z>in as many comparable sub-
categories as possible. The largest body of data for each
individual is the single interview, and within this data
we can make such a comprtrison in the following sub categor
ies:

(a.) (VD) vowel preceding the ,12s1

(b.) (ID) underlying 1 preceding

(c.) (sD) s preceding

(d.) (K°D) other voiceless consonant preceding

We can also study the data from

(e.) Group sessions

(f.) Reading of text other than sentences discussed

above

(g.) Reading of word lists and minimal pairs

The data in the last three categories is too limited to

allow the detailed breakdown of the single 'nterviews.
But in each of the seven sub-categoriesuabove, we can make
a separate comparison of (KDk ) vs. (KY') and (KDv ) vs. (KD").
mm mm
There are thus fourteen possible points of comparison,
although the data does not provide a definite answer in all
of them for most of the 49 subjects. Table 3-8bshows the
results: we find that there is one group for which there
were no cases at all of the grammatical constraint reversed
so that KD mm< KD the group of speakers who were able to
P.
decipher the past tense meaning of .2,4, three out of three
times.

It was observed above that the constraint of a pre

ceding morpheme boundary operates uniformly upon almost
every individual and upon every group. The totals of
Table 3-8bshow that this is indeed a very strong tendency
even in such small sRb-categories as (a-g) above, It was
reversed in only 17 '/0 of these cases. By contrast,
Table 3-8ashows no such clear-cut orienta.Olon towards the
ordering of the cross-products KDv and KD;, although we
have seen that individual groups do lean strongly in one
direction or another. Table 3-13belearly demonstrates, then,
that the grammatical constraint of rule (14)is most firmly

145-
fixed in the behavior of that sub-group which reads the
sub-group,
4§, suffix most competently. The second best
who read the -ed suffix 2 out of 3 times, did not do as
well-in fact, there are no clear-cut differences between
to find any
any of the other groups. One would not expect
regular distribution across the 0/3, 1/3, 2/3 groups, since
guessing might produce any of these patterns if the reader
knows that there are two readings of the homograph read.
If the reader has a firm grasp of the fact that the -IA
signals the past tense, then he should be able to reproduce
6 and
the pronunciation [red] in all three sentences 4,
9, for it was shown in Figure 3-6 that the ability to
transfer a past tense meaning in general to the pronuncia
tion of read runs far ahead of the ability to decipher and
decode the signal.

From the last line of Table 3 8blit is again evident

that there is no correlation between general reading skill
of
ard the ability to decipher the -ed suffix as a signal
the past tense. This finding strengthens our inference
that it is the form of a specific linguistic rule rather
than a general deciphering capacity which differentiates
the four groups of speakers.
Table 3-fthas significance for our general understand
ing of the process of reading, for it shows that the process
of deciphering signals on the printed page can be controlled
But
by underlying linguistic rules of an abstract nature.
thes,9 findings have even greater significance for our under
standing of linguistic structure and the nature of linguistic
rulet. We have provided behavioral evidence to support
independently the body of data which lies behind rule (14).
Note that the 3/3 group did not show the command of the
id moaning by an invariant refusal to delete the -ILg
in 1112A, malg or yolled: on the contrary, the deletion
of this final consonant is not uncommon in their speech
patterns. Their competence is shown in the fine-grained
adjustment they make in the frequency with which ntj,
is deleted when it forms a part of the stem, and when it
is a past tense signal.

220 so e n maul= If
the findings of Tab 8a and b have any explanatory
value in dealing wivh reading difficulties, it must follow
that speakers of other English dialects, who have differ-
ent -ILI deletion rules, should have less difficulty with
sentences 4, 5 and 9. We can make such a comparison through
the records of the white Inwood group, which was included
in the over-all investigation reported here to allow us
to contrast white working class peer groups in Manhattan
with Negro peer groups.
 The Inwood groups are located in upper Manhattan, in
of white with Negro
a neighborhood where the chief contact neighborhoods, the
boys is in school. In the residential
hang-out
Inwood boys belong to named groups and informal
out of the
groups which are entirely white: it would be As
question for any Negroes to be included.19 noted in 2.1.51
above was applied to a pre
the paradigm of group study described
adolescent Inwood group, comparable to the Thunderbirds,
of
and an adolescent group, lomparable to a sub-group includ
the Jets, There were four members in each group,
ing two pairs of older and younger brothers a common
pattern in the Jet and Cobra areas as well.

The -lug delelpIun pattern of the Inwood groups oper

ates at a considerably lower level than for the NNE groups.
Both the pre-adolescent and adolescellt groups show approx-
imately the same level, at about 30 '/ID lower than Table
3-5, which may be summed up in the following aggregate
figures,
(KDk ) (KDinpl) (KDk ) (KDv)

ratio of deleted 93/138 8/45 8/34 2/62

to total LI
forms

per cent 67 19 23 03
deletion

This pattern may be described by rule (15):

(15) tld (0) / [-Pcons]Cq(#)

with the grammatical and phonological constraints bo h

shown as 0(1 but with a lower input variable ko than for
the NNE groups. It is worth noting that this is quite
close to the pattern of middle-class Negro speakers; our
sample of twenty middle-class residents of the middle-
income Lenox Terrace and Riverton apartment on East 145th
Street shows a pattern such as the following:
(KD:m) ) %.("ip"
l/flk%

ratio of deleted 52/76 4/27 7/39 5/39

to total -LA
forms

per cent 69 15 18 13
deletion

-147
 Both patterns represent strong constraints upon the
deletion rule, so that the great majority of deleted lilts
are in monomorphemic stems before consonants, where they
are most easily reconstructed.
The reading of the Inwood groups was considerably better
than the NNE groups, although several of the pre-adoles
cents were poor readers (one refused to read altogether).
Tht pre-adolescents did not do at all well in reading the
al suffix: none of the three who read the nine sentences
gave the correct pronunciation of yead, as (red]. This
suggests that there is an inherent difficulty in reading
the -iga suffix for boys of the 9-13 year old range, and
that the consonant cluster patterns of the pre-adoles-
cent NNE groups only partly explain their behavior in
reading. However, the results with the teen-age Inwood
groups were quite different than with the Jets and Cobras
Three of the four read sentences 4, 6 and 9 perfectly.
Of the twenty-three NNE adolescentu, only three did so.
The comparison is striking:

VOA 113, aZa

Inwood TA 1 3

Jets and 20 3
Cobras

Table 3-8bindicates that over all reading level does

not account for differences .t.n the reading of the 71a suf
fix, This comparison of adolescent Negro and white speak
ers confirms the conclusion that the variable rule for
deletion is ikcontrolling factor in this aspect of read
ing performance,20

3,2.8. 8 So far, we
have dIscussed only the ma or outlines of tht (0) variable
for the central groups of E speakers--that is, the var
nacular pattern which is beet exemplified in the excited
speech of group sessions, and which is modified only slight-
ly in the more careful speech of single interviews. Table
3-9 shows a wider range of data, including more formal
Erbyles and speakers outside of the basic 7ernacular. Since
(KD) seems to be a continuous variable with inherent and
systematic variation, it seems quite likely that it would
be sensitive to the kind of sociolinguistic stratification
which was observed in 3,1 for (r) and (dh).
Tha basic pattern of the two major constraints is pre
served in all styles for all speakers or groups of speakers

148
 TABLE 3-9
SOCTAT1 AND STYLISTIC STRATIFICATION OF (KD) SPIitP1cAT1ON

§_tyle A ayle §.-tyltS faty212.3.2

KD KD KD KD KD KB
nua tam

K VK V K V K K VK V
TBirds (5/8) 97 36 91 23 91 59 74 24 91 36 65 56 34 05
Aces (4) 98 64 85 43 100 38 89 75 42 09
Lames (16) , 97 50 50 20 77 44 56 38 38 08
1390 Lames (4) 93 61 19 16 75 50 75 25 33 11

Cobras (5/9) 98 45 100 12 97 76 73 15 100 77 50 43 40 07

Jets (14/13) 98 82 60 05 90 49 44 09 92 45 50 53 54 04
Oscar Br. (6/6) 97 54 85 31 97 69 49 17

Inwocd (3/8) 67 09 14 04 68 26 30 03 100 20 50 00 29 43

Adults
Middle cl.(14) 79 32 30 00 60 28 19 04 07 02
Working cl.
U/No. (4) 90 56 84 25 90 40 19 09 50 00
U/So. (7) 93 21 41 18 89 40 47 32 Of 05
L/No. (5) 87 45 49 16 61 35 33 05 36 00
1/So. (8) 98 46 61 35 93 70 72 32 53 24

group or casual Bos. in parentheses indicate subjects

single or careful in Style B or Style A. Style B
reading
word lists
as shown in Table 9 . Stylistic and social stratifi a
(a) the
tion can therefore be observed in two directions:
variables, and (b) the
absolute numerical level of theordering of c< and
cross products which show the
of the NNE peer
It was noted above that only one morpheme boundary
groups showed that the effect of the cc,,C0(.0
was equal to that of the following vowel--the shft
pattern is unique to the Jets. The lames also
this pattern, as w'ell as the lower working class group
adults in
raised in the North, and the middle class
of all: both
their casual speech at the lowest level 30 per cent, as
cross products are simplified at about
opposed to about 50 per cent for the others just men
tioned. In careful speech, the middle class adults
go further and actually reverse the position of the two
constraint becoymes
major constraints: the grammatical
vowel secondary.
primary, and the effect of a following pattern, and then
Only one other adult group shows this of the
only in careful speech also: the upper section find such a
Northern working class. Among the youth, we Lames",
reversal only in one small sub-group, marked "1390
These are the boys in Ole same project as the Thunder- to the
birds, who are especially marked in not belonging
dominant peer group of the building.

We can accord special significance to this sty1istic

characteristic WNS and
and social marker, since it is the
SE pattern. As noted in our first studies of white vs.
Negro adults (Labov 1966d, ORP 3091), this is the chief
for whites, the gram
difference between the two groups: phonological effect is
matical constraint is C4, and the in
We noted that the dramatic shift of Dolly R., to in-
moving from casual speech with a white interviewer
displayed this
timate family speech over the telephone, The extreme
same fundamental shift in rule structure. by the
shift in relations of the variables is shown here
fromo(1,(32
Northern, upper working class group, who move
other hand, makes
to ch,Ve. The middle class group, on the
a less radical shift from(X1A2 to(X1,32.

Turning away from the relations of the variables of

to
that the level
the actual level of the input, we see is extremely
(0) before consonants with monomorphemes speech. Por
high in all groups in any style of connected simplifica-
the peer groups it is well above 90 per cent
lower figure are middle
tion. The only groups which show a
60 in B, and the
class adults with an index of 79 in A and also declines in
Northern lower working class group whichdoes not show the
oareful speech. The white Inwood group groups--no more
same high values as any of the NNE peer
simplified in this most
than two-thirds of the clusters are
favored position.

-150
 Returning to the peer groups, we note that only the
lames show a significant decline of (10m" m) before con
sonants in reading--dropping down from 97 to 77.
(this is characteristic of both the VD0 interviews and
the isolated individuals in 1390 5th Ave.) On the whole,
there is very little change in reading style for the peer
groups, as far as the pattern and level of consonant clus
ter simplification is concerned. The simplification of
past tense clusters before vowels--the lowest values in
speech--is not particularly low in reading style. For
all groups, the past tense clusters show ,rery little sim
plification in style D, the reading of isolated word lists.
Faced with the word panal most speakers pronounce the
A to produce all [et) cluster, even more often than they
pronounce it in speech when they say RaaalLzat. The only
group which shows any degree of simplification of (10,) in
word lists is the Southern lower working class group,v
which is also highest for (Umm) in this style.
On the whole, the (KD) variable does not show as reg-
ular a pattern of social and stylistic stratification as
some of the other phonological variables. The basic pat
terns are relatively stable; the two main points for both
social and stylistic shifting are (1) the downward shift
in (KD) before consonants, in moving from group to single
style,Y this appears in the Thunderbirds, the Oobras, the
Jets, the middle class adults, and the Northern sections
of the working class p:out not the Southern sections or the
Inwood groups); and 2) the downward shift in the number
of (KD) clusters simplified in style D. The result of the
first Nhift is the change in the relationship of the vari
ables which marks the difference between NNE and adult
white style; note that the behavior of the Inwood group
makes us suspect that the same change may be operating in
white working class youth, and that this shift towards the
recognition of the grammatical variable is fairly general
in non-standard English, as the speaker grows older. The
second shift is characteristic of all NNE peer groups, and
of course white peer groups will show this as well; it is
another aspect of the recognition of the grammatical status
of the -121.

The most significant fact about (KD,) is not behavior

in formal style, or this shift, but rathgr the low level
of simplification of past tense clusters before a vowel in
the great bulk of single interviews. Except for the pre
adolescents, only the Southern group shows a sizeable de
gree of simplification tn this most favored position for
clusters, The others keep to a level below ten per cent,
as a rule. Of course in all cases and all styles, speakers
demonstrate their knowledge of the underlying forms by sim-
plifying clustero less when they contain a morpheme boun-
dary than when they do not, and less when they occur before
a vowel than when they do not.

-151-
 ByppaggazaztiaLa.=ad. One measure of the
grammatical form is the
speaker's internal knowledge of a
consistency with which he uses it in the appropriateinflec
en
with the -4
vironment. As we shall see in dealing which simply
tions, there are several SE grammatical forms
learn from contact
do not exist in NNE; although speakers
with other dialects that such inflections exist, they are
them, and the repult
never certain of quite where to use hypercorrections, and
is a series of sporadic and irregular irregularities
no consistent pattern emerges. A few such disturb the basic
appear with the copula, but not enough to
morphemes, we find
pattern. In the case of the past tense data.
few such irregularities of placement in our
There is a good supply of hyper-Z in our data, such
as
shown in the following section. And comparable to
frequent hyper-Z types as (20c) .1-19 don't belimmaith.lhaw
(discussed in 3.3), we have sevoral cases of hyper-D:
[35, S.0., #792)
(15') ...but it did tasted like chicken.
to a
There are other cases of the -Ad suffix being added
non-finite form.21 The same speaker did use two instances
of another type of "hypercorrect" form:

p.51') loveded [lAvded] that!

15"') I loveded to fight...
and the
Hypercorrection is typically an individual matter,
sporadic and irregular character of its distribution reflects
controlled by any rule of
the fact that these forms are not
/magma', in the sense of a grammar used by informants
a speech commun
in her
ity. The same speaker i unique among our would_
penchant for hyper-past forms. She also said
Both are
largaLthoLsisam, and auLugsdajlasisig_pick.gLal.
outside of any regular NNE pattern.
typically a form
The hypercorrection of loveded is We have no more
used by pre-adolescent youth in reading. of the nine
than half a dozen such cases in the readings familiar
senJences, but we find that most teachers are quite
infrequent in the oral reading
with them, since they are not
of grade school children. We find such forms as pBsstell
(pmsted) and jjazaa, [latkted) from pre-adolescent youth,
including two Puerto Ricans.
These forms are not "hypercorrect" in the sense of
added in the
(15'); they are not cases of an -gd being these forms oc
wrong environment in the gross sense, since
is appropriate. They seem
cur only when the regular past comparable to the "double"
to represent a "double" past, possessive in
(or "triple") plural in c1il6r9ns, or double

-152
p4nea. The speakers ic not seem to recognize that the first
[t) "stands for" the past, and they add another past tense
morpheme--in this case the allomorph [ed] which is formally
appropriate after 7/. Speakers are behaving as if the clue
ter is 7L/ and not -al, so that [pikt, pmst, laIkt] are
taken as the stems of verbs. The traditional view is that
this is the result of analogical sets such as the following:

PAgnaila,12= 24142thrlag-12EM
Imit] act
mktod] act#d
(A)
Ink] plot
pxkted] pict#d

A second alternative which would account for [pIkted] and

[pmeted] is that the reduplication of the suffix is part of
a recursive process which breaks up difficult consonant clue
ters, in a way analogous to the resolution of gioalatg as
(goustsgsmsj, discussed in 3.9 below in the data on memory
tests. But this type of recursion occurs only under
great stress, as we will see, and the Rigid:0 forms occur
even in natural speech, as in (15") and (15111). Further
more, we never get more than one extra 70.
The third possibility is that the re-analysis does not
consist of setting up a new base form plat-, but rather set
ting up an alternate on the basis of stzpssIgsl,
suffix Ata,
tealeasl, allamplasip
11112112=-1-9112
IMINII1010,11
upderlying_f=
eek) ack
IEekt ed) ack#ted
(B)
ink] pick
inkted] pick#ted

This is the converse of the analysis given above, relying

upon the fact that final (t] in monomorphemic forms occurs
less than ten per cent of the time, and that it is frequent
ly dropped before a following vmel. Thus we do get forms
such as j co and paal.Alght.9.2.0=k, which support
re-analysis B ,but we do not get *pigting.211.,m27 which would
siipport re-analysis (A). Thus the young NNE speaker forms
the hypotnesis that there are aternative suffixes, #A
parallel perhaps to .a -m4 #j -
The data as a whole plainly does not support such an
hypothesis, for there is no conditioning factor which would
explain the appearance of one form rather than another, and
in at least half the oases of tall, pu±, La/ before a vowel,
one can hear the -t of the stem emerging. Therefore it is
natural that most speakers quickly abandon this hypothesis,
and their underlying forms inevitably conform to the adult
model, common to both NNE and SE.

-153-
 8.2.10. T t e n r -s o gall=
ssmpAtaac.2. Hypercorrection Is a process which can be ana-
lyzed and understood, but it stands outside the normal opera
ion of linguistic rules: it is not typically rule-governed
behavior, In this report, we are interested in describing
the fundamental set of rules which reflect the vernacular
NNE pattern as used by the entire speech community. The
regularities inherent in Tables 3- 6,7,9 show that there
is systematic and inherent variation within this rule-
governed behavior. Table 3-9 confirms the fact that
every sub-group within the community, in every style, obeys
the two major constraints upon the -.1,A simplification rule:
the effects of (1) a following vowel and (2) a preceding
morpheme boundary. We will not encounter, anywhere in this
report, a more regular example of systematic variation. It
is therefore appropriate to review here the question of the
theoretical status of variable rules, and their relation to
"linguistic oompetence" as commonly conceived.
One view of the matter might be that such variation in
the realization of clusters is not an aspect of the speakers'
competence of knowledge of the language, but merely a matter
of "performance" variation--some difficulty in articulating
or perceiving the clusters in certain positions. As far as
the effect of a following vowel is concerned, there is a
certain plausibility in this argument. In the next section,
we will see that re-assignment of final consonants to the be
ginning of the next syllable is a regular process of surface
phonetics; final clusters are indeed less difficult to arti
culate before following vowels as a result of this process.
But there is no obvious connection between the notion of "per-
formance" and the effect of a preceding morpheme boundary.
To attribute the effect of a morpheme boundary to the
limitations of performance, one would have to argue in a
very complex way: that competent speakers normally overcome
the articulatory difficulty of clusters when a past tense
morpheme is involved...that in some way, their desire to re
present this morpheme interacts with the performance of arti
cuIation to increase the effort devoted to it. When wy con
sider that this is only a variable ",2.1atian exhibited by NNE
speakers, rather than an absolute rule, we would have to say
that there is a corresponding "semantic" difficulty which re
duces the level of awareness of the morpheme, and therefore
the amount of desire and the amount of extra effort devoted
to overcoming articulatory difficulty. The entire argument
plainly suffers from an excess of unobservable constructs.

If, however, we should follow this logic, and take the

step backward of removing the variable rules and constraints
from the representation of competence of the native speaker,
we would then have only three options with which to account

-154-
for the data underlying cur earlier concept of q that is,
the proportion of cases for which the rule actually operates

0 the rule does not apply at all

tkle rule applies optionally, in "free variation"
1 the rule applies categorically, in all cases

We can then construct an abstract model of the application of

the consonant cluster simplification rule to various "Ideal"
and "homogeneous" speech communities (01iomsky 1965:3). In
stead of the variables (10mm), etc., we have subcategories
defined by the categorical'Wnvironments AL,##K, etc. Thus
the application of the rule may be described by the follow
ing rough abstractions from the data for the various dia
lects we have been considering. [SLE: standard literary
Erglish; SOB: standard cAloquial English]

nvironment
Ala= ##K
"ShB" 0 0
"SOB" 0 0
"WNS11 0 0

"NNE(a)"
uNNB(b)" 0
oNNB(c)" 1
to
These assignmants of 01 N, I represent abstractions
by the quotatian
the nearest available category, as suggested
somewhat vague repre
marks: Only "NNE (a)"is an accurate if then state that the
sentation of Table 3-9a. These symbols variation
consonant cluster simplification r'lle is in free
for all subcatesoriós.
of
It must be pointed out that the speaker's knowledge
the subcategories is preserved in the underlying representa
hypercorrection, and
tian. There is only a limited amount of
of tense
as we shall see in 3.5., much of this is dueto a rule
transportation, "NNE (a)" does not obliterate the fact that
speakers know that -ed is used in past tense context. How
ever, we lose a very important aspect of competence when we
lose the variable constraint of q morphene boundary. We
imply that the speaker behaves as if the morpheme boundary,
made no differenceas Al there were no more semantic conse-
quences to,the loss of -ed than to the loss of a monomorphemic
-t. we might therefore4attempt an abstraction such as the last
which elevates the first subcategory to 11 and lowers there is
to 0; as we have indicated in the discussion of 3.2.8,
By such a step we can
:atom justification for this in the data.
claim to have registered a distinction
-155-
between monomorphemic and past tense in both case before
consonants, the speaker opposes a monomorphemic 1 to a past
tense -, and before vowels, a monomorphemic - to a past
tense 0, Thus we can make optimal use of our limited con
ventions.
Bat there are more than a few weaknesses of such an
abstraction as "NNE(b)". In the first place, it fails to
distinguish between the "1" assigned to the monomorphemic
4..,##K category and the "1" which must be assigned to such
truly categortcal rules of NNE as the vocalization of final
or the distribution of negative concord within the clause
which is variable for all WNS speakers but constant in NNE
that for a
1 see 3.6 below)), It seems to be inevitable
given sot of twenty K ##K clusters, an NNE speaker will
preserve one or two. We might account for this fluctuation
by positing "dialect mixture" of "NNE(b)" with "WNS":
4- "WNS" performance
1 0 Fol

Such dialect mixture is usually shown by rapid and unaccoun

table oscillations, corresponding to the sort of evidence on
(Z) which we will present in 3.3. Such a mixture is not
systematic in itself--the speaker is represented as oscilla
ting unaccountably, within sentences or phrases, from one
system to another. The extremely regular patterns of (KD)
do not, however, conform to the irregular and sporadic char
acter of such dialect mixture. And if we should accept
this notion, we have not accounted as yet for the appearance
of the - notation in KCJWIC: is this "free variation"
caused by dialect mixture a- well, and if so, by what dia
lect? More seriously, what would account for the observed
freouency of simplification in KCJWV, which is shown in
as 0, but shows a sizeable percentage in our data?

Both of these questions can be answered by positing

cate-
another abstraction, "NNE(c)" in which the rule applies
gorically in all environments. Then the abstraction
HNNE(b)" represents dialect mixture of the original and
homngeneous "NNE(c)" and the abstraction labelled "WNS".
Thus dialect mixture yields
IINNE(c)" "WNS" "NNE(b)"
1 1
1
K# OK 1 0

104.AV 1

But these symbols do not add up in any consistent fashion.

There are obviously other combinattons that we could work out,

-156
and further abstractions to account for the failure of these
that the
to add up. But it should be immediately apparent
infinite regress
various "NNE(alb,c)" constructs involve an
which attempts to save the data by patching an inadequate
beyond
theory. The competence of the native speaker goes
the mategorical framework of the 0, -, I system, and itof
seems a simple and logical step to enlarge our notion
"rule of grammar" to respond to the straightforward and im
pressive regularities of Tables 3- 6,7,9..

There are even deeper considerations -or recognizing

inherent variability and systematic constraints as being
characteristic of human languages. In the course of lin
guistic change, various rules of a grammar pass through
such variable stages, and after various re-orderings of
the variable constraints and gradual (or again
sudden) changes
into the
in the level of the input variable, pass
favored categorical form. But when this happens, there
phonological er gramma-
are usually re-structurings in the
tical system to supply the missing information.

Such a compensating development can be seen in the

Scots consonant cluster simplification pattern. In various
Scots dialects, and in the standard language, there is a
rule which has deleted final 71 after m and 14 yielding
pgxf22,, Etaall agf, =amp', Imp'. The rule evidently
reached a categorical state some time ago, before both
consonants and vowels, so that we have muy for Southern
English minty; even when the next word begins with a vowel
we have
the
(15") ..so I thocht it juist as weel to act up to
character [so o Goxt It ebst oz wil to ok Ap
to de korektor] (Grant and Dixon 1921:371)

It is obvious that such a categorical rule would lead to

the loss of the regular past tense after a great many verbs.
But the rules for the preterit form in Scots have adjusted
to the situation. The base form is 71 (or possibly -ot).
Clusters are not formed after stops, however. After frica
tives and other continuants we can have 71: pxszumnagd
(pronunst), gigglad [giglth flat:Q=1 (flatort), but
after stops, we regularly have 7aI: gnAld (londoth
(All
pectea (rkspekot], 2oeXed (lukot), nipma [axpet],
examples are taken from the same text in Grant and Dixon
1921:368-71).
It is just this type of re-structuring that we do not
observe in NNF and yet the fundamental knowledge of the
past tense is tiJ11 preserved. Our conclusion is that in
herent and systematic variation occurs within the linguis-
tic competence of native speakers, and that the variable
rules developtA in this report are required to account fully for
native speakers' knowledge of the language.

157
 The s z inflec ions

In addition to the -t d clusters discussed in section

302, the second major set of final consonant clusters are
those ending in -A or The voicing patterns of the
clusters are exactly parallel to the clusters: if the
first member is an obstruent, the voicing of the second
member is determined, but not if the first member is a
sonorant, However, if a morpheme boundary intervenes, 'awn
voicing assimilation is obligatory. That is, all words end-
ing in sonorant or vowel plus -24 are monomorphemic (it
may seem that /IA, tlIalp, and Aba2s, contradict this prin
ciple, but in the final analysis it is correct: see section
3.4). But instead of one grammatical possibility, we
have at least seven to cope with, and since the various
a z types are treated very differently from one another,
it is hardly possible to write a general -ga simplifi
cation rule. It will appear that some of the -Aug ele
ments of SE are missing entirely from NNE, and some are
quite intact,
of The final (A or of
3.3.1. lyp
SE words may represent one of the following types; the abbre
viations indicated will be used throughout this report

a monomorphemic box, else s x (adz) (zilara)

b. plural WIZ Po .9,1 =AA (51)

c, 3rd singular =la, tells, Maim (Zv)
d, possessive Pat's, John' slCharles's(Zpos)
e. adverbial besideq, sometimes, ( zadv)
nights
f is Boot's here, John's here
MTgri-Here.
fl.is 1Y.W.JJ 112121
g. has JQhn's been here.
h. us let's go

[NB: The symbols (KZ) will be used to indicate clue

ters, (vZ) to indicate post-vocalic, single

Only the first five will be discussed in this section. The

forms of the copula, f and fl, will be the subject of the
following section 3.4. The form hag is essentially con
fined to SE, since invariant ham is predominant in NNE;
the deletion of have is discussed in 3,4. Finally, the

-158-
form 's of let's is not part of the pattern considered
here, This -$ is not subject to the general processes
of contraction and voicing assimilation: we do not ob
tain [gIvzonlk13 for Give us a nickel or [gozeravn]
for Show us around.

3,3,2, glualapprocch to the 7J) variables. The

parentheses notation for etc. imply that at least
the first five -Lag inflect sne are variable in NNE,
and this is indeed the case. For all speakers, sometimes
we find clusters of types a-e and the following section
will show that this is the case with f, f' and g. The
Is representing us seems to a fixed form of a different
type,

To say that these features are variable is not the

same as to say that we are dealing in each case with phono-
logical processes of consonant cluster simplification which
remove an underlying //Z// by low level rules. In section
3.2. we saw that there is plainly an underlying //30// in
flection in NNE, on the basis of two sets of facts: (1)
almost every speaker recognized the existence of the mor
pheme boundary in //p s d//, etc,, by preserving the
cluster more often than with monomorphemic forms, before
vowels, this regularity showed up with single (VD) forms
as well, (2) almost every speaker showed the effect of
a following vowel in reducing consonant cluster simpli
fication of (10) as well as (0 H ), and this effect show
ed up in (VD) fftms as well. Thb we argue that there
must be a systematic basis for such extraordinary reg
ularity, within this systematic variability the speaker's
knowledge of the //Dn// category is clearly seen. I%
can now examine the '''(Z) variables to see if all, some
or none of these reflect underlying //Z// inflections
in NNE.

The phonological environments which were studied,

in addition to the grammatical sub classes given above,
are:

a. Cases where the (z) occurred before a follow

ing consonant or finally ( K) vs, those in which it
occurred before word boundary and a following vowel
( V), Clusters internal to a word were not considered.

b. NZ): clusters with nasal plus [z].

c. KvZ): all other voiced clusters.
d. tO: clusters with [t] plus [s],
e. KvZ): all other voiceless clusters.
f. VZ): single [z] after a vowel,

159
 The coding of the variants of the (KZ) variables em
ployed the following scheme:

(KZ-x) both elements present

(KZ-1) first element present
(KZ-2) second element present
(KZ-0) neither element present

In the case of the (VZ) variables, it is of course simply

a matter of presence or absence of the sibilant. For (KZ),
the number of cases where both elements were deleted was negli
gible, primarily the result of the application of other rules
such as the vocalization of (1); underlying was treated
as vocalic here. The cases where the first consonant dis
appears are primarily those -Ss clusters considered under
ft above, and dealt with in greater detail in 3.4. There
fore the basic opposition which is studied re is (KZ-1)/N,
and the data in Table 3-10 shows the frequency with which
a sibilant appears in the total population of utterances where
// Z// is expected in SE. (When the next word begins with
a sibilant, the distinction is of course neutralized.) It
will shortly be seen that sudh an over-all approach breaks
down, but it will provide us with the basic information that
we need for a correct analysis. We have a great deal of
data on plurals (KZp1), (Uv), and a fair amount on Mad
There is less information available on (KZ adv) / and not as
much on (KZ ) as we would like. Only a small number of peer
p os
group members were analyzed for (VZ) data, although there is
considerable data here for adults.

3.3.3. Monomorphemic clusters KZ ).There is rela-

tively littirnTron monomorphemic c usters, since they occur
only in one phonological sub-class (K°Z) in words such as six
and box. We observe that the Thunderbirds are the only group
who Briplify any significant number of these clusters in the
group sessions; there is a sprinkling of cases throughout
the other groups. But every cases which was observed occurred
before consonants: there were nonebefore vowels. It is obvious
that NNE members know the underlying forms of six and box,
and the occasional simplifications are simply tlis-6 resarof
phonological processes. The'effect of a following vowel is
absolute and conclusive in this case.

3.3.4. 2he_plural. There is considerable interest in

the NNE plural,-4ince many observers have noted that speakers
occasionally do not use the plural where SE uses it. Several
of the teaching methods prepared for NNE speakers begIn with
drills on the plural forms, and even teach Negro children
when to use a [z] and when to use an [a] in forming their
plurals. It can also be observed that there are some diffi-
culties in reading the plural; in our own readings (see
-160
 TABLE 3-10a
QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE (Z) VARIABLES
FOR PRE ADOLESCENTS AND ADOLESCENTS

(la ) (Kz ) (Uov) Madld

STYLE A B A A B
...X ...V __X _V ...KV JC V K V JV
T-Birds (8) 40 00 00 00 13 08 15 09 60 100 61 70 42 11
(8)
Aces (4) 09 00 08 00 42 71 53 13

Cobras (9) 00 00 03 00 30 00 04 04 53 67 93 86 55 10

Jets (17) 00 00 00 00 09 00 06 00 55 78 59 70 35 91

Oscar Br.(6) 07 00 06 00 21 10 11 06 67 68 63 61 57. 62

Lames (20) 02 00 14 09 56 64 56 28

Inwood (7) 00 00 00 00 18 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

(Kz )
pos
A
K V _IC

All NNE peer 72 58 50

groups

No

5 2 13 20 63 26 100 56 10 11 67 40 33 9
11 4 59 33 33 21 32 8
34 17 69 11 158 66 19 6 73 63 22 7
14 7
11 4 30 6 188 61 230 81 55 27 61 33 23 10
28 19 36 17 169 61 196 80 129 59 86 83 35 13
53 22 198 103 116 97 82 25
27 1 44 6 76 14 149 38 30 23 71 47 27 1
 TABLE 3-10b
QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE (0
VARIABLES FOR ADULT SPEAKERS

(KZ ) (Vz)
pl (nv)
A B A B A B
KV KV _IC j JC j K V JC V
Middle class 02 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 02 00
(14)
Working class
Upper No.(4) 10 13 01 00 31 00 00 00 14 00 07 00

Upper So.(7) 14 00 06 00 00 23 47 00 10 00

Lower No.(5) 03 00 00 00 13 00 16 00 14 00 12 00

Lower So.(8) 10 14 12 19 33 20 64 82 15 00 28 00

N:
98 36 196 81 6 9 21 7 59 21 104 51
40 16 69 52 16 3 16 18 14 1 30 4
79 38 59 42 16 3 19 13 16 6 4 3
36 15 97 42 3 2 17 19 29 7 17 10
69 22 111 36 11 5 11 9 27 10 32 9
below) the word po ters frequently occurred without the -s.
We have other reports of difficulty in teaching NNE members
to read the plural. Nevertheless, we are convinced that
there is far more interest in the problem of the plural than
the case deserves, thet the NNE plural is quite intact, and
that the small amount of disturbance in the plural is the
result of (a) phonological processes of consonant cluster
simplification (b) several individual items that have zero
plurals in NNE, and (c) a few individual speakers who show
much less regularity in plural inflections than the norm
for NNE.

Table 3-10a shows the basic data on the (KZ) plurals,

based on a very large number of cases (2,285). We observe
that the amount of (KZna) simplification is quite vaKiable
before consonants in exup sessions, ranging from 13Vo
for the Thunderbirds to 300/0 for the Cobras. It is inter
esting to note that the index rises with age. Is it possible
that the Oscar Brothers in their late teens lawe less notion
of the plural than the T-Birds? In other respects, we have
seen that the Oscar Brothers (not properly a named group)
is closer to the adult system thar any other group. Further
more, it becomes quite clear that we are dealing with a sty-
listic tendency when we note the contrast between group and
single sessions. The high (Z) figures decline quite sharply
for the older speakers--for the Cobras from -30 to -04. But
most importantly, we note that the effect of a following vowel
is very strong, and operates in all cases except the Cobras
in single style, who show -04 - -04, at a low level of (KZ).
We also kept track of deleted plurals in our grammatical
searching process-simply noting the number of cases rather
than searching for any particular frequency. The results for
the following groups are:
no of deleted.plurals
T-Birds 40
Lames 8
Cobras 36
Jets 35
Oscar Brothers 18

This appears at first glance to be a sizeable number, but it

is of the same order of magnitude as the figures given for
(KZ). Furthermore, we find that a good portion of the totals
are due to particular individuals. Among the T-Birds, 26 of
the 40 deleted plurals were the work of Robbie H. For the
Oscar Brothers 15 of the 18 cases were from one speaker,
Jerry M.

Another source of plural disturbance is the fact that

a particular group of words have zero plurals in NNE, parallel
in one sense to 21222p and deer. Thus we have the following
results for the items ceni-ga year which we studied quan-
titatively in grammatfEErsearchirii, in terms of number of
cases where there was no plural -s In plural contexts:

163
 1221.pTura3r
T-Birds 4/6
Lames 3/3
Cobras 8/10
Jets 1/1

In other words, when the underlying form is actually missing,

the percentage of zero plurals rises from ten percent to
eighty. Furthermore, even this small amount of data suggests
that all of our subjects share this small difference from SE
The process of consonant cluster simplification which affects
the plural in general, however, is strongest with the central
peer groups, When we contrast the central members of the
Jets with the marginal and peripheral members, for example,
we find plural deletion is a stylistic device employed pri
marily by the core members (see section 4.2 below).
Figure 3-10b shows the situation with the adults as far
as the plural is concerned. In general, the level of (KZ )
is very low: only the lower working class group raised ie
the South shows a sizeable amount of -.F1 deletion, and here
almost half of the total is contributed by one individual
from South Carolina. The middle-class adults, of course,
show very little deviation from the SE plural pattern. Except
for the Southern lower working class'group, the working class
adults show the same effect of style and a following vowel
which we observed among the adolescent speakers.

3.3,5. The third singular s,(Z,v). The data of Figure

3 10a for the thxrd person singular -s contrasts quite sharp
ly with that for the plural. There are three clear indications
which lead us to the conclusion that, as opposed to the plural
-s, there is no underlying third singular -s in NNE.
a. The magnitude of the indices is altogether greater
than that for (Zmm) or (and). There is no group or style
for which it falIU below 50 per cent, and it actually rises
100 or close to 100 for others,
b. There is no stylistic shift observable in moving from
group style to single sessions.
c. Most importantly, there is no tendency whatsoever for
the effect of a following vowel to lower (Z). On the contrary,
the general trend is for there to be less -s before a following
vowel than before a following consonant. This situation then
deviates sharply from the pattern we have seen with the vocal-
ization of r and with (KD) and the other (Z) clusters. The
conclusion is inevitable that we are not dealing with a phono-
logical process at all: that there is no underlying -s in the
dialect. This was the initial indication which we found in
our first exmination of the T-Birds and Cobras in CRP 3091
and reported further in "Some Sources of Reading Problems..."
(Labov 1966d).

-164
 Further evidence for the unsystematic character of
this -s in NNE can be drawn from the irregular pattern of
distribution which we find. Biere are a great many examples
of "hyper-Z" occurring in odd, unpredictable, and idiosyn-
cratic positions. To begin with, we frequently find -s
with other persons besides the third singular.

(15) I trusts my friend.

[14, Jets, #527]
(16) My brothers plays in it.
[11, T-Birds, #372]

This tendency to "hyper Z" does not seem to follow any regu
lar pattern; some individuals do it a great deal, and others
hardly at all. It is naturally more characteristic of for
mal speech, rather than the spontaneous interaction of the
group sessions, and more common among adults than children.
In the Lower East Side study, we encountered one speaker
from South Carolina who used an extraordinary amount of "hyper-
Z"; it was almost the norm with her. Greene and Ryan, in
their report on Harlem schools (1965), accurately show "hyper-
Z" as a very frequent form with some children and rPre in
others, although they follow the usual literary tendency to
make an occasional patte bsolute:

VERNON. But those police don't really wanta break

it up; they just wants their share. That cop hang
out in our hall cause it's warm, but that's how he
in on the numbers.

REGGIE. When things gets bad, the lieutenant get

wind of something; he get mad and say, "There's
gonna be no more numbers." (2hen they starts
bringin peoples in. They don't really wanta bring
you in; they throws you out by nine in the morning.

LEANORE. Not nine in the morning, nine at night.

It's too late to just bring any more people in.
The reason they want their share, those cops don't
get paid too much neither. That's why they shake
you down. But they don't tell that lieutenant.
The lieutenant would can'em!

RICHARD. My mother says you'd think colored cops'd

be nicer than the white cops, but they just about the
same. But we needs police. They protects you from
=big kids that throw the rocks, make your eye go
out.

VERNON. No one persons owns the numbers. And when

you win$ they comes on your street and tells you.

-165-
 REGGIE. Aley do not, they gives out winners in the
tavern now.

VERNON. That's a lie! They tel s it on the streets,

too!

The irregularity of "hyper-Z" may also be seen in its

distribution in certain lexical items. In WNS, the verb
got seems to be unique in that it has no third singular
-,s,; it is derived from an original he has got to pets got
to 112.&21.1o. In NNE, this odd characteristic of got
seems to be reflected in the extraordinary concentration
of "hyper-Z" in third singular as well as other persons:
(17) He knows what he gots to do.
[13, c)ets, #602]
(18) Majority of the people that rob people' houses,
they gots to be dope addicts...
[15, Jets, 099]
(19) I gets high every mornin' before I go to
school.
[16, Jets, #667]

At one point, we examined the hypothesis that "hyper-Z"

had a special affective or emphatic value, as see4 in the
common expression I gots to. However, examination of actual
occurrences has not supported this view, and it remains to
be shown that "hyper-Z" has any systematic place in NNE.

"Hyper-Z" also shows the most extraordinary distribu

tion over non-finite forms, including of course frequent
occurrences of -s after got and get. It is worth listing
a wide variety of these to demonstrate the ranze
of formss

(20a) ...somebody get hurts.

[39, NYO, 002]
(20b) He can goes out.
[13, T-Birds, #375]
(20c) You don't belongs with them,
[52, Fla., #663]
(20d) He'd knows that...
[15, NYO, YH31]
(20e) I don't know how to gets no girls.
[13, Jets, #535]
(20f) He's gots to be nasty!
[13, Jets, #335]
(20g) He just wantsa gets off...
[11, T-Birds, #381]

-166-
We also find characteristic use of "hyper Z" after invariant
be (discussed in detail in section 3.4. below), and even after
would and are:

(21a) Q. [What's a beatnikU

A. He wear a beard and he always bee on the
beach mosta de time.
[13, Venice, 11792
(21b) The guys that...bes around the park with
us, there's a leader of them.
[15, NYC, YH41J
(21c) ...all our men axes each on side...
[13, T-Birds, #375]
(21d) ...and neighbors' voulda call the cops.
[50, N.C., #816]

The irregular and unsystemaloic character of "hyper-Z" has

thus been fully documented. It is generally the case that
the most systematic and regular form of language is that of
basic vernacular, controlled by the frequent interaction
of ones peers. The type of correction caused by exterior
norms and overt social pressures is always itregular by
comparison, exhibiting the following traits:

1. Irregular distribuAon within the relevant

word class.
2. Irregular distribution to other word classes.
t. Irregular distribution among individuals.

This is the type of sporadic correction which we find among

WNS speakers in New York City who correct the raised vowels
()fled, Igts, dance, etc., in an irregular pattern, and even
more sporadically, the vowel of.ag, lost, water, etc., to
some intermediate position, or even to the vowel of God

Eypercorrection of the.plural. It is useful to

contrast the type of hypercorrect patterns which we obtain
for the plural with those just outlined for the third sing
ular -s. We find many examples of mans and mens, womans
womens:
(21'a) It was two Mans from Uncle. [13, Chi. #470]
(21'b) But now they're big mens,
you know. [25, S.C. #774]
(21'c) ...there's 2, 5 or 2 mens out.. [12, NYC, 0633
(211d) We all was womens. [35, 5,0. #729]
(21'e) We got womans here that'll do
mens in, too. [56, S.C. #756]

-167--
This type of hypercorrection is especially common among
adults, Among children, we also find a great many general
izations to yield phildrens, sheeps, cattles, reindeers,
and of course foots and i'eets. We afiTAFTEE some general
ization of s with changrarmass-noun vs. oount-noun cate
gory.
...stuff to make corns grow. [8, TuwBiVdS, #5863

The noun maple has an indeterminate status for many speakers,

and it is natural-to observe many examples of pRoples in our
texts. All of these examples follow a simple Pfinaiile of
analogy, extending the regulariy of the plural in -s to cover
the small number of irregular cases in English. There are
comparatively few examples which could be considered irregu
lar and sporadic, as with third singular s. Perhaps the
following example is such a ease:
...and trip somebody elses up as they're
runnin' after you...
[17, Oscar Bros., #5553
On the whole, then, the hypercorrect patterns of the plural
contrast sharply with those for the third singular in that
they represent an extension of the regular rules of English.
The third singular examples, on the other hand, seem to corre
spond to an instruction "In cartful speech, put an in -s
somewhere.", since there is no systematic basis for locat-
ing this "somewhere" in NNE. What seems on the surface to
be a simple instructionplace after third singular subjects
--is actually extremely difficult to incorporate into a
systematic set of rules if tnere is no previous identifica-
tion of this locus already on hand.

The associative lural an' 'em. There is a specific

pluralizing form used frequent y among NE peer groups which
deserves separate consideration: the associative plural heard
in ,Isarry an, 'em, Stan an' 'em, Bel an' lem, etc. It is
roughly comparable-TrUgrarEEM,ErEFEWF" u s, and them
guys, but is used much more frequent y an with a mo74765iTific
meaning: ho group that hangs out with the prominent in
dividual named'. Thus hang out groups (see section 4.1)are
named by this specific means:

KC: Is there a bunch of cats you hang out with?

Russell...well, you don't hang out by your
self do you?
RS: Uhkuh. Well, Bell an'tem.
KC: Who?
RS: 'Abell an' 'em.
KC: Labell an"em. How many are there?
RS: Well, I 'on, know how many there are...

118
 Well could you give me some nameo nd a es
of some of lem...
You got the name cud ages of Label an' '

[137 Jets, #603]

Certain individuals can act as head of this construction,

and others cannot, depending upon their prominence. In
the sections of the interviews dealing with peer-group
structure, twenty-two members use this form with a total
of 56 instances in these sections alone.
The associative plural anl 'ern resembles the jamai an
Creole form an dem (Bailey 19T5777Hich seems to be more gen
orally used as a plural form for animates and inanimates
There is an interesting possibility here of a specific Nliz
form developing which is related to both the Creole an dem
and the 03 and them

3.3.6. 2111.29, (Z,,,) The eltuation with the

possessive seems quite comparable to the third singulal
although we do not have as much data as we would 2ike. Our
results show, as a whole, that NNB speakers do not use 's:
there is no inflection for the attributive possessive.
There is no need to quote any extensive example but the
the following are typical.

(22') So then the dude--the dude old lady came

around--y'a dig.
[151 Jets, #560]
(23') If I got a dollar worth of change in
my pockett.
[17, Oscar Bros., #558]
(24') Mos' people--
Ef you notice, majolity of the people that rob
people houses they gots to be dope addic'
or if they ain't, sump,ms wrung wid 'era.
[14, Jets, #599]

There is not sufficient data on (Z P 0 5) to show significant

features for peer groups on Table 10a, and we simply elm up
the situation
Sing1.9.Elyle proup.Ityle
All peer groups X V -K -V
23/32 30/52 2/4

for all of the groups concerned. The possessive is similar

to (Z ) in that well over 50 Vo of the time we find no
final s. There is not enough data for the possessive before

169
a vowel for us to say whether or not the frequency increases
or decreases. However, the figures we have for occurrences
before consonants show that peer groups appear relatively
uniform in their treatment of the possessive, and it is
our belief that there is no underlying -8 in the attributive
possessive form. This belief is strongly reinforced by the
results of memory tests (see section 3.9 below) in which NNE
members find great difficulty in reproducinz the Is of the
possessive. 4he difficulty is greatest with whose:

(251) ...whoever foot I stopped on...

[13, T-Birds, #375]
(26 ) All he got to do is find out who book it was.
[13, T-Birds, in memorary
tests]

It should be clear that there is no fundamental problem wi h

the possessive category in NN2. The absolute possessive r minal
shows -8 quite regularly in this book of Alvin's, etc.22 In
fact, we find double possessives in the pronouns as a part of
a very regular pattern: mines is parallel to his, maa, etc.
Furthermore, we find that possessive pronouns are quite regular
in attributive position. We have discussed above the homonymn
of 2,25: and their, zu andysza. We also find that by simi
lar processes it is possible to have he for his, although it
is extremely rare. We have one instance in TR' speech of an
8-year-o1d:

(271) ...up to he house.

£8 T Birds, #927]

2he other possessive pronouns are ny, her, our, and their,
we have no record of any other forms in thrEta,
We also find in attributive position the associative
plural anl 'em discussed above.

(28') ...in Larry an' 'em hallway.

[14, Jets, #327]
This last construction is equivalent to SE in the hllwy o
Larry and those gys. It does not seem possible to have a
group possess ve in this construction at all: *in Larry
and them's ha1ly. There are several other instances a re-
atedpuas in them which do not take possessives
(29') Mean de names of dem? [15, NYC, YH41]
(30*) I drIn't know none of them last names. [8, T Birds
You could tell a clinker, 'cause his #927]
(31')
eyes. His eyes are--all of them eyes
are orange, or reddish. [13, Cobrasl#492]
All of these illustrate the difficulty involved in the loss of
their as an attribute possessive, and the various routes taken
when a simple they is not available or appropriate in oblique
position 170
 3.3.7. Adverbia Z). Table 3 10a shows data on ad
verbial (0 in ing e style for the various peer groups.
In general, we see almost the same high level of "simpli
fication" which was observed for (Zir). However, the young
er groups show the effect of a follOwing vowel in preserv
ing the cluster, and the older groups show the reverse effect
The situation is not at all clear, partly because the general
class is not homogeneous: that is, it is auite possible that
for some lexical items the -s is a part of the underlying forms
and for others it is not. TEre younger speakers may assume that
all forms such as besides, sometimes, amyl have final -s,
whereas the vernadirEriEr tiirgairgroups may identify some
forms as having -8, and others as not. Further study is re
quired of individual items, although it does not seem to be
a serious problem in itself. In some WNS dialects, we ob
serve comparable fluctuations.

3.3.8. Yhe adul Z) patterns. Uo far, we have been

considering the behavior of he va ious peer groups and
isolated adolescents. Table 3-10b shos the various (0
patterns for the adult groups.

First, it may be observed that the middle class adults

are perfectly standard in all of these features. This sit
uation =treats quite sharply with that of other phonologi
cal rules studied in this chapter, where small levels of
activity may be obser7ed among the middle-class speakers:
there is a complete elimination among middle-class speakers
of any simplification or loss of (Z). In the case of the
third singular -s and the possessive, we can say that this
element has been completely restored in the speech of middle
class speakers, whatever their vernacular patterns may have
been, and no phonological processes are operating to weaken
the pattern.

None of the adult working class groups show as high a

(Z) level as the peer groups. Only the Southern lower
working class shows high (Z) levels. This group is also
different from the others in that they show less the effect
of a following vowel in reducing simplification. As we look
down the right hand side of each pair, at the V column, we
see that there is a (Z) of zero or close to zero, except for
the lower Southern sub-group. When we examine the patterns
for single (VZ), it is even clearer that the underlying forms
are intact, for there is no simplification at all before a
following vowel. All of this evidence points to the fact
that the adults have been exposed to the same abstract forms.
as SE and have absorbed them into their systems. he processes
which continue to remove these inflections are now primarily
lonologicall except perhaps for the lower Southern sub group,

171-
 3.3.9. The white Inwood (0 patterns. Table 3 10a
also shows thriaa7577-WalEat cal searching for the two
Inwood groups combined--pre-adolescent and adolescen. There
ig only one area in which any simplification of (Z) clusters
appears, ancl that is in group style with the plural. Here
we see 18 0/0 simplification before consonants, which dis-
appears entirely before vowels. There is no sign of any
simplirication, deletion or loss of monomorphemic clusters,
third singular -s, possessive 's or adverbial 's. In effect,
all but the phonological processes operating upon the plurals
may be considered characteristic of NNE but not WNS.

3.3 10. The reverse effect of the f011OWiflL vowel. In

several cases amoricariEFT" we have seen ha wheAL 1NE
does not have a sP4ure position for the underlying -s, that
the following vowel did not act to increase the percentage
of occurrences of the sibilant. That much would be expect
ed from our conclusion that there was no underlying -s for
a phonological rule to act on: we are dealing with a genuine
case of "dialect mixture", with all the irregular and spora
die character which that term implies. However, it is not
clear why we should get a reverse effect in so many cases--
why a following vowel should show the -s less often.
The following hypothesis is suggested as an explanation
for this effect. We note that yhe phonetic output of English
freely re-assigns final consonants to the beginning of the
next morpheme if this morpheme begins with a vowel. If the
final consonant is a weakly released Ct'J then it is easily
identified by the listener as derind from the preceding word
and not confused with an initial [V]. Thus for example,
it is not possible to confuse perfect time with perfect I
since the first case will show a strongly aspiraia-rT177
in time. But not all English voiceless consonants are heav
ily aspirata4ed, and many voiced obstruents and liquids are
not so clearly differentiated into final and initial allo
phones. For example, the utterance meetin .., can be
misunderstood as I'm eating..., as was recent y observed.
A name Prank Kehl, pronounced in allegro style, is heard
as ?rgnk Hgle. In these cases, the listener hears an initial
Cm-] or [kn-] and may or may not interpret them as a part
of the preceding word according to the semantic assessment
made or according to previous familiarity with the proper
names involved. It is understood, of course, that geminates
are automatically simplified in natural speech.
Here we are dealing with a final -s which is not easily
differentiated from an initial s-. Therefore an expression
such as ChilaIksAper) may be interpreted as either (a) He
likt_EmatE... or (b) an likes uDRIE... For SE listeners,
gihere is no problem: there must be an -s on the end of the
preceding word, and therefore (b) must be the correct in
terpretation. But for UNE listeners, there is no way of
knowing which interpretation.is correct. Let us suppose that
-172
the speaker intended to say (b) He like upper... In that
case if he had not used a final -81 there would be no
possibility of confusion for the listener. But if he does
use a final -s, then the listener has to decide where it
the
goes, and without the automatic knowledge and skill of
SE speaker, with his third-singular rule, the NNE listener
is very likely to be confused. This situation will not of
course arise when the next word begins with a consonant,
for the various sK-clusters are all easily distinguished
from combinations.
Therefore the act of supplying an s before a vowel
does not lead to any additional clarity, as might be the
case with (IV clusters, but only serves to produce con
fusion in the listener with (VO clusters. This may be the
explanation for the reverse effect of a following vowel when
there is no basis for the preceding final in the underlying
grammar.
3.4 Deletion, contraction, and in erent variability of
the copula

3.4.0. Alpence qt.tha.a2ARLI.in.aag. It has frequent

of
ly been observed that Negro speakers omit finite forms
the copula in sentences such as (22-39) on the following
and
page. These examples show typicra forms where 1.6,
are absent before noun phrases (22-25), predicate adjec-
tives (26-28), locatives (29-31), and before negatives
(32-33). Furthermore, these finite forms of ke are most
often absent before the verb with progressive suffix (34-
37) and before gam (38-39), which may be regarded as one
of the many reduced forms of gaingftg (see 3.5.2).
One might indeed simply record these facts, and note
that the use of the copula must be taught in school. How
ever, the notable lack of success of schools in teaching
such apparently simple matters, and their re-occurrence
in the writing of high school students indicates the need
for a deeper analysis. Three basic questions can be
raised:

a. What is the form of the general rule of NNE which

governs sentences such as (22-39)9
b. What is the relation of this rule to other rules
of NNE?

0.What is the relation of this set of rules to the

corresponding rules of SE?

Beyond tglese questions, we can ask (d) whether the form of

the NNE rule changes or develops with the age ot social
position of the speaker (see 3.4.13).
Answers to these questions are provided by a consider
ation of forms (22-39) along with other related sentences,
the result of grammatical searching under the principle of
accountability discussed in 2.4. The evidence to be pre-
sented falls :Lnto three categories; (1) related sentences
in which the forms of hg are never deleted by any speaker;
(2) quantitative patterns of variation in presence of ab
sence of be in the environments of (22-39); (3) implica
tions of the ordering of the rules required to account for
the data. The logic of generative grammar will be utilized
to present and analyze the first set (3.4.2,4); the tech-
niques of quantitative analysis for the second (3.4.5); and
both methods for the third (3.4.6). Our knowledge of the
rules of SE must also be extended, particularly with regard
to contraction, using the techniques of generative grammar
to analyze the grammaticality of certain sets of SE sentences.

-174-
Some environments in which finite forms of 322 are frequently
absent in NNE.

A. Before noun phrases [,...NP]

22 She the first one started us off. 135, S.C., #729]

23 I think he a Jew. 18, Oscar B.,#570]
24 Means he a faggot or sumpm like that. 18, Oscar B.,#570]
1 25 / He a eat-and-runner. 15, Jets, #572]

B. Before predicate adjectives [ PA]

He fast in everything he do.

27 You crazy! ilg: '117: 'AM
8 [But Calvin is a little guys]
I know, but he wild, though! [13, T-Birds,#4511
0. Before locative phrases (...,Loc)

31You out the game. 110, N.Y.C., #362]

30 He in eighth. 16, Chicago, #4711
ri We on tape. 16, Chlcago, #471,1

D. Before regatives [...Neg]

(32) But evezrbody not black. [15, Jets, #524]

33) They not caught. [11, T-Birds, #449]

E. Before verbs with progressing jug Ving]

(34) He just feel like he gettint cripple

up from arthritis. [48, N.C., #232]
(35) Cause when you watchint a game, you
ain't gettin' that inch more fun
than when you would really be
playin' it. (13, Jets, #605)
(36) Boot always comin' over my house to
eat, to ax for food. (10, T Birds, #451)
(37) When you among high class people,
and you Iscussinl things with lem,
common sense '11 tell you the way
you use, you know, your mind. (19, S.C., #YH-2]

P. Before reduced forms of SE gaing to [.gn]

He gonl try to get up. [12, T Birds, #451]
39 Cause we, we gont sneak under the
trainstile. [13, Cobras, #488]

-175-
 in NNE grammar. The examples
3.4.1. S...latu_s_..911.112.Q.sspula
o.4 missing forms of in sentences of the type (22-39) have
led several observers to the conclusion that there is no
present copula or auzdliary be (Stewart 1966). This would
seem to be a reasonable inference in view of the fact that
a great many languages show no present copulae.g., Hun-
garian, or Hebrew. The French Creole of the Caribbean shows
the same pattern (40-41), and so does the English Creole of

(40) Mwg cwizin. (42) I in the kitchen.22

(41) Mwe esit, (43) I here.

the same area (42 43). The English Creole of Jamaica shows
no copula in most of the environments of (22-39), as for
example before predicate adjectives (44) and locatives (45)
(Bailey 1966).

(44) Im sik bad. 'She is very sick'.

(45) Jan in a hous. 'John is in the house.

Gullah, the creole English spoken in the Sea Islands of

South Carolina and Georgia, also shows the absence of finite
forms of log:

(46) nDlY dot do sApm! --Diana Brown, Edisto

47) DI gwpin tel om: ju rod dowel! Island, South Carolina
48) DI satisfyi writ gad dAn fo mi. (Turner 1949, p.263).
(49) di pipl no gon bak.

Furthermore, the early grammars used by children 18 to 24

months old show no copula, and there seems to be little
basis for constructing one In the underlying phrase structure
(Bloom 1968).

52That a lamb. Kathy in there.

51 That a bear book. 54 Man in blocks.
rl It a my book. 55 Tiny balls in there.

The suggestion that NNE shows no copula or aaxiliary be

is therefore plausible in that this is a very common pattern,
particularly in languages which may have had considerable
contact with and influence on NNE; in this analysis, NNE
would differ from SE in a high level rule of the grammar.23

The question raised here should not be identified with

the question as to whether the copula appears in the phrase
structure of SE or NNE. There are many ways to introduce
the copula into the early rules of English grammar, and it
is not at all necessary that this be done by a phrase struc
ture rule. The rule given by Chomsky in Agpects of the
2heory..d.gyntax (1965) shows a copula in the phrase struc-
ture (56).
-176-
 Copula + Predicate
(56) (NP) (PP) (PP) (Manner)
( V SI
Predicate }

However, Bach's suggestion appears quite reasonable that the

copula should be introduced by an early tranaformation such
as (57) whenever it is followed by a bare predicate, since
it is plainly predicOtable in this environment (Bach 1968).
ob X Aux Pred
(57) T
cop 1 2+be 3 4
1 2 3 4

Another possible approach is that of Rosenbaum in Grammar II;

here the auxiliary 1,2 is introduced by a segmentalization
transformation from features of the following element (58)
and the copula could plainly be handled by the same device
(Rosenbaum 1967).

(se) X - [+prog]
[++proil
1 2 3 3
COP I

Which ever method we select for treating the copula, the

issue is whether NNE has such high level rules as (56),
(57) or (58), or whether NNE differs from SE in not having
such a rule. The evidence of the following section supports
the former alternative.

3.1.2. Grammd1,01 constructions in which form of be

x2ga1u1y..gpDear in NNE. In the following cases, NNE regu-
larly shows forms which are derived from Is, in standard
English.

Tjpatte-e nd the negAtive. The preterit

shows yile and wasn't. as in 59 61 and these same forme
appear as auxiliaries with V ing.

(59) I was small; I was sumpml 'bout [12, Aces, #464]

one years ol baby.
(60) She was likinl me...she was [18, Oscar Bro.,#556]
likinl George too.
(61) If we wasn't playin' now, it [13, Cobras, #493]
wouldn't a happen.
pl. the present, the negative is airtlt, as in (62-64)

-177-
 [15, Cobras, #4901
(62) It ain't no cat can't get in
no coop.
My sons, they ain't but so (26, NYC, #840]
(63)
big,
They not brothers. (14, Aces, #467]
(64)

the preterit of be
It is possible to argue that ,w,gg is
only in an historical sense, but that it is synchronically
simply a marker of the past tense. Similarly, it may be
said that ain't is merely a negative marker, with no current
relation to .ipnft, ar612.21, etc., from which it is historically
derived. However, it is not uncommon to find forms such as
(32, 33,64) in which the negative marker is represented by
plain not. To continue to maintain that pl,n't, has no rela
tion to la...xlat, it would be necessary to assert that They
ne he s and gligy_Ain't brothers, are exactly equiva
sort
lent or to discover a semantic difference of some
between them).

Nalnignanal.aLam. Another form of which

appears regularly is the 'JR of (65-67).

(65) I'm tired, Jeannette. [48, N.C., #232]

(66) I'm not no strong drinker. [15, NYC, #Y11443

(67) I'm doin' a little bit of

11

everything.

Tills form occurs in the overwhelming majority of cases.

Table 3-11 summarizes the infolmation derived from gram
matical searching of the records of all NNE peer groups,
tha working-class adults, and a number of exploratory in
terviews in other ghetto areas. The total number of cases
of contracted fm is 1,091, There are only forty-three
full forms, and of these thirty occur in final position
where contraction is not a possible option, as discussed
below. Thus thare are only thirteen cases of full forms
.1,...eLa in the environments of (22-39).

Tha contraction of _Lam, to ..122 is thus a semi-cate

gorical rule for NNE. The In is rarely, perhaps never
deleted. Only three cases of no copula or auxiliary were
found after 13 these may have been the results of the
contraction and deletion of II which does occur very rare-
ly after I, although agreement of subject and verb is quite
high with forms of la. In our data there is only one case
of a lone [z] after 10 representing the form spelled in dia-
lect literature as 121m: next to the quotation, the trans
scriber wrote "verbally jocular":
(67') I is not going to be a dropout. [11, T-Birds, #505]

-178-
 TABLE 3 11

FORMS OF BE WITH FIRST 2ERSON SINGULAR

PRONOUN FOR NNE PEER GROUPS AND OTHERS

STYLE 122 =4Z mAit

T-Birds A 60 23 2
B 64 1 10 3*,

Aces A 7 2
B 21 1 2

Cobras A 61 13 2 1 3
73 7 12 4

4 1 1 2
Jets A 69 15
B 180 11 27 4 6 2

5
Oscar Br. A 90
B 25 2 '8

Lames B 65 3 2 2*

Working A 97 12
class B 121 9 7
adults
53 2 2 1
Explora
tory IVa
11111101011111 41.1101111111119
11111111111101, 0004111010
00401111400110

986 105 70 13 30 1 5

* Including' formula: I-AM-KILLER D LLER

from game of 11.02.1 (§11011gy)

-178a-
 Because contraction is semi categorical for I am, it
might be possible to argue that for many NNE speakers,
j2j1 is not related synchronically to I.A01, but that it is
an Hallomorphn of which occurs before verbless predicates
(Stewart 1966). However, it cannot be overlooked thst in
the thirty cases of final Aml, the speakers unhesitatingly
and unerringly supplied the correct full form. There is
more disagreement of person and number in ouch sentences
than ordinarily (see 3.6 below) and la, is used not in
frequently where SE has Axz but as noted above Lja is
quite rare. Furthermore, we find that 1,..ara is heard very
frequently in the New York City pre-adolescent culture in
the game of jvzisift or Alsailly. This complex game requires
a design marked on the street which includes a central
box divided into four sections labelled I, MK and D.
Everyone who explains the game to us knows that thls stands
for zdasnigizzym pronounced with full forms; four
of the thirteen considered in Table 3-11 are from this form
ula. Thus the use of the HMI' to designate the underlying
am plainly recognizes the fact that the normal form is the
consonant [m] and that this is equivalent to gm. This
particular phase of the game seems to be native to Harlem*

Considerable attention has been given to the occasional

occurrenceo of ;Esligjig. in NNE, which seem to reinforce the
notion that the IR does not represent the copula for Negro
speakers. Certainly the existence of such forms does in
dicate the difficulty of some NNE speakers in restoring
stressed km, which reflects the semi-categorical nature
of the contraction rule after 1. The results of our gram-
matical searching of the records of the NNE peer groups,
and adults, provide the following instances of such a
teniency:

(69) I know what I'm be doin' when [14, Cobra, #496]

7 be takint on the things.
(70) ...the oame color [25, Fla., #296]
(71) EalLUM up here last week? (15, Jets, #531]

The £iret case probably represents a deleted schwa of the

future, derived from I know what [ame] be doinl... The
second and third seem to represent the type of difficulty
speakers have with expansion of an habitual ;c2.rg to the
full form.

These forms are uncommonindeed rare as compared to

the great bulk of first person 11.gi forms. However, we do
have here two clear cases of supplying a redundant copula
in place of the full form of ggi, compared to forty7three
cases of I, m; and compared to this smaller number the

179
HILDLIZU forms take on greater significance. They do ot
represent the pattern of NNE, but they do indicate some of
the difficulties of analysis induced by the categorical
nature of the contraction rule after pronouns, especially
after j6.

Note that the lack of deleted forms i s plainly motivated

phonologicallythere is no phonologica 1 process which re
moves the feature of nasality or labi ality at the ends of
words, Thus the two cases of zero copula after may well
represent the lose of le rather t han

The negative of ;ja is Lai= as in (68)

(68) [You the best s ounder, Eddien

I ain't. He is!

Here it is not possible to say that ; qin t is an allomorph

of I; rather one would have to say that i4Vt is an allomorph
of 11.2.1, unrelated to jutAxsa. It is of courfle obvious why we
do not have Ilm.ainitsince the 1,12 is included in the demi
vational history of =21. If the speakers of NNE had lost
that sense of Aalall = mum:b., we would begin to observl
and indeed there is nothing to prevent this
from happening.
Finally, one may note that the redundant copula of
ILLIA occurs only after 1. We do not have Helg.12 or
Ellmit is evidently a matter closely connected to
the phonological peculiarities of ;,..82 rather than a gen
eral fact about the copula in VNE.

Ono of the most

regular features of NNE is the assimilation of a final t
to in combinations equivalent to SE rt_i.EL, Naltja, and
MiagLig. We do find occasional cases of plain jita Nat or
Etat as in :U.111axl.wattay...tga ou arel but in
the overwhelming majority of cases we have is], Ome],
and fwAs].

(72) I's a real light yellow color. (15, Cobras, #490]

(73) An' if i's dangerous, I won't [12, T Birds, #365]
do it,
(74) Thals my daily routine: women. [14, Cobras, #497]
(75) Thals all, but I ate twice. [12, Aces, #463]
(76) Wha's your name again? [13, Jets, 4372]
(77) Wha's a virgin? [12, Jets, #637]
In the early stages of our grammatical searching progra
we kept a separate accounting of the disposition of -14
clusters in Rrosam.:Lifi, but it soon became apparent
that this was unneceF)ary. A glance at any page showed
the predominance of (KZ-2) forms was overwhelming--in most
cases absolute--that is, the first element of the cluster
disappears and the second remains, as far as the surface
appearance is concerned. Here again, one might argue that
these condensed forms have no relation to the copula and
merely represent variant forms of 11, tjaal, and yillaz But
the distribution of (Is], Ubms], and (wAs) matches pre-
cisely the distribution of SE ltt.e, 1=2 andublaLa.
In all of our grammatical searching, we have discovered
just one case which shows an 1211. which has lost its conn c
tion with 11.1a:
(78') I think its go like that. [33, N.Y.C., #902]

The speaker here was Puerto Rican, one of our exploratory

interviews with adults from Spanish language background.
We can conclude then, that the number of speakers who have
lost the underlying connection between ei.Ls and 11...in is very
low indeed--even rarer than in the case of LUD. If native
speakers sensed no connection between these forms, we would
have expressions like ti4B.Alnii.. or *11A.02.., with
dummy ,iln before negatives and past tense markers. Instead
we find a one-to-one matching between tha privileges of oc
currence of 1.1.6, jjaall and Atalii and SE =IQ, Ittatjeg and

In all of the preceding cases, the great preponderance

of uses show forms of tha copula and auxiliary and
brief quantitative examinations were helpful in revealing
this preponderance. In the remaining cases, we find that
the finite forms of jut are never absent, and no quantita
data is needed. The pattern of the dialect is so clear
that it is possible to elicit judgments of grammaticality
in these cases, and for us to assert that the starred forms
are ungrammatical.

IlittLmo4alsc inf itimg,..and.imAlratiygg. It

is quite clear that the form 12 always appears in infinitve
forms, after modals, and in imperatives.

(78) You got to be good, Rednall (15, Jets, #5241

(79) Each year he will be gettin, worse all the.tiMe.

[48/ N.C., #232]

(80) His wife is suppos' a be gettint money for this

child. [48, N.C., #232]

181
We do not find, nor would we be able to interpret *X.911.g21
Ia...e41.146.110.11111 or APAL.Y.Dar...112.-Wila.glitin.LT.222e deletion
Iimg. In the case of imperatives it may seem that However,
igpossible, since Poo 1, brot4erel is conceivable.
this should not be derived from

(81) Be cool brothers! [15, Jets, #524)

s' plainly does not mean the same as .'3.0041

X2_
=Um! No o e would suggest a form without .12g to cor
respond to (82):
(82) Don't be messin with my old lady.
[16, Jets, #560]

In all these cases, we find an invariani form la just

connect this 24
as in standard English. It is natural to underlying form
with the copula and auxiliary, so that an
of (781) and (78") would differ from (78) only by the pres
ence or absence of a modal sgan or quasi modal ga..tgl

(78') You good, Redilall!

(78) You can be good, Rednall!.
(78) You got to be good, Rednall!

This 22g is then a form of the verb which serves as copula

and auxiliary. When combined with a tense and person in
mark
SE;
er, it appears variously as .141, gm and md, as
elsewhere, it appears as:122. There is a possibility still
this
open, however, for those who do not wish to acknowledge in
relationship: that la here is connected with lexical,(see
variant Igo of lig..11.402,4 and
3,4,11 belbw). It would have to follow that there Aril no
infinitive, modal or quasi-modal constructions that can be
derived from Eg.gusl, On the surface, this seems to be an
unlikely hypothesis, but it must be remembered that Igo
has a semantic content which is closer to the non-finite
than that of the usual copula 121, another way of putting
it would be that the distinction between 113. and Ig2 is
neutralized in non-finite positions.
 gull:191a. It can be observed that emphatic forme
o ja and parl are prese ved as in (68) and

(83) Allah ja God, [16, Cobras, #648]

84 He j,g a expert [12, T Birds, #398]

It is of course tautologous to asserli that Igt and Azg are

never deleted unaer emphasis, but the existence of such
forms will be important in the over-all understanding
whether there is a process of copula deletion, the form
of the rules, and their place in the grammar.

,X9sznicLci

(85) "Is he dead? is he dead?" "Count [16, Jets, #560]

bullet holes in his mother-
fucking head." [From a toast]
(86) Is that a shock? or is it not? [13, Cobras, 4493]
(87) Are you down? (13, Jets, 0497)
(88) Aren't you goin' hit her again? [14, Cobras, #479]
(89) Are you gonl give us some pussy? (13, Jets, #632]

Vire also obtain yes no questions without jai and the

prob:em of the question transformation, and the base forms
of questions will be considered in 3.7. But in the
large number of cases where ja and Au do appear in ques
tions, we must relate them to underlying declarative sen
tences with copula 101. The examples chosen here are de-
liberately selectea to show that these are vernacular
forms: to explain these examples as "dialect mixture" or
as importations from standard English would be an extreme-
ly unlikely hypothesis.

There is little data on tag questions, but as in

(86),thereplainly are cases which require the finite forms
of lz
(86) Is that a shock? or is it not? [33, Cobras, 4493]

Again we find that igt occurs in quotations from the most

excited and spontaneous interaction in group sessions.

211110:fial.position# ellipsis and embedded gam

tion The most interesting set of examples, from the syn
tactic point of view, are those in which we find la
and gag,
in clause-final position, as the result of several trans
formational processes. In elliptical responses

182
 (68) [You ain't the best sounder, Eddie!) [12, Cobras,
I ain't! H e is! #489)

After ellipsis in comparative constructions:

(90) He is bett r than the girls [357 S,(L, #729]

is, now
(91) It alw ays somebody tougher [25, Pla., 4625]
than you are.

In embedded questions, after WH attraction:

(92) That's what he is: a brother. [14, (obras, #492]

(93) I don' t care what you are. (16, Jets, #580]
Do yo u see where that person [15, NYC, YH35]
(94)
s?

In all of t ese frequent forms, we find the finite forme

of 11 and Arg, quite regularly. The comparative of course,
permits el lipsis of the copula in SE and NNE, but the al
ternatives without copula or auxiliary for elliptical
responses or embedded questions simply do not exist. We
find not hing resembling

(92' ) *That's what he: a brother.

(93 *I don't care what you.
(9 4') *Do you see where that person?

With sufficient ingenuity, it is possible to provide

an lisligas, explanation for each one of the cases in this
se tion, and claim that there is no connection between the
o rms found there and the sentences of (22-39) ,24 However,
will be obvious to all familiar with the logic of trans-
ormational grammar that the evidence given here points to
the existence of an underlying copula and auxiliary be which
is deleted in the specific environments of (22-39). The
question then remains, by what kind of rule are these finite
forms of le. deleted? Is it a transformational rule which
deletes the copula, or a separate set of rules which delete
111, and Arg? Or is it a phonological rule which operates at
a lower level in the grammar? We will now proceed to speci
fy the nature of this deletion rule more precisely.

The evidence brought forward so far has followed the

logic of transformational grammar: in order to understand
the structure of a given set of forms, we examine forms
lated within the paradigm of other tenses, aspects, moods
and voices--that is, the surface forms which emerge in the

-1 3
corresponding questions, negatives, imperatives, compara-
tives, elliptical responses, and so on. A large body of
evidence seems to show conclusively that there is an under-
lying copula. The forms of j and Arit
are absent in a
narrowly restricted set of constructions which occur fre-
quently, but in a very wide range of related constructions,
these forms of the copula appcar regularly. We therefore
assume that a copula is originally present in the sentence
structure before the transformations which produce these
varied constructions, and that it is deleted from the basic
declarative construction4 by a later rule, it is the
nature of this rule which we wish to explore.

3.4.3. ThonQboctlnf. once on the b h v or of be.

It would be difficult to avoid remarking the marked reli-7
tion of the behavior of ke. to the phonological processes
of NNE discussed above. The forms which are invariantly
present are immune to these processes due to one aspect
or another of their phonological make-up. For example,
among the forms of ke, we find'many relevadt phonetic facts.

1. Am is reduced to but does not disappear entirely;

there are no phonological processes which delete nasals, es-
pecially labials, although they often occur concurrently
with the preceding vowel. Note that the labial nasal
is preserved in NNE in the future form ,Itm a 49.thati
the many SE forms for reducing ag.gaing.A2 in allegro
speech do not include this one, which preserves the -m
intact (see 3.5.2).

2. The vowel of AI= is tense and long, as opposed

to the short reducible vowels of jr.g and Am

3. zaa is reduced to NO, but there is no general

process operating to eliminatO initial Phl

4. be has an initial consonant and a long vowel.

5. There is a tendency to weaken final, single

apical consonants, which is strongest for liquids and much
weaker for obstruents. The rule that deletes final r is
categorical in the vernacular. It is no accident/ there-
fore, that lat appears much more frequently than are, but
not as frequently as ta

6. Emphatic stress appears to prevent the deletion

of underlying 1.2 and

One could adduce semantic factors to account for retaining

2, 3 and 6, but for 1, 4 and 5 we see that -In, is and be
carry no more semantic information than are; yet are is
eliminated most frequently, as shown below.

184
 There are other reasons to believe that the deletion
of lg. and are is governed by phonological rules.

7. We note that ifs, tha's and wha's appear regularly

in place of it, that and what; the copula seems to be pre-
syntactic
served here. Again there seems to be no semantic or
reason for this; it is evident that phonological processes
of assimilation and reduction have operated to produce [Is],
[5xs] and [wAs)I and that these forms differ phonologically
from an underlying Joe is, or Joe's, in that a final voice-
less fricative follows the vowel. The general phonological
rules discussed above do not delete monomorphemic (0after
a vowel. The only other cases of [s] after a vowel are
monomorphemic words like hiss and boss, where the final is
never deleted by a phonological rule. It seems clear that
the deletion of is takes place after the phonological pro-
cesses which change it is to [is], and that the rule which
derives ILle_gzazy from He is crazy is embedded in the P-rules.

3.4.4. The relat on of contraction to deletion. The

fundamental problem which remains in analyzing the use of
be forms in NNE is to arrive at a simple statement of the
conditions under which is and are can be deleted as opposed
to conditions were they cannot be deleted. The various
environments of (22-39) have one characteristic in common
as opposed to the environments of (40-94). One general
principle holds without exception: wherever SE can contract,
NNE can delete is and are, and vice-versa; wherever SE can-
insI contract, cann5T-delete is and are, and vice-versq.
This intimate relationship between contraction and dele-
tion will be illustrated by the examples below.

The examples constructed below are the SE versions of

sentences (22-39) which show that in each case of NNE dele-
tion, SE can contract:

(22') She's the first one that [..NP]

started us off.
(25') He's fast in everything [..PA]
he does.
(28') You're out of the game. [...Zoe]

(33') But everybody's not black

(35') He just feels like he's + ing]
gettinf crippled up
from arthritis.
(38') He's gonna try to get up. [...gonna]

-185-
On the other hand, in many cases we find that contraction
is as impossible for SE as deletion for NNE.

NNE SE

ElliDtical reumgeg:
(95)*1 ain't! He. *I ain't, He's.

Embedded WH-questions:

(96)*That's what he. *That's what he's.

Embedded comparatives:
(97)*He as good as he says he. *He's as good as he sayz he's.

(98)*What a fool he. *What a fool he's.

This and an unlimited number of other examples show that

contraction in SE and deletion in NNE are very similar--
governed by the same syntactic constraints. In order to
specify the form of the deletion rule in NNE, it is necessary
to specify first the standard SE rules for contraction.

The rule far_2211INAgii911_9.f_iha_lngligh_LPxili4MY.

To the best of our knowledge, the rules for SE contraction
have never been explored in print in any detail. It will
therefore be necessary to look into the conditions under
which contraction can occur, and specify the form of the
contraction rule, in order to understand its relation to
deletion and the form and position of the deletion rule
itself.

Just as SE cannot contract in final position; so NNE

cannot delete. Examples (99-102) illustrate the parallel:

SE NNE
(99) *He's as nice as he says he's. *He's as nice as he
says he.
(100) *How beautiful you're! *How beautiful you!
(101) Are you going? *I'm. Are you going? *I.
(102) *Here I'm. *Here I.

The patterns shown in the actual data are so absolute that

wAfeel justified in placing asterisks in the NNE column to
indicate that the form is impossible, even without asking

-186-
 v

From these ex-

for intuitive judgments of native speakers.
amples, it would appear that the rule is simply that con-
traction is impossible in final position. But (103-106)
show that there is more to the matter than this.
SE INNE

(103) *Who's it? *Who it?

(104) Who's IT? Who IT?
(105) *What's it? *What it?

(106) What's it for? What it for? Wha's

it for?

We cannot say (103) with dummy it, although we can say

(104)
We can-
with lexical IT (Ithe person who is IT in a game').
not say (105), with dummy it, but we can say (106), when
stressed for follows. It would seem then that a stressed
syllable must follow the is or are if it is to be contracted
or deleted. Still, (107-109) show that the situation is
more complex.
*He's now. *He now.
(107)
(108) *He's unfortunately. *He unfortunately.
(109) He's unfortunately here. He unfortunately here.

In both (107) and (108), there are stressed forms follow-

ing the copula, yet we cannot delete or i.3ontract. In (109),
after the addition of here, we can contract and delete. It
is evident at this point that the grammatical relations be
tween is and are and the following elements are important
to the rule. Such grammatical relations figure in the stress
assignment rules provided by Chomsky and Halle in Sound
l'Atterns of English, and these allow us to state the initial
conditions which govern contraction.25 The following set
of three rules operate to provide these conditions.

(110) [V] [V]/[1:1... [in a Nuclear stress rule

(111) V [-stress]/[ +W, 3stress] Weak word rule

(112) V e , -tense, -stress] Vowel reduction

The nuclear stress rule is a cyclical rule which re-assigns

primary stress to the last lexical item within each phrase
marker, by convention reducing the stress assignment of all
other items by one unit. The phrase marker boundaries are
then erased, and the rule applies to the next larger phrase.
The weak word rule, provided by .us operates so that weak
words--words which can occur with schwa as their only vowel--
are reduced to [-stress] from [3stress], whereas other syllables
-187-
will be reduced to [-stress ] only from [4 stress] or (5stress),
and so on. The vowel reduction rule (112) is the last rule
is
in the Chomsky-Halle series. Contraction then follows: it
the removal of a schwa which occurs initially in a word be
fore a lone consonant. In the examples given below, the
opniation of these rules is illustrated.

///
Ttul e, Tom is wild Tom is Tom is wild at night Tom is at night
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
1
1 2 1 2 2 1
110
111
231 2 1 2
2 3 2 1

az 0Z
112
1110
Cont 'n z

Tom's wild, Tom's wild at nigh

In 1211...10.15=9 the nuclear stress rule operates twice, re

ducing la to (3stress]; then the weak word rule makes this
[-stress], vowel reduction applies, and contraction, yield
ing 2,02A.xjal, In the elliptical form Tom is, we have
only one cycle with full stresii on jrp, (or if emphatic stress
is placed on glob with [2 stress] on JA). No contraction
is possible. In To d n ght, there are again two
mycles, and the rules yieldol idtn" ht. But after
ellipsis of milL as in Bill is WilajtlaUg.tale day, and
2.2.LUst.glIt, the copula ig is not in construction with
At_night, and there is only one cycle for the nuclear stress
rule. Therefore contraction d'c's not apply.

The form of tha contraction rule, therefore, will show

that it represents the removal of an initial schwa before
a lone consonant as in gab ja, Amu laam, alin, and bad will
be included after a very general rule removes the initial
EU1 is included, apparently with a lexical alternate
vathout the initial since there is no general rule to
delete this consonant. But unstressed jig cannot be con
tracted, even though it has the requisite phonological form
(oz]. We know this because voicing assimilation, which occurs
automatically after contraction, does not apply to gig in
2.iXe as not or .1121.a.t.agn.Le: no matter how ephemeral the
schwa seems to be, we do not say (laIksnat] or (hatskenbi
Nor are Ilk, him or hacontracted, although the rule which
removes the initial h- applies to them as well as to hub
bad, have.

-188
 It appears from these examples that contractability
may be a lexical property ox: these verbs or auxiliaries:
some variation may be noted in the verb plavet, which is con-
tracted in British English, as in Day.!_j_e_v_WAglikat
mow, but not in American English. Despite this idio-
syncrasy of shave, we can find a general feature of the con-
text whidh determines contractability, and shows why Ag,
=4 NIA, hat do not contract, while both auxiliaries and
copula generally do. Contraction requires the presence of
the type or tense marker. The critical case is found in
nuy..may_have. This can be written as 1122y.maylve, but
the apostrophe only indicates the deletion of the Con-
traction has not applied, as we can tell from the fact that
ntarejLay've does not rhyme with mayg. When contraction
does operate to remove the schwa, we obtain a single syllable:
T4gylys does rhyme with haul. Thus contraction occurs only
when the tense or type marker is incorporated in the verb
or auxiliary, and the form of the contraction rule has the
general shape of (113).

(113) 0 (0)1 c 0 ##
The dots imply that there are further constraints upon con-
traction which will be discussed below. We have developed
the contraction rule as far as we can within the framework
of categorical, invariant rules, There are further prob-
lems, and further constraints upon contraction which can
only be handled with an enlarged conception of 'rule of
grammar'.

Bal 0 b n c oton nd4eI,etipfl.

One such further problem concerns the relations between the
contraction rule, as generally sketched above, and the dele-
tion rule of NNE. There are four possible relations of order
between contraction and deletion:

Rialis..1 Qua..2. ..C.A99.2. galLe---4-..

1. 0 1. D 1. C
1. C(D)
2. D 2. 0
ez+z/.. ez-4/. laz--*/..
d
e Z"n'.4 V..4i1 s
az - ,z/. .
Case 1 is that contraction occurs first, deletion second.
Case 2 is tha reverse: deletion first, contraction second.
It is apparent from the forms suggested that no particular
relation between the two rules is implied by this order;
for many reasons, Case 2 will appear the least likely.26 Case
3 shows deletion and contraction as simultaneous alternates
of the same rule, with only one set of environmental con-
straints. Case 4 has deletion as an extension of contrac-
tioncontraction gone wild, as it were -again with only

189-
 one set of environmental conditions. Our task is now
to discriminate among these four possibilities of order,
and to specify in detail the form of the deletion rule.

3.4.5. er V. The dis

akiZtty....a..§.2011W.2.
cussion so far has considered the absence of the copula in
the sentences of (22-39) as a simple fact about NNE, and
this in the framework of many discussions committed to the
description of NNE as an invariant,homogeneous system. How
ever, an examination of any body of speech shows that the
deletion of the copula is a variable rule. This is true for
speakers of any age--for careful, casual or intimate con-
versation, or for spontaneous interaction. Purthermor-
this variation is so deeply embedded in the fabric of bz,eech
that utterances such as the following are not uncommon:

(114) Make believe this is a team and this [12, T Birds,

a team. #365]
(115) This is a line, and this a line. [12, T-Birds,
#365]

Gtven this variation, one might think that 1§1, represents

the form characteristic of careful speech, and that the
full forms of the copula decrease in frequency as one ap
proaches spontaneous interaction. Nothing could be farther
from the case in as far as pre-adolescents and adolescents
Negro boys are concerned. As we shall see, the frequency
of full forms actually increases in many cases when we
move from single interviews to the excited group sessions
in which the vernacular is found in its purest form.

Since we are interested in the relationship of deletion

to contraction, we will present all figures on the copula
as a triplet: percentages or absolute figures on (a) full
forms, (b) contracted forms, and (c) deleted (zero) forms.
In all of this discussion, we will be considering only
those environments where jai can be deleted freely: that
is, the declarative sentences of (22-39). The total
population of forms to be considered is defined as follows:

la always occurs in SE and occurs variably in NNE

after a third singular subject and before a predicate
or progressive.

These environments also satisfy the general phonological

condition which may be stated as follows:

1g may be contracted in SE and contracted or deleted

in NNE whenever it occurs in SE before a stressed
lexical item in construction with it under a node
lower than sentence level.
-190
 In Table 3 12, the basic data is presented for fou NNE
peer groups, a random sample of 17 working-e1asz adults, and
two white peer groups (combined). These records include
face-to-face interviews with 63 adolescents and pre-adoles-
cents and 45 of these boys in group sessions involving spon
taneous interaction. For the 17 adults, the closest equiva
lent of group style is the casual speech elicited by tech
niques described in Chapter 2, Altogether, we are dealing
with 1,585 forms in careful speech, and single interviews,
and 1,332 in group sessions--a total of 2,917. These large
numbers are hardly necessary to establish the over-all fact
of variation, but we will take advantage of them to explore
the detailed conditions which govern the deletion of ja

The percentages given below like many of the figures

discussed in this report, are derived by totalling all occur
rences of the variable within the group, not by averaging
percentages for each individual. Although this one grammati
cal element, j, is relatively frequent, there are many sub-
categories with very small numbers for individuals. Each
individual, however, does show the same basic relations as
those presented for the group: the situation is quite paral
el to the regularity of the (KD) variable discussed in 3.2.

The speakers studied in these sections do not include

isolated individuals who are not full members of peer groups.
Since we are interested in describing the grammars of NNE,
we would expect that those who are not participating in
the culture will not show the same relation to NNE as others,
and in fact show more influence of NNE and WNS. For a die
cussion of the grammars of these individuals, see 4.2.

Full, contracted and deleted forms are all charaeteris

tic of NNE. The contracted (undeleted) form is least typical
of NNE, and most characteristic of WNS and SE. On the analogy
of the SE and WNS feeling that contracted forms are linaturaln
and that full forms are "carefuln, one might be tempted to
argue that the full forms are importations from SE inocarefulil
style. However, as we move from single, face-to-face inter-
views to spontaneous group sessions, we find that the per-
centage of full forms generally increases. The feature which
is correlated with style shift from single to group sessions
is the ratio of deleted to originally contracted forms--that
is, D/D+0. In other words, NNE speakers do not necessarily
contract more in excited interaction, but they delete more
of the forms which have been contracted. However, these sty-
listic shifts are minor effects among the pre-adolescent and
adolescent peer groups, and only begin o assume importance
with the older adolescents and adults.2(

The single, most important constraint on deletion in

NNE and upon contraction in SE and NNE is one of the least

191
 Figure 3-7. TABLE 12.Full form, contraction and de14,1on of is
in single (careful and group (casual) styles for six Harlem groups
Oscar
T Birds Cobras Jets Broths s
100

00
Sg Gr Gr
Inwood
whited
100 -100

0
or

W 00 00
Care Cas
ful ual
Oscar
T Birds Cobras Jetl aulta .1219.21
Single style
Full forms 28 24 37 40 48 12
Contracted 36 32 36 29 41 88
Deleted ,afi, ..,ii. .22. .11
Total 100 100 100 100 100 100
No. subjects 13 11 28 3 17 8
Vo. forms 327 230 500 114 318 96
Gr,c)up style
Full forms 41 36 24 28 40 25
Contracted 18 22 31 28 43 75
Deleted .41 _AZ ...45 _AA
100 100 100 100 100 100
No. subjects 7 12 15 4 15
No. forms 349 116 213 191 270 193

D/D+C: single 50 58 43 52 21
group 70 64 57 61 28

Oscar
Cobras Jets Brothers
.1010.....10001100.1001.10ONOOMO

M000romowell000mi

Og Gr Sg Gr 8g

Figure 2. Ratios of deleted forms to deleued and contracted

forms in single and group styles for five Negro groups
192
 or some
expected--dhether or not the subject is a pronoun
other noun phrase. Table 3-12aand
Figu e 3-7a azain show per
(C), and deleted
centages of full forms [F), contracted forms
studied closely: the
forms [D] for six groups that have been
adolescent Cobras, Jets,
pre-adolescent Thunderbirds, the sample of one quarter
and (somewhat older) Oscar Brothers; a
Cobra and Jet areas from
of the working-class adults in the
adults; and the combined
the larger ranC2m cample od 100 °,-ado?.4scent
records of two white wo° iiig-class groups. of up er Man
and adolescentfrom Inwood neighborhood
hattan.
percent
On the left of each figure in Fig. 3-7a is the phrases:
forms after noun
age of full, contracted and deleted the percent
on the right, after pronouns. In every case, when a pro
ages of deleted and contracted forms are greater the patteu
noun precedes. The upper line of figures show
interaction.'8
for single interviews; the bottom for group of deletion
Though there is a general increase in the ratio both styles,
is the same in
to contraction, the basic pattern
for all groups.
occurring at4er
In these diagrams, deletian is shown as of con
contraction (Case 1); that is, the total percentage
afterwards
tracted forms includes those forms which were here is similar
deleted. The pattern for contraction shown who do
for the NNE groups and for the WNS Inwood groups,
not delete. Contraction and deletion thus respond to the
this pattern re
same syntactic constraint. The fact that in each style, in
peats regularly in six different groups, constraints
dicates how pervasive and regular such variable
which are so erratic
are. We are not dealing here with effects
or marginal that statistical tests are required to determine
whether or not they might have been produced by chance.
and deletion can
The relationship between contraction
the effect of the
be explored more deeply by considering that both
following grammatical category. Atgain, we find
rules respond to the same set of syntactic constraints.
for the Thunder
Table 3-13 and Figure 3-8 show this pattern
styles combined.
birds and the Jets, for single and group
essentially the same for
The relationships shown here 29 are contraction take
the other groups. The least deletion and before
place before a following noun phrase; more occurs
predicate adjectives anl locatives; both rules applythe
with
even greater frequency before a following verb with
frequency before the
progressive -ing; and with the highest
future form gonna. Here contraction is again shown as taking
place on the population of full forms, but the popula-
to
tion upon which the deletion rule operates is limited
the pool of forms already contracted.
 igure . 0/0 of full, contracted and deleted farms
of is with pronoun subject vs, other noun phrase subject
for six Harlem groups in single and group (casual) style
Oscar Inwood
T Birds Cobrau Jets Brothers Adults (White)
[10 12 Yrs) 2 17 yr [12-17 yrs) 6-18 yrs [20 70 yrs][10-].7 yr ]

pro NP pro pro NP pro. NP pro IP pro

pro P pro NP,, pro. NP,, pro NP p

TABLE 3 12a
PER CENT OP PULL, CONTRACTED AND DELETED PORMS OP ;I
WITH PRONOUN SUBJECT VS. OTHER NOUN PHRASE SUBJECT
Oscar
T BI.rds Cobras Jets Bros, Adul s Inwood,

NP pro NP pro NP,,, pro. NP pro. NP pro. NP pro

SINGLE STYLE
Pull 63 05 56 04 67 00 85 25 75 04 26 JO
entrd 25 44 26 29 15 39 11 60 17 80 74 100
Dltd .1E .62
100 100 loo 100 lop 100 No 100 100 100

Forms 124 212 35 106 145 189 45 47 187 118 54 61

Subjs. 13 9 15 3 17 8

GROUP STYLE
Pull 44 07 45 00 54 00 51 04 61 01 41 01
Cntrd 15 33 19 23 19 42 23 33 26 72 59 99
Dltd sag .21 ..6.4 .22
101 100 loci 100 100 100 100 101 101 100 100 100
N:
Porms 53 43 85 30 113 75 73 80 170 112 110 81
Subjs. 5 9 11 4 15 7

194
 Figure 3 8. Per cent of full, contracted and deleted
forms of in viordin,1 to grammatical category of complement

Thunderbirdo Jets

TABLE 3-13

PER CENT OF FULL, CONTRACTED AND bELETED FORMS

OF IS ACCORDING TO GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF COM-
PLEMENT FOR TWO GROUPS IN Alas NNE STYLES

NP PA Loc onna

THUNDERBIRDS 13 subjs.)
Full 40 25 30 04 00
Contracted 37 27 34 30 12
Deleted .2.a
100
...45
100
36
100
_a
100
.22
100
No. forme 210 67 50 46 40

JETS (29 subjs.)

Full 37 34 21 07 03
Contracted 31 30 27 19 03
Deleted .a.P. .2.6 .52 .14 .9.31
100 100 100 100 99
No. forms 373 209 70 91 58

195
 Figure 3 Wbelow shows the consequences of treating
contraction and deletion as independent processes. Here
the percentage of contraction for the Jets is shown in
terms of the actual numbers of contracted forms recorded:
the result is a minor tendency which responds in just the

INWOOD

PA Loc 1113 gn NP TA Loc rj gn

Fig. 3-8,. Contraction Fig. 3 9. Contraction
and deletion independent for the Inwood groups

opposite way to the syntactic constraints. Furthermore,

there is no connection at all between contraction in NNE
and contraction in WNS: Figure 3-9on the right shows
the contraction pattern of the Inwood group, quite simi
lar to the ocumulativen contraction pattern of Figure 3 8
(indicated on Figure 3-81 with a dotted line),If, then,
we should insist on regarding contraction and deletion as
completely unrelated, we would find that the syntactic
constraints which operate upon them have very different
effects, and that contraction for NNE has nothing to do
with contraction for WNS. This is a very implausible
result, and we can proceed upon the assumption that the
cumulative diagram of Figure 3 &represents the actual
situation.

Given these quantitative relations, we can now return

to the problem of the particular form of ordering which
holds between the contraction and deletion rules. The
four cases of possible ordering presented above can now
be simplified. Case 2, with deletion first and contraction
second, would not fit any of the quantitative results
shown above, for there is no reason for the contraction
of some undeleted fez] to be dependent upon the deletion
of some other fez): that is, it would be quite unreason-
able to insist that contraction operate upon a pool of
already deleted forms. The other three cases can be repre
sented by the abstract quantitative models of Figures 3 10a-c
on the next page.

196
 Case Ca e Ca e 1
CID

Fig. 0 a Fig. 10-b Fig. 10

1,ez z/..
az -+ ez 2. z c6/..

The application of the variable contraction and deletion

rules is logically governed by two factors: first, an input
variable which sets the overall frequency with which the
rule is selected. Secondly, there ary variable constraints
in the immediate environment which differentiate the fre
quencies with which the rule applies according to various
syntactic and phonological features of the sentence. Figures
3-10a-c represent the quantitative results of various com
binations of these factors. For Case 3, with contraction
and deletion as alternative right-hand members of a single
rule, we have

In this expression, the rule is selected only once, and there

is therefore only one variable input and one set of variable
constraints. The spectrum of frequencies with which the
contraction and deletion rules apply should therefore be
the same, as shown in Figure 3-10a. If, on the other hand,
deletion is thought of as an extension of contraction, as
in Case 4
eZ Z /
we might have two selections and two variable inputs, but
on one set of variable constraints. Thus deletion would
be a fjoced percentage of contraction in all environments--
say 50'/01 as suggested by Fiore 3-10b. The third possi-
bility is that we have two selections (with variable in
puts), and two sets of variable constraints. This is in
effect equivalent to Case 1, with the rule for contraction
apply:Ig first and the rule for deletion applying second.
Here the quantitative pattern would be that of Figure 3-10c,
where the variable constraints apply twice. This pattern
shows more extreme or exaggerated constraints upon dele
tion than upon contraction; it is in fact the actual pattern
which appears in the empirical data of Figure 3 8 for both
the Thunderbirds and Jets, and one which is repeated fR
the other peer groups as well (see Figure 3-11 below),ov
We can Therefore conclude from this quantitative evidence
that contraction and deletion are separate, though similar,
rules which apply in that order.
Independence of the precediug..gaLlalgain env ron-
mata. The grammatical status of the preceding and follow-
ing elements are only two of the many constraints upon the
contraction and deletion rule. We have not yet considered
here the effects of the phonological environments. However,
before proceding further it is necessary to investigate
the relative independence of these two sets of environments.
It is possible that one is conditioned by the otherThat
the effect of a following noun phrase, for example, is en
tirely different when a pronoun precedes than when another
noun phrase precedes. Or going even further, one of these
effects could be nothing but the result of unequal distri
bution of forms in the other environment. For example, a
following verb phrase may favor contraction and deletion
simply because pronouns occur more frequently before predi
cates with Yszling than they do before predicates with

Figure 3 11 resolves these questions by displaying the

two variable conditions independently. On the left, 3-11a-c
show the effect of tbe following grammatical category for
all sentences with subject noun phrases; on the right,
3-11d-f show the data for sentences with subject pronouns.
Because the total number of forms is considerably reduced
for each group (even when single and group styles are
combined), the following predicate adjectives and locatives
are given together. Still, some of the cells are too small
to be reliable, as the table of N at the bottom shows:
for the T-Birds, for example, there are only six cases
of a following verb after a noun phrase subject, and only
eight cases of following gonna, which may be responsible
for the irregularity of the pattern at this point.
Figure 3-11 demonstrates that neither of the environ
mental constraintspreceding or following--are dependent
upo7, the other, although there is some degree of interaction.
There is some degree of irregularity in the patterns with
preceding noun phrase: for the Jets, for example, we see
that the order of effects of following locative-predicate
adjectives vs, following noun phrases is reversed in
Figure 3-11c. We do not know as yet whether this rever
sal is constant or reproducible; the data presented here
does not exhaust all of the material which is available
for the Jets and Cobras, and furter analysis will answer
such questions.

"198
 Figu e 11. Percentages o contracted and deleted
,

forms of is according o preceding and following environments

NP PA -Loc gn NP PA-Loc 1r)j

100

75

COBRAS 50

25

00
PA -boo gn

100

75

JETS 50

25

00

forms
/ Pig. 5-a 88 47 6 8
fo contracted forms 5-b 71 58 10 13
/o deleted :forms 5-0 99 61 21 11
5-d 89 74 35 32
/o deleted 5 e 49 65 20 31
deleted contracted f 98 88 38 22

-1199-
 in the
Figure 3-11 does show remarkable regularity
especially in the
patterns displayed by the three groups,
case of a preceding pronoun. The effect of a preceding
pronoun upon contraction is almost a categorical one for
contraction rule goes al
all three groups--that is, the operates
most to completionwhereas the deletion rule
variably and regularly across a wide range of frequencies.

Most importantly, all six sections of Figure 3-11

conform to the model of Figure 3-10cshowing that con
traction and deletion ave governed by similar but slightly
different constraints. Contraction and deletion follow
re-orOering in the
the same pattern even when thele is a
constraints, as in the NP PA-Loc situation for the Jets
observe that contrac
in 3-11c. With this parallelism, we and dis
tion and dPletion have distinct variable inputs
re-apply to deletion after
tinct variable constraints which which a
they have applied to contraction. Thus Case 1, in
contraction rule is followed by a deletion rule, receives
ample confirmation. In each case, deletion diverges from
If it
contraction on the left and converges on the right. pool
operates upon the
is assumed Clat the deletion rule frequency of deletion
of already contracted forms, then the
D/bC (tndicated by a dashed line in Figures 3-11a-c)
below).
regularly rises from left to right (see Table 3-14 is
In Figures 3-11d-f it would seem that contraction
virtually independent of the following environment--only
phrases and predicate
traces of variability before nounconsidered the normal re
ad ectives remain. This may be moved to a higher
sult of a variable constraint which has shown here.
level, producing the semi-categorical pattern
Tile.gpgsA4ng.y.011 n co r t
const aints
Aeletion. There are a number of phonological but the most
upon the operation of contraction and deletion, linguistic
important, from the standpoint o magnitude andelement ends
significance, is whether or not the preceding
with a consonant or g vowel. Most subject pronouns end
phrases can be sub
witY stressed vowelsza, but other noun final segments.
clawsified in many ways according to their
environments for the
The most useful sub-categorietJ of the
contraction and d31etion of ja, are as follows:
After noun phrases ending in sibilants.
After noun phrases ending in non sibilant
voiceless consonants.
After noun phrases ending in non sibilant
voiced consonants.
After noun phrases ending in vowels.

200-
 It is no accident that the first three of these cate
gories are the same as those used to describe forms of the
English ,/z/ morpheme. But whereas the usual rules can
treat categories (c) and (d) as one (the flelsewhereu or
uother-voiced segmentu category), the distinction between
(c) and (d) will be critical in the analysis of contraction
and deletion.

Table 3-14 shows the percentages of full, contracted

and deleted forms for all six groups studied in section 3.4,5.
according to the phonetic form of the preceding element.
Examining the percentages of full forms, we can immediate
ly say that

(1) In all cases, there are fewest full forms after

pronouns; contraction is, therefore, almost
categorical after pronouns, as observed in
section 3.4.5. above.

(2) In all cases, there are fewer full forms after

noun phrases ending in vowels than after those
ending in consonants, but more than after
pronouns, In other words, the fact that pro
nouns end in vowels accounts for some, but
by no means all, of their effects upon con
traction.
32
(3) In all cases but one Ithere is a small but
distinct tendency for there to be more full
forms after voiceless consonants than voiced.

(4) There are almost no contracted forms after

sibilants, although a few definitely can be
observed, contrary to the usual conception.
But quite a few forms of havsapparently
undergone both contraction and deletion: if
we consider that forms such as Iht.111...
Lollow the same rules as the rest of the other
NNE sentences, then it appears that deletion
is practically categorical after sibilants.

Since noun phrases are relatively sparse as compared

to subject pronouns, the numbers for all of these sub-
categories are not large enough for us to study the opera-
tion of deletion within them. Table 3-15 therefore com
pares the operationg of contraction and deletion by com-
bining -K° and -KY into a single category -K

The contraction rule is seen as having operated upon

full forms to produce the contracted and deleted forms;
and deletion as then operating upon the resviting pool of
contracted forms.

-201-
 TABLE 14

PERCENTAGES OF FULL, CONTRACTED, AND DELETED FORMS

ACCORDING TO PHONETIC FORM OP PRECEDING ELRMENT
FOR SIX GROUPS IN SINGLE AND GROUP STYLES COMBINED

V pro
Thunderbirds
Pull 83 70 62 43 05
Contracted 05 28 00 30 42
Deleted 12 02 ...ag 27
100 100 100 100 100
Iti: 24 92 21 79 255
Cobras
Pull 54 58 67 10 03
Contracted 08 09 06 53 28
Deleted 38 ..22, ...22. ..27. ..1.9,
100 100 100 100 100
N: 13 33 18 32 136

Jets
Pull 89 58 80 42 00
Contracted 00 14 00 45 39
Deleted 11 28 20 13 61
100 100 100 100 100
N: 28 65 29 69 269

Oscar Brothers
Pull 93 71 68 40 04
Contracted 00 21 12 40 54
Deleted _Sa 08 20 20 ....42
100 100 100 100 100
N: 15 14 41 37 95
Working-class adults
Pull 75 69 88 45 39
Contracted 08 21 03 45 47
Deleted _;igav _12 .09. ..,12 .1.1
99 100 100 100 100
N: 48 100 75 83 200

Inwood groups
Pull 42 30 97 13 00
Contracted 58 70 03 87 100
Deleted 00 00 00 00 op.
no 100 loo 100 loo
N: 12 46 34 65 61

202-
 TABLE 15

FREQUENCY OF OPERATION OF DELETION AND CONTRACTION

RUES WITH PRECEDING CONSONANT OR VOWEL FOR SIX NNE
GROUPS IN SINGLE AND GROUP STYLES COMBINED

(.4
C+D
F+D+C C+D
Thunderbirds
. 28 116 . 16 32
V . 57 79 . 47 45
pro . 95 255 . 56 241

Cobras
.K .41 46 .80 20
-V .90 32 .41 29
pro .97 136 .71 132

Jets
-K .32 93 . 70 30
-V .58 69 . 22
pro 1.00 269 . 61 269

Oscar Brothers
.K 17 29
. (.40) 5
V . 59 37 .33 22
pro . 96 95 .44 91

Working class adults

.30 148 .38 59
V .55 83 .18 46
pro ,61 200 .77 99

Inwood groups
.67 58 .00 39
V .87 65 .00 60
pro .99 142 .00 141

203
For the Cobras, Jets, Oscar Brothers and adults, it appears
that a preceding vowel favors contraction, while exactly the
opposite situation prevails with deletion: the rule ap lies
more frequently when a consonant precedes. Figure 3-1
shows the striking character of thioreversal, and runs coun
ter to the parallelism of contraction and deletion which
has prevailed up to this point. The Inwood group shows no
deletion, but we observe that contraction is also favored
by a preceding vowel in their case. Only the youngest group,
the Thunderbirds, does not show this effect: for them, a
preceding vowel favors both contraction and deletion. As
noted at several points in this discussion, this absence
of phonological conditioning in the younger group is char
acteristic of the general tendency for rules to develop in
this direction with age.

The pattern which Prevails can be illustrated by (117)

and (118),

(117) Stanley is here, =# Stanley's here. -4 Stanley here.

CV VO CVO CVO CVO CV OVO
0
(118) Stan is here. Stan's here. =-# Stan here.
CVO VC CVO OV00 CVO CVC CVO

In the case of a subject noun ending in a vowel, we see that

contraction acts to reduce a OVVO sequence to CVO. (It is
true that the first vowel may be diphthongized so that a
glide interposes between the two vowels in the actual phone-
tic output, but this is not always the case in NNE.) On
the other hands when contraction operates upon a subject
noun ending in a consonant, the result is a consonant clus
ter. There are a number of rules operating throughout NNE
which reduce consonant clusters, although there is no sin
gle rule for all cases. In general, it can be said that
NNE, like English and most Indo-European languages, dis
favors final consonant clusters, and there are many examples
of historical processes operating to reduce them. This
tendency runs strongly in NNE, though it is by no means
extreme in this respect,33 In any case, the way in which
contraction and deletion are opposed with respect to the
preceding vowel clearly demonstrates that both contraction
and deletion are phonological processes; furthermore,
our original analysis that deletion is the removal of a
lone consonant produced by contraction receives strong
confirmation from the data presented here. We have thus
arrived at the point farthest removed from the original
suggestion that NNE has no underlying kg, and corresponding
11; and even the suggestion that the morpheme ja is deleted
cannot be considered consistent with the data provided here.
 12Effect of a preceding consonant or vowel upon
operation of the contraction and deletion rules for six
groups: single and group styles combined
T birds Cobras
1.0 1.00

. 75

. 5

. 25

. 00

1.00
Jets Oscar Brothers

75-

. 50-

. 25-

Working-claos adults Inwood groups

1.00 1.00

. 75 . 75

. 50 . 50

. 4.5 . 25 -

00K

0+D OOOOO 111111.9111001 Mom.

P+0+D (P-P D 0+D

205
 It ls al 0 appa ent from Table 3 13 that the effect of
a preceding pronoun upon
contraction and deletion is in
distinct from, the effect
part dependent upon, but in part
all pronouns end in tense
of a preceding vowel, Almost contraction
vowels, and it is plain that is heavily favored
is much
when the subject is a pronoun. But the ef:ect
stronger than for other noun phrases ending in vowels--
than
in fact, it is to all effects a categorical rather
rule, there will
a variable rule. In the contraction
which states that after
therefore be an entry A*pro]
pronouns, the rule is not a variable but a categorical
one. In the case of deletion, it can be seen precedes
that the
than
rule operates much more often when a pronoun
vowel precedes. There-
when another noun phrase ending in a be one of the
fore the effect of a preceding pronoun willnot necessarily
variable constraints upon deletion, though
the primary one.

.121.4.2131124.21122.9.Lat.05212
AIDG.1412. To this point, we cannot be sure that the ef ect
of a preceding vowel or consonant is not the product of
various comple-
some odd distribution of noun phrases before 3-15
ment categories, since the data of Tables 3-14and in
treats all such categories alike. As favors
we have seen
both contrac
Table 3-131a following verb strongly that the noun phrases
tion and deletion, and it is possible which precede
which precede verbs are different from those of contrac-
predicates. Table 3-16 shows the percentages
Table 3-15, but
tion and deletion, on the same basis as grammatical cate
with the proportions for four following
gories shown sepately. Since the numbers necessarily
become quite sma1.4, the figures for the four adolescent
tha Cobras,
NNE groups are grouped together: the T-Birds, that
the Jets and the Oscar Brothers. The result shows
the opposing effect of a preceding vowel and consonant
in the case
holds for all syntactic envirnnments, exceptcontraction and
of a following future in gonna, where both numbers are
deletion are close to categorical, and the that
very small. In the other cases, we again observe for
the effect of a preceding pronoull is semi-categorical
contraction, and that deletion is much stronger with a
preceding pronoun than with a noan ending in a vowel.
Table 3-16 thus provides us with additional confirmation and
of our analysis of the relations between contraction
deletion.

Wa can
3.4.6. lg..,.I..xua.m.,gsg_.9_9z.ztbtyncL.,siae;.=,a.
into the
now incorporate the quantitative data of 3.4.5. and
logical development of ordered rules for contraction
deletion of 3.4.1.-3.4.4., using the formal apparatus
shows
of section 2.4. The outline on the following page
of NNE in which the
a series of sixteen phonological rules
contraction rule (9) alld the deletion rule (13) for ja

-206-
 TABLE 3 6

FREQUENCY OF OPERATION OF DELETION AND CONTRACTION RULES

ACCORDING TO PRECEDING AND FOLLOWING ENVIRONMENTS
FOR FOUR ADOLESCENT NNE GROUPS IN GROUP STYLE ONLY

PA/LOC

CP,g, N

. 37 62 25 . 50
35 .
13 32 8

. 80 . 29 51
.70 23 '37 16
64

pro 94 . 40 . 98
.
32 30 65 ' 56 64

Vb gonna

99.Q. N (22 N

. 65 1.00 .89 . 87 8
4 9 9

86 33 1.00 6
1.00 6
.
14
.
12

pro 97 =79 33
1.00 23 . 96 23
.
34
 SIXTE HONOLOGICAL RU ES OF NNE

**(0) Nuclear stress rule

**(1) Centralization of vowels cons]

before r 11-low]

(2) Vocalization of ,E ( ) / cons) cg(0) (-1r)

(3) Vocalization of 1 1 ( ) [ cons] (0) -V

Weak word rule [3str] [-str) -43
**(4)
**(5) Vowel reduction V -4 str tense)

(6) Loss of postvocalic e -.4 (0) / (1-voc,-cons, othigh],##. *

Loss of postvocalic (0) / (i-voo cons. .

(7)

**(8) Loss Qf initial h (0) / 0 C2c; ##

**(9) Contraotion

0 (o) prOl 01
41; I I
(10) Simplification of K cont) -4 (0) / [+strid)....#(#)lifstrid]
cluqters ( -V)

(11) General simplification t, d (0) /r°.(:)1111 3(-.1r)

of -.1,d clusters

(12) Assibilation of t -4 a / ,+pro)#(#)[+strid]##

(13) Deletion
4V
I pro
b
(+cont.] (0) /
F_ *strid
-as
n 1 "/
aa,,[ff gn
?Np

**(14) Epenthetic vowel 0.-4 0 / (+strid]#(#)[+cont]##

**(15) Voicing assimilation voc] -4 (c4voice) / (cAvoice)40.0

00 P4
04 AO 414.

Por further discussion of rules other than (9) and (13):

Rule (1): p. 100 3) Rule 7) p. 119 (111
(2): p. 100 4) p. 132 p.2
p. 105 5 7) i1.1 p. 136 13-14)
3 : p. 118 11) 12 pp. 212-213
4 : p. 187-8 (111) 14-15) p. 333 p.41
6 : p. 106 (9) p. 334 14"

-208-

,
are embedded, The contraction and deletion rules are given
in full; other rules are shown in enough detail to illustrate
their general character and their relation to (9) and (13),
Only a few of these rules are peculiar to NNE; half of
them are part of the basic machinery of SE, and operate in
exactly the same fashion in NNE. This is the case for the
eight rules marked with **, The nuclear stress rule operates
well before any of the others to provide conditions for vow
el reduction, as discussed above; the weak word rule (4)
and vowel reduction (5) provide the [e] upon which rule
(9) operates. Rules (2,3,6,7, and 8) are relevant to other
contractable items such as ligaNt, Eal and isal, and will
be considered briefly below, Rules (10) and (11) are con-
cerned with -Bps, -sts, -sks, and -.Ill clusters in general,
which intersect with the grammatical category of the past
tense, and are considered in some detail elsewhere. Once
we establish the basic conditions for contraction by rules
(0), (4)p (5), the behavior of jj, is governed by the five
rules (9), (12), (13), (14) and (15), which we will examine
here
Fo o heotcon on maga. Rule
(9) appears as thc, removal of a schwa, occurring initially
before a single consonant, in a word with the tense-marker
incorporated. When a proaoun proceeds in NNE, the rule
is (semi-) categorical, as indicated by the invariance
condition *. The variable constraints do not show a
high degree of order: a preceding vowel and a following
verb have approximately equal effect in promoting the
application of the rule, while the effect of a following
future in golnA is somewhat less. Figure 3-13 shows
the resulting tree, incorporating data from the four verna
cular NNE groups in group interaction. There are two
variables, since Vb and V are equivalent. Among the
various non-verbal predicates, the effect of a follow-
ing noun phrase as against a following predicate adjective
or locative, is indicated clearly enough in the total re
sults, but it is not consistent enough among the various
peer groups to warrant incorporating it into the general
rule for NNE.

The deletion rule (13) appears as the removal of a

lone oral continuant between word boundaries. Here the
variable constraints show a higher degree of order, as in
dicated in Figure 3-14. The primary constraint is the
effect of a following verb, and the second.vy constraint
the effect of a preceding vowel-- but reve.i.ding the polar
ity for the contraction rule. The combination of these two
yields the series of values .95 - .78 - 58 - .43 which
shows geometric ordering with an input value at a higher
level than that shown in Figure 3-12. The third effect,
that of a preceding pronoun is almost well ordered, but

-209-
Fig.3 13 Ordering of the variable
constraints for the contraction
rule (9) for four NNE peer groups:
group sessions only

. 36

. 28

. 53.

. 31
Fig.3-14. Ordering of the variable
constraints for the deletion rule
(13) for four NNE peer groups:
group sessions only
-210-
of course is not represented on the V branches. The g n
na constraint is not shown here, but has about the same
weight as V and like all other variables except V
,
it ,

follows the same direction as with contraction.

The quantitative data presented in this paper is suffi
cient to establish the major variable constraints upon these
rulesconstraints which are independent of each other and
which racur regularly in almost all styles and peer groups
It will no doubt be possible to modify this presentation
in the future, as more data is accumulated, there are many
interesting questions concerning various predi
cate types to be investigated. But the purpose of this
type of analysis is not to explore every conceivable con-
straint upon a variable rule to the limits of reproducibil-
ity, but rather to apply the logic of these converging (and
diverging) patterns to establishing the place, form and
order of the deletion and contraction rules of NNE.

One of the first, and most obvious argumentn on order

springs from the predominance of 12a, thafq and vorhWe [Is,
1ms, wAs] as the NNE phonetic output of underlying =jab
that J.F1 and mhat,ig. At first glance it seems obvious that
the assimilation of the /z/ to the preceding voiceless
stop has rroduced an [s] which is not subject to the dele-
tion rule, and therefore deletion does not apply.34 In
the light of this evidence, we would order the voicing
assimilation rule before the deletion rule. We would then
have derivations such as the following:
(119) Itezz
rtNiez vowel reduction
zte z contraction
zte s voicing assimilation
[deletion-- does not apply]
Ise s assibilation
/ ## s reduction of geminates

After a sibilant, we have two possible routes, as shown in

(120)
A B
(120) fzbezz fIllezz
fzbeez fzbeez vowel reduction
fIlJe z contraction
fzige s voicing assimilation
fI14## deletion

The first tendency is to deny that contraction can take place

after sibilants, though we do encounter rare cases. But
the existence of a sizeable number of zero forms makes it
seem clear that route B is followed. Deletion of /z/ after
a sibilant must therefore be categorical, as indicated in

-211-

11111L1.111111miimmirir.
the rule by [* tr d

However, he case of the plural Ltglaga poses a more

difficult prob em

(121) fx646z
le/Ws voicing assimilation
deletion [does not apply across
inflectional boundary]
epenthes:).s

This result is plainly wrong, and we are forced to conclude

that voicing assimilation is ordered after eventhesis, so
that it will not assimilate /z/ to a preceding voiceless
sibilant. But epenthesis must come after deletion, for the
whole force of the evidence ln section 3.4.5. indicates
that deletion is the removal of a ione consonant; we do
not find any remnants of an epenthetic vowel in expressiss
such as *That des' (e] mine or *One fish [e] on my line,4
And argibilation must precede deletion if forms such as
12s, al to survive as regularly as they do. Therefore, the
correct order must be:

contraction
assibilation
deletion
epenthesis
voicing assimilation

It is an attractive notion to place the rule of voicing

assimilation last, since this is actually a very general
constraint upon the form of final clusters which contain
morpheme boundaries. But this order is contrary to the
notion expressed above that in ifs, fiz/ is assimilated to
[s] before deletion. The contradiction lies in the assump
tion that the [s] of (is] is derived from im as indicated
by tue practice in dialect literature of writing la. How
ever, it now seems clear that this (s] is the assibilated
(t] of 117-the verb ja
has entirely disappeared, leaving
only this footprint on the preceding pronoun, in the
following fashion:

(122) zt##/z
Itifflez vowel reduction *
it## z contract ion 9
12)
IOW z assibilation

We have already seen that deletion must be categorical after

sibilants, so it follows that the result is

s## deletion (13)

* Numbers on the right refer to rule numbers in "Sixteen

Phonological Rules", p. 210,
-212
 in the rules there
The ordex (12) (13) ( 4) (15) as shown
(12) shows that assib
fore gives the correct results. Rule[pro];
ilation is restricted to words with
there are four
euch pronouns ending in
*tat andld. It is
input for other
a rule which applies with a somewhat lower WNS use (pimsgud]
PINS] dialects of English. Neither NNE nor
for yatfszsulA, nor rhyme with [ b'zesigrd] of the assibilation
for Vaila...good,.
It is possible that tae restriction rule may
rule to pronouns and lone A/ is too sharp: the
in -t, such as putside,
apply to other frequent forms ending to judge
However, we do not have enough evidence at present these,
whether the rule operates regularly in cases such asof mor
in these areas
and intuitions are quite unreliable
phological condensation.
have the deriva-
Given the rule order shown above, we
tions
A
(123) nigh
f fii##T z vowel reduction
fibiffiem
fIt## z contraction
deletion
59

fix ii##
fib#ez epenthesis 14
15
voicing assimln

route A or B, depending on whether

The form lighjca can follow na..1111.gollgaAj or Thtligh
contraction applies, yielding on'y as [fIbitez],
ja.gaatoday. The plural fishes appears inflectional bound
since deletion does not apply across an
The epenthesis rule can also apply to (fIbez], so
ary. derivation to yield the
that we could have the alternative
same result as B

(124)
Liah
ftbe z
vowel reduction
fIgOez contraction 1;
fIb## z
deletion 13)
epenthesis 14)
fx6Niez

In this case, the deletion rule would not apply cate

gorically after sibilants. However, the quantitative evi
derivation A is heavily
dence of Table 3-14 shows that roughly
favored, and if the contraction rule applies with consonants,
after other
the same frequency after sibilants as after sibi
it seems that deletion is (semi-) categorical
but undeleted
lants, yielding very rarely a contracted
form (fas].

213
 One prominent characteristic of NNE morphology is that
final clusters in -gig, ....2pg and are obligatorily simpli
fied, so that an underlying form //test// (which shows up
in the verb form ,testing) cannot have a plural [tests]. The
phonetic form which does appear is chiefly (*beim). This
form is derived by the following sequence

(125) test#z
tee #z simplification of sC clusters (10)
tes #ez epenthesis (14)

In this environment, the simplification o sC clusters

is categorical, as indicated in rule (10) For the se
Tuence in ghe tee one can obtain

(126) test##Iz
test##ez vowel reduction
test## z contraction 19
tee ## z simplification 10)
tes ## deletion 13)

But the contraction rule is not cate orical here; when it

does not apply, the aimplification of sO clusters now
takes place before a following vowel, and it is possible to
get either A or B:

A B
(127)
testOlz testelz
test##ez test##ez vowel reduction
contraction 9
tee iffiez simplification 10)
deletion 13)

It appears then that rules (5 5) are strictly ordered, with

the exception that the general ILA simplification rule (11)
cannot be ordered with respect to the deletion rule (13),
since they apply across different boundaries, nor with re
spect to the assibilation rule (12), which never applies to
clusters 36

3.4.7. Tho prob em of t me n The general prin

ciple underlying the discussion so far is that the possibil
ity of contraction in SE is in a one-to-one correlation with
the possibility of deletion in NNE. However, the following
quotation seems to be a blunt contradiction of this prin
ciple:

214
 (128) What I mean by beinl destroyed, [29, N.J.,#737]
they was brought up into they
rightful nature.

This is a case of clause-final le, produced, by a trac

tion, and the rules of stress assignment and vowel educ
tion presented above will not allow this to be cont acted.

(129) *What I mean by being destroyed's,

they were brought up unto their
rightful nature.

There is nothing in the development so far ue indicate

that this principle car 1^ variable. For the contraction
rule is dependent on the categorical stress assignment
and reduction rules, and if contraction does not occur,
we have argued, deletion cannot occur.
This is not a rare phenomenon in NNE; we have many
other examples.

(130) All I knowed, that I was in the [13, T Birds,

hospital. #458]
(131) Al/ I could do, as1 him what [16, NYCIYH33]
he's tryint to do.
(132) But next thing I knew, he was [16, Jets, #560]
on the ground.

Careful investigation of these examples shows that the

deletion of jsa is not the product of our deletion rule
13), but a very different process. The evidence for
this depends upon several empirical and theoretical
points.

First of all, it should be apparent to native speak

ers of WNS that this deletion is not absolutely impossible
for white speakers. Expressions such as

(133) What I mean, he's crazy.

(134) All I know, he's going home.

though not derived from our data, appear quite acceptable

to many WNS speakers. Furthermore, we note that all of
these cases involve verbs of agy.ing, knowg, =Bang-
which take sentence complements, and the pro-verb ao. We
Hive no ZUB sentences of the type
(135) *All I broke, my leg.

and WNS does not find this acceptable either 37

215
 The fact that white speakers can delete this 14, but
no other la in sentences of the type (22-39), makes us
suspect that we are dealing with a different mechanism
than the deletion rule itself. The special constraint on
verbs of =ging and fazing adds to this impression. Ben
tences of this type include the class of "cleft sentences"
which play an important role in Rosenbaum's discussion of
noun phrase complementation (1967), although they are not
analyzed there, We Rre of course concerned with the our
face structure, rather than the deep structure, since the
former determines the application of the stress rules, but
the deep structure will ultimately determine the operation
of the critical transformations involved. One approach
is to trace sentences of the type (133) to the following
intermediate structure, after WH attraction has applied:

(136)
s'

NP VP
Vhat it
\
NP VP
ie 38
h is crazy
NP VP
1

ine/xlhal.,

After the object ghlt of the relative clause is removed,

and the that complementizer is placed before the comple
ment sentnce, we have the constituent structure

(137) [What [I mean]s]Np [is [that he is crazy4 ]vp

where the main verb of the sentence is jg, appearing before

a sentence. According to the antlysis that we have given
so far, this particular jab in construction with a follow-
ing sentence, should be contractable, just as other copulas
before sentence complements:

(138) My home's where I want it.

Yet most people do not easily accept

(139) *What I mean's he's crazy.

216
 A cleft sentence of the type

(140) What he is is smart.

can be contracted to

(141) What he is Is smart.

--but not to

(142) *What he's is smart.

--even though (142) seems easier to sey from the phonetic

point of view, with two successive sibilants. All of these
considerations make us suspect that (136) is not the correct
analysis of the sentence structure. There is an alternative
analysis of (133) which is (143).

(143)

NP VP
////\
mean what

NP VP

wliat is s

.///
he is crazy

Here the main verb is mean, and the i is the verb of the
relative clause. The rule which deletes le is then the
same rule which operates to reduce t e book t ellow
with.Aga to ih1.1221S.Valow with eia: it is a transfor-
mation needed for all dialects of English, applying much
earlier and quite independent of the phonological processes
discussed above. If this is indeed the structure of (133),
we can understand why both white and Negro speakers can
delete this ja, although it cannot be contracted. The
same reasoning applies to (140 142). If the first j is

217-
 longer stands in
the main verb of the sentence, it no
construction with its object what, whidh has been moved
therefore has the
to the front by WH-attraction, and
same status as sentences of the type T4atts whwt

3.4.8. Contract on deletion f r The first

appears far
and most obvious fact about NNE Aig, is that it perceive lan
less often than NNEla. Since even linguists impression that
guage categorically, it is easy to get the It
NNE speakers have no are in the positions of (22-39).
posi
is obvious from examples given in other syntactic
tions--(87,88,89,91,93) that Aza is well established in
it in tag
the underlying grammar of NNE. We even obbain
questions which are relatively rare.
You're a reporter, aren't tcha? [15, Chicago, #471]
(144)
We on tape:

Here we have the full, contracted and zero

form ofjal. A
records
careful grammatical searching of the peer-group of saa
shows that even though fux1 and contracted forms
occur infrequently, they do occur with the same systematic
Table
variation and respond to the same constraints as lg.
3-17 shows the number of full, contracted and deleted forms
of lag for the T-Birds, Jets, Cobras and Oscar Brothers,
and Figure 3-15 shows the frequency of contraction and
deletion of both is and are fnr one groupthe ThunderbitAs.
Table 3-17 and Figure 3-175-show only one of the constraints
is
upon the contraction and deletion rule as far as Ars_
concernedthe effect of the following grammatical cate
gorybut this data is sufficient to illustrate the fact
that the same rule is operating upon both ja andm.g.

In order to understand the operation of the rules upon

r-vocal-
Axl, it is necessary to observe the operation of the
ization rule and the loss of post-vocalic schwa upon this
form. Rule (2) for the vocalization of r
(discussed in
greater detail in 3.1.2.) operates to change the central
liquid consonant Crl to a central vowel [o]. This [e]
is removed by rule (6), the same rule which is responsible
for [pot] for poor and [dot] for door (see 3.1.2. for
further discussion). The results of these processes can
be seen in the results of the derivation (145):

(145) ##ar##
##ae## vocalization of r
Mae## weak word rule 243

0000 vowel reduction

loss of post-vocalic
##
## ## contraction

218
 TABLE 3 17

RESPONSE OP CONTRACTION AND DELET ON OP IS AND ARE

TO FOLLOWING GRAMMATICAL CA EGORY FOR NNE PEER GROUPS

T Birds Cobras Jets Oscar Br.

3/7/22 8/10/20 1/11/28 0/0/5

6/7/54 4/16/55 4/11/61 2/8/30
2/7/44 1/-6/41 2/ 8/65 1/4/35
0/2/62 pi 3/21 0/ 5/39 0/0/13

NP 95/78/48 59/56/50 161/117/119 18/10/11

LocIPA 32/40/48 33/32/92 89/109/125 20/38/32
V13 2/14/30 5/ 9/19 6/.17/ 67 5/ 5/22
gn 0/ 5/35 0/ 1/34 2/ 2/ 54 1/ 0/25

x/y/z = full/contracted/zero forms

Fig. 3-15. Contraction and deletion of

is and are for the Thunderbirds
V33 gn
Loc,PA
100-4N

-219-
Contraction of Are is therefore equivalent to deletion;
there is nothing left for rule (13) to apply to; or if con
traction does not apply to some forms, the deletion process
will certainly eliminate them. In any case, the net result
is that in NNE far fewer forms of Az2 survive as compared
to la, as shown in Table 3-19.

The contraction rule (9) shows the environment 01 ,

which includes the case shown above where there is no "

consonant.
A fuller form of this rule might appear as (146):
rnasall
-le 16-gn,
(146) e * (0) / 114prol##
IV V
rwl (x 0
. . 5NP
C
o
We will not attempt here to integrate all of the .us, and
ja data to justify the higher degree of order shown here.
The [*nasal] feature indicates that the contraction rule
applies (semi-) categorically to lug, a statement which is
fully justified in Table 3-11,

One of the most interesting aspects of this analysis

of An contraction is that it explains why white Southerners
can delete am but not lg. We have a certain amount of ex
ploratory evidence to show that this is indeed the case.
The white sheriff of Beaufort County, South Carolina, address-
ing a Negro carpenter, said:

(147) "We fishinf up a storm down there...

you doinf goodi, doinf good. You
buildinf out yonder to the Hark-
ness garage."

A waitress in South Carolina said, You ittinf the salmi.

A woman clerk in a supermarket outside of Durham, horth
Carolina said, allemiLent_ireoutofthem. We do mt-have
sufficient evidence to prove that white Southerners do
not delete is, but the intuitive responses of many lin
guists raised in various areas of the South agree on this
point. We can understand how white Southerners can delete
Arp, since they have the r-vocalization rule and the rule
which deletes post-vocalic sehwa (even though the overt
evidence of this rule pa!,, is nnt stigmatized for white
speakers). But rule (l3) for deletion, does not exist in
WNS, and therefore white Southerners cannot delete is 37

3.4.9. Zesson-number agmement for am, is and are.

The discussion of 1,1 and are and referenEes gô deletea
forms of 1,a andan presuppose that expressions such as

-220-
ht_Eitaza and ye o1p %. can be traced back to .112tsEitil
2.2 and xig,..aspe, This assumption depends upon there
being regular person-number agreement in these cases; since
there is no agreement exhibited in forms such as do -
E2z,2 and jleys, - (as we will see in 3.6 below
it would seem reasonable to doubt the existence of the agree
ment with la andjaml. Furthermore, there is no third person
singular as we have seen in section 3.3, so that there
is no agreement with the regular verb. Nevertheless, NNE
does show firm person- number agreement with forms of An,
ja, and sars, which match the distribution of SE. Table 3-18
shows the numbers and percentages of disagreement for lg.

There is only 50/0 disagreement--that is, cases where

1.4 is used in contexts which would demand Arlin SE. These
figures range from a low of 1.3°/o for the Thunderbirds in
group style to a high of 8.rjo for the Jets in group style.
This means that in Table 3-14 only one out of twenty of
the deleted forms registered may have been cases of deleted
jat rather than cases of deletedgm. This amount of disagree
ment could not effect the overall conclusions about the
status of Aga, in NNE. It is interesting to nate that this
level of disagreement is, though small, characteristic
of NNE and not WNS: the Inwood speakers show only one case
of disagreement in 344.cases of full or contracted Az

The level of disagreement for Aze is very low. Out

of 139 cases of full or contracted forms of Aalt, we find
only one case of disagreement. In other words, NNE speakers
do occasionally say Ihey.1.41 but almost never say )1e are,
the disagreement is in one direction only. This means that
the treatment of contraction and deletion of jrg is quite
unaffected by any effect of disagreement: or we may assume
that all of the zero forms of is in singular context are
derived from an underlying is. Finally, we have observed
in Table 3-11 that there is practically no disagreement
in the first person singular. Oases of I + is, or even
I + 0 are well below the one percent level, and do not
form part of the patterr of NNE.

3.4.10. AllamsLtils.rtaihve. The major

share of our attention in this study has been given to
the major forms of be, but the same rules operate upon
the auxiliary have with strong effect. First of all,
it must be noted that have is relatively infrequent in
NNE, even in positions where reduction, contraction and
deletion have no effect. Some observers believe that
there is no underlying have in NNE (Loflin 1967) but

-221.-
 TABLE 3 18

PERSON-NUMBER DISAGREEMENT OF IS
No. of is forms Total is 0/0 dis-
in -3s contexts forms agreement
STYLE

Thunderbirds A 1 77 1.3
B 9 228 4.4

Cobras A 2 74 2.7
B 7 134 5.2

Jets A 11 136 8.1

B 21 424 5.0

Oscar Bros. A 5 108 4.6

3 82 3.7

Inwood A 1 193 0.5

0 151 0.0

Working class A 16 237 6.8

adults 19 305 6.2

IMONIMINNINO

97 1832 5.3

-.222-
this conclusion can be maintained only by ignoring the act-
ual speech performance of NNE speakers. For exampla, from
tile first few feet of a tape recorded in the Urban bialect
Study of the Center for,Applied Linguistics, In excited
and spontaneouo speech "offt, pre adolescent boy',
we hear:

(148) You haven' plair w de Hoirrits:

Table 3%49 shows the actual numbers of occurrences of have

which we found in our grammatical searching of NNE texts.
There are not very many--only 66 in all in that portion
of data submitted to grammatical searching. We can com
pare this with the 1,041 examples of 'm which we found in
the same data. At the same time, we observe that the
Thunderbirds, the Cobras, the Jets and the Oscar Brothers--
all show some examples. The Thunderbirds show the fewest,
and none in group sessions, but there were sufficient num-
bers in the speech of the Cobras and the Jets to make us
believe that have is an underlying form in NNE,

A good number of these occurred in final position,

but a certain number appeared in the positions of (22-39).
We even have some cases in each group of pap, occurring
before been. It is far more common to have zero forms
before been. Table 3-19 also shows the number of cases
in which a Agve which would have been expected before
km and seen did not occurthat is, ',zero foxms".

A very large number of such cases-108-- were

found in which no form of have occurred before been? and
indeed it has been suggested that been is a perfective
marker by itself. However, an examination of Table 3-19
shows that all of the NNE peer groups also show some
cases of baxg before been, in roughly the same proportion--
as the total t,4_Jurrences of been. In fact, the 14 cases
of hayl..+ been out of 122 possibilities represents a
higher percentage than the number of cases of are which
were actually realized in full and contracted forms. Rela
tively few examples of 'ye were found and there were a
moderate number of cases of 'a. We also find six examples
of haven't been. og

The infrequent use of have may be partially condition

ed by semantic factors. We do not believe that the occurrence's
of bau represent importations from SE: the lames who fre-
quently do show diluted NNE grammar do not show any more
him than anyone else. It seems clear that most of the
occurrences of have in the positions of (22-39) are de
leted byaphonological process similar to those we have
discussed above. The full forms which are not contracted
of course, survive; but contraction leaves a lone [v]

-223-
 TABLE 3-19

INCIDENCE OP have AMONG NNE PEER GROUPS

have
STYLE
seen _peen seen h d
Total been 11110111MIN.M.I 111.141.M1111I
amonvoomp unonwirm.mungerit INopield

7 1
T Birds A
1 5 24
2 1
1 3
Cobras A 6 2
1 13 2 27
B 18
8 5
Jets A 5 2
4 49 4 66
B 25 10 3
3 2 18
Oscar Lr,A 1
2 ? 3 6
B 7 3

20 1
Lames B
1110111/0011111 OWII

10 14 150
66 9

224
which is subj,ct to deletion by rule (13). In other words
the same rnle which removes the lone voiced fricative [z]
also removes the voiced fricative [vj. This labio-dental
fricatile is particularly prone to deletion before [1* no
doubt due to assimilation t(i the [b] and simplification of
the resulting geminate.
The past equivalent of Nag - had is quite common in
NNE. Our exploratory interviews with pre-adolescents show
that hag, is freely used in narrative, in expressions such
as I.130 calat.am. Table 3-19 shows 150 examples of haA
in our four NNE peer groups, distributed in roughly the
same proportions as The phonetic procefises which oper
ate upon a lone Ed] are relatively weak, as noted in sec
tion 3.2, and it is therefore natural for the kg to survive.
The combination of hpyg mkt is as common in NNE as
plain have is uncommon. Expressions such as (149) occur
in almost every narrative:

(149) When I went down there--they almost had took

me away. (13, Jets,#606)

The frequency of hAA does not seem to diminish as one moves

to younger speakers. In our five exploratory interviews
with 7 to 8-year olds, we found that Ma occurs quite
freely:

(150) I had came over.

(8, Thunderbirds, #933)

It is quite common for the form of the verb to be non stan-

dard, indeed unpredictably so, since it is doubtful if there
is a consistent differentiation between the preterit and
perfect forms of,the verb in NNE, as we have observed else
where (see 3.5.4q
The contraction rule cannot of course apply to have until
the h7 is removed, and the preceding rule (8) does this.
This is a very general rule of English, which operates
upon the pronouns, blab hex and him, as well as ham, Nal
andhag. The only conditions necessary are thaT an initial
precede a schwa and a single consonant (or none). Con
traction does not, of course, operate upon the pronouns hjab
jau and him, since thay do not contain the tense marker.
The apostrophe used in literary conventions, ler, Wa, mere-
ly indicates the Aeletion of by (8). Contraction does
operate upon have. Agta and hid when thay colltain the tense
marker as noted above. The deletion rule as now consti
tuted will then remove any lone continuant including [It]
and [z] (no voiceless continuants occur in this position).
The rule does not remove [d], since it applies orly to con

225-
tinuants and does not remove [m] since the rule is marked
[nasal]. From the data of Table 3-19, we can conclude that
Leletion occurs more frequently with the grave continuants
[v1, but we do not have enough data to specify the order
ing here or the exact influence of a following labial,
as in itys...kun. This view of the phonological processes
which eliminate an underlying hpvq is consistent with the
sizeable number of appropriate ocqurrences of this member
of the auxiliary in NNE. Adults ude more haz2 than adolescents

(151) We have said it...we have said it when I

was a child. [17, S.C., #852]

But we also find it in adolescent speech, in the positions

of (22-39) where it might have been contracted and deleted.
The following example is from the speech of an eleven year
old who is not a peer-group member:

(152) Since time they have invented baseball cards...

[11, NYC, #751]

But also from the group sessions of the Cobras*

(153) We will have succeeded...(15, Cobras, #655)

Contracted forms are relatively rare, but they do occur:

(154) I would've been dead. [13, Cobras, #747]

In the following case, contracted have appears in the first

clause, and zero before .been in the second clause.

(155) I think helve had it since he been goin' to

this school. (461 N.C., 065]
We also find hRve occuring somewhat more frequently, in
the positions in whidh contraction and deletion cannot
take place. In questions, as in (148) and (156) below:

(156) Have you ever aten pork? [15, Jets, #599]

In the following elliptical response, the presence of 41aiim
clearly contrasts with its absence before been. If irdeed
kun had become the sole marker of the perfect, then we
would not have emerging in the emphatic addition:

(157) He been over there for a long time.

Yes he have: (131 Jets, #610]

Note that in all these cases, the invariant form of the verb
is have and not 110. This is characteristic of NNE, as shown
in section 3.5. Despite these examples, one cannot say that
 The low
the position of ha3....re in NNE is entirely secure.
frequency of the form may be coupled with the fact that
some speakers do not show hau where one would expect it
For example, the interviewer's question with Dan is imo#
answered with the auxiliary mg by this adult:

(158) [Can you give me an idea of the different

places you've lived?]

Well I was livinl uh - in the Bronx, Brooklyn...

(39,NYC #802]

This reply is not peculiar in itself, but it is odd as

the second member of a sequence. Yurther, the following
example shows was where SE or most NNE speakers would
use
(159) This Spanish guy was come over here...
[11, NYC, #416]

We also have one example where the auxiliary slit4 occurs

in a question, as if there was no underlying han in the
phrase structure:

(160) Did you ever heard? [141 Jets #599]

These examples are parallel to the re-analyses evident

in the rare examples of ILI:4_1z las I'm Bpjarst, 11§1.g,2
but they are relatively more frequent with him. The
process implied is not unique to NNE. We ean observe
a parallel case in various dialects ofWNStwhichreduee
Ilvg to (o] after agsac.1, yoialsg,, to yield hgLagalsibb hg
mrsaWL, so frequently that it becomes a fixed form. When
emphatic hgoa, is re-introduced we have 9.2.131ajayit and
EzakjimusgaiLlt. NNE shows the same pattern. After
using gmasia.mmt four times in a row, one 12-year old
then says 9.01Ag_hanjunt.39
Thus we must distinguish between the basic pattern
of NNE as revealed by examples (149-157) and the exception
al examples of 1mA:disturbance of (158-161). These
latter are not insignificant: they reveal the kind of
disturbance in the grammatical system which is caused
by variable phonological processes as they near the
semi-categorical status. Some re-analysis or lexical
change is imminent at that point, whether it means the
assessment of coulda as a single morpheme, or of jxsen
as a perfect marker in I been born. We are familiar with
such changes in the history of English, where, for example,
the steady attrition of phonological processes brought
about the reinforcement of original pre-verbal mo with
a post-verbal na:t., itself the result of phonological con-
densation. Although these disturbances in the NNE

227
grammatical pattern may appear minor on the surface, they
may reflect serious diff culties in recognizing and using
the unreduced forms in school. It is also possible that
these disturbances represent the inherited effects of an
underlying Creole grammar, but we have little evidence
to substantiate tills notion at present.

3,4.1 T 1- ,..mg,a,122 There is one feature

of the NNE verb system which seetire to be unique to the NNE
system, and is not shared by any WNS dialect or by SE,
and that is the use of the invariant verb with a mean
ing of 'habitual' or 'general'. The systematic nature of
this feature was first discussed by Stewart (1964), and
has since been discussed in some detail by others; Fasold
(1968) has presented one view of the semantics involved
based on data in the Detroit Dialect Study and the Urban
Zanguage Study of the Center for Applied 'linguistics

The formal facts concerning this invariant kg are

very simply stated: In addition to the various forms Agi,
111 am and jam which correspond to the SE finite forms
of 121 there is an invariant form ktp. which NNE speakers'
use. Examples (161-165) illustrate the use of this lz
in the syntactic environments of (22 39) where SE would
use jall j and

NP)
(161) But it don't usually be that way.
(39,NYCI#802]

PA]
(162) 'cause he be mad...
[15, Oscar Brothers,#616]

Comit]
(163) I be with the Jets--you know--a lot. They O.K.
[14, Jets 016]

Loc]
[to KC]
(164) We don't be ain the house; we be on top of the
house...
[to friend]
But we don't be there anymore, dummyl
[15, NYC, #622]

(165) ...he be always taki off, someone...

[15, NYC, YH33]

228-
 Formally, the word be behaves just like any other main
verb, It does not behave like a member of the auxiliary;
it does not follow the flip-flop rules for questions,
and it does not combine with the negative. The support
of do is required with the negative, as in (166) and
do can be used optionally for emphasis, as in (167).

So you know it all don't be on her; it

be half on me and half on her.
[12, Chicago, #307a]

When he be around here...

[Danger Girls, #821)

.2here are, of course, English dialects which use be as a

member of the auxiliary, and develop such contractions as
ben't, but the NNE be has no auxilairy features at all.
We have no data on tag questions with be, but it seems un-
likely that be would appear in a tag.

In the following discussion we will refer to variable

be, which alternates with ar is, are and was, as bel. Jthe
lEvariant be we will designa be2.

The semantics of invariant beo have aroused consider

able interest, primarily because tills is one obvious posi
tive feature of NNE which does not seem to be shared by any
white dialect. From one point of view, be2 is simply another
verb--the addition of one lexical item, whatever it may
mean, to the dictionary. However, there is much more to beo
than a simple lexical item like NAB poontang or an idiom Ilke
hare go for there is. NNE has a vast number of such specific
entries in iHranTionary, makked for NNE only. Beo has
three characteristics which mark it as a member of the "gram
matical" system--a member of the closed class of function
words:

(a) Beo is exceedingly frequentfrom three to ten per

cent of the kivironments in which finite be can occur are
actually filled by this invariant bev
(b) Because the form of invariant beo is homonymous
with non-finite bel the uses and occurrenZes of the two
be's--variable ancrinvariantintersect and overlap, and are
rievently confused. When the tense marker is not present,
we have no means of distinguishing between the two: that is,
the distinction betwenn variable and invariant be is neutral
ized in all non-finite positions.
(0) The meaning of beo is difficult to specify; the
vagueness, ambiguities, and"wide range of interpretations are
typical of the semantic problems associated with such SE func-
tion words as the auxiliaries havel..ed, be...ing, or would.

-229
 From this last consideration, it is clear that we should
be cautious in our approach to the semantics of be2. There
is absolutely no agreement on the semantics of the SE ver-
bal system, the meanings of have...ed and be...ing have been
disputed for centuries, and there Is no sign of any one of
the conflicting interpretationA being accepted by a major
ity of linguists or teachers. Native speakers of English
do not of course look up the meanings of have...ed in die
tionaries, clearly these are primitive semantic elements
which operate well below the surface. No one now invest
igating NNE, including our present staff, can boast of a
native command of NNE, for as we shall see in Chapter 5,
this knowledge evaporates rapidly on contact with SE. And
if we cannot agree on the meanings of the SE auxiliaries,
how can we claim to do better wtth NNE, which is less access
ible? Fanciful and speculative essays on the meaning of be2
can only do harm, no matter how interesting they may be to
linguists, for a great many SE educators, striving to come
to grips with NNE, may seize these notions without the data
to assess them critically, and impose them upon education-
al materials.
With this caution, wia can proceed to examine the mean
ing of invariant beo. First of all, it is clear that it in
tersects with the m4.aning of bel, for the latter is the un
marked term whinh can
occur in any context where beocan occur, but not vice versa.
Thus, we have such cases oriktimate variation as (168) in
which beo varies with is, and (169) where it varies with
zero (both examples from the same speaker):

(168) Like--...
She be standin' with her hand in her pocket,
and her friend is standin' there, and a
man is messin' with her friend,....
[15, Oscar Brothers,f554]

(169) Like--
If you be beatin' him and he down and he
say, "Man, I quit," and you get up arA
you walk away, he'll hitcha.
[15, Oscar Brothers,4P584]

As far as we can see, there can be no difference in

the meanings of the environments here. The invariant :1210
may carry a semantic mark, but it is never obligatory.--'
The variable bel is the unmarked term which does not contra
diet b Thus'it seems that you could not say he don't
be ther he is there.

It is easy to find examples of beo in conjunction with

adverbs which throw some light on its ileanings, such as
all the time, 21ways, usually, never, most of the time;
sometimet
230
 (170) ...when you don't be talkin' about someone
else all the time.
[15, NYC, YH33]
(171) ...Mos' a time, I be looxin' at another
picture.
[12, Venice, V 553
(172) I never be in the fights.
[15, Jets,f742]
(173) ,..when I come up down South up here, they
don't understan' mak-- some time I be
sayin'.
[15, N.C., YH333
These are adverbs which refer to general conditions
extending over a period of time, usually indefinite in
force.

We also find many 122 examples which seem to express

general or extended state of affairs, without any adverb.
This is especially frequent with the progressive.

(174) --When the teacher be diggin'--when [he]

be rappin' to me, and shit, and I be high,
and these motherfuckers, they be talkin'
about how France -they just chopped Africa up...
[16, Jets,f667]
(175) Because people that be sellin' reefer tell me...
[16, JetsliP667]
(176) He don't be actin' like them other brothers do...
[16, Cobras11P607]

There are uses which are plainly iterative, where an

event occurs habitually; but it is plainly the meaning of
the non-stative main verb which conditions this meaning of
120 as opposed to durative, extended meanings. We find no
coAtrast between durative and iterative meanings of 12.0.
Durative meanings freely occur with the progressive with
stative verbs and non-suative verbs.
(177) If you wasn't a Jet 1 they wouldn't let you
be knowin' all their stuff, like....
[12, NY0,-*681]
(178) 'cause
You still be makin' money
[12, NYC14367]
(179) All the guys be hidin' under the house....
[29, Ala.,0883]
(180) ...some guys be fightin' [CR question]-
Yeah--you know diff'ent guys from other
corps [plural], they be fightin', and--
uh--a guy'll jump in there to stop it.
[29, N.Y.C.10812]
-231-
 We also find used very frequently with comitative
phrases, implying again an indefinite durative sense, or more
precisely, a 'state of affairs':

(181) Q. Who? [KC]

A. Niggers that I le. with.
[16, Jets, Ir688]
(182) It ain't that much--you know-- people out in
Long Island you be around with than it is
in New York.
[13, Jets,*605]
(183) ...the guys that bes around the park with
us/ there's a leader of them.
[15, NYC, YH41j

Thus, we can identify several components of the meaning

of be which usually coincide: 'general', 'habitual', and
'inUfinite' on the one hand, and 'stative and 'to be in the
condition of', on the other. Those who would search for a
conjunctive definition might try to specify 'non-temporal'
or 'non-finite', which may or may not be equivalent to 'in
definite'. It is curious that these meanings would seem to
be "unmarked", although 122,0 seems to be the marked term.
The main hope for those wh6 believe in establishing such
simple definitions lies in establishing an incompatibility
between the invariant luo and adverbs such as Li hg.,.t...no2,
right then, At that momet, etc. Attempts to test such sen
tences as now for grammaticality are in-
determinate since intuitions about NNE are not accessible
in any simple way (see section 4.5 below). The best that we
can hope for at the moment is negative evidence. However,
this negative evidence is not forthcoming. We find ao used
with an extremely definite temporal adverb five times hs a
counter-example:
(184) ..if he be bad for five times...
[13, T Birds,4375J

Purthermore, we find two clear examples of be 2 used to

describe an 'inetant state' of affairs:
(185) We shake hands. And that 112 it.
[36, Ala.11P883]
(186) The last guy who be picked, they IT.
[11, T-Birds,11:498]

Although there is no adverb here to 'define' the seman

tics of the situation, it seems to us clear that in (185)
that beo it at that moment and (for a well-defined period
thereaftTF). (186) seems an even clearer representation of
the instant state which comes into being at that moment:
when the guy is picked, he becomes at that moment, IT.
Neither the first or second clauses can be described as a-
temporal.
Finally, we find one very clear case of the adjoin-
ing be with an adverb of instantaneous time,

(187) If he hit me--...

He probably just hit mel'cause he be mad
right then, you know he wouldn't hit me
otherwise.
[15, Oscar Brothers, P584]

It seems to us that no twists or turns or metaphorical

interpretations can escape the implications of this last
example. The speakers of (185-187) are in no way suspect,
or uncertain as NNE vernacular speakers. On the contrary,
they are full members of their respective peer groups. There
is no indication of idiosyncratic analysis here, as we have
with such expressions he can gets hurt. In (185-187), we
find the meaning 'to be in the condition of',Aput not its
usual accompaniment--'habitual' or 'general'.I'v
There is also some"evidence that be9 does not always
carry its full semantic load, whatever tRat may be. A study
of the social and stylistic distribution of Igo reveals a
number of facts which are difficult to account'for with our
present understanding of this form.

The distribution of Igo among various grammatical cate

gories, according to the following element, seems to fit in
with the view that 'habitual' or 'general' meaning can be
attributed to Igo on the one hand (in some cases more spec-
ifically 'iterative') and a Istativel meaning on the other.
We find Igo most frequently before verbs with a progressive
suffix, ana with relatively very high frequency before comi
tative phrases. Further studies of such cUstribution, with
close reference to the semantic context, may illuminate the
meaning of Igo further. However, there are a number of
other facts about the distribution of Igo which are not
easily accounted for by semantic arguments.

P r o .0 o o -o. At first
glance, the invariant Ig, would seem to eindependent of
the finite alternants and pm However, the
following figures show a vety regular and surprising bias
in the frequency with which Igo occurs in environments which
require SE Imli jr2 and Azz Thb figures given are percentages
of Ig against the total, which includes full, contracted, and
deleted forms. For the four principal peer groups in single
interviews, we have:

-253-
 environment of
.3.21 ILI maxa

14 07 37
Thunderbirds
13 06 29
Jets
16 15 32
Cobras
Oscar Brothers 24 00 16

environment is two to
The frequency of Igo in the arg The fig
five times greater than in the jx, environment.
ures for Am fall in-between.
It is possible that there are good semantic reasons
for this. One would speak of habitual or general behavior
perhaps.
of several people more often than of one person,
There is also the general use of yam as in yggjaza_12,.
We might also argue that one knows general facts about
Further in-
onself more often than about a third person.
vestigation of this possibility will require us to isolate
but also the de-
not only the formal category of person,
sentence.
gree of generality which is intended in each
There is also the possibility that Igo, immune to
hnd deletion,
the phonological processes of contraction
falls into the hole created by the absence of arg more
If Igo
frequently than into the partial vacuum of lg. on19.
has such a hole-filling tendency, it will provide for even
part of the explanation for this distribution;
frequent than the
though the deletion of .ara is much more frequent)
deletion of sig (see below--up to three times as preference of
this would still not account entirely for the the moderately
Igo for this position. On the face of it, against
hikh frequency of Igo in .Eun positions would argue
the hole-filling tenaency, since Am is isnever deleted. But
it should also be pointed out that aam rarely gzoricted
difficulties
to its full form, and we have noted certainTherefore Igo
that NNE speakers have along these lines.
emphasis where'
may be filling the function of providing
full forms are not easily available.
when we re-
Such an analysis is even more persuasive
result of a de
member that the absence of 4re is not the Full forms
letion rule, but rather of the contraction rule. and
of ea= consist of both [al and (e)--that is, stressed envir
unstressed, reduced forms. That being the case, Bog
that mig en-
onments would favor Igo for the same reason
vironments favor it--the prevalence of the contraction rule
familiar and less
which renders the uncontracted form less
available. Further evidence given
below will support the
notion that .ara is removed by the contraction rule alone.

-234-
 §Iyago.
distribution of invariant leis
More complete data on the
provided by Table 3-20
which shows the four major peer groups
in both single and
figures for
group styles. In addition, Table 3-20 shows
this case, combined fig
single interviews wit:a lames--in eight teen
ures for five isolated pre-adolescents and
agers who are not members of the central peer groups.
It is immediately apparent that the effect holdwe noted
fcr
from the data on single style, above, does not
the group sessions. Furthermore, there is very little
few percent in
use of Igo in the group sessions--only a
most caseb, and just about at the low level of the Ift
whatever factor was oper
environments. In other words, theism and au environ-
ating to raise the level of .12.9.0 in
ments, is simply not operating'in the excited and spon-
taneous interaction of the group sessions.
110
Tills is difficult to understand if we consider
NNE vernacular. '
to be a characteristic feature of the show
We have seen case after case where the group sessionsis a
the most regular application of NNE rules--if there less
difference between styles A and B, it is towards a
NNE rules as deletion
frequent use of such characteristic
shifting
of a contracted auxiliary. More data on style
with ja and arg in the next section will confirm this im
pression.

On the other hand, it is clear that 11.e;0 is indeed one

As far'as we know, it
of the most marked features of NNB. did not occur once
is not used by any white dialect--it
and we have never en
in the records of the Inwood group, speakers in the
countered it among the hundreds of white
that the lames use
SSENYO study. Furthermore, we observe group members,
it somewhat less frequently than the peer
again marking it as a central NNE feature.
heavily age graded.
It further appears that 'Leo is pre-adolescents and
We encounter lat, in frequent usb among
adolescents in bvery ghetto areat.including Los Angeles,
Igo. We have
Chicago and Cleveland. But adults rarely use of which
cnly a few examples in our adult material, severhl
are cited above--and in those few, the speaker is talking
about an adolescent experience. This is not the case with
many other NNE features, and a number of our adults from
departure from the dia
the South represent the furthest
lects with which we are familiar. Whatever context might
be appropriate for adults to use 120, it has not occurred
in our interviews. Yet it is precisely in the same, face-
most freely,
to-face encounter that adolescents use 120
tierious subjects.
talking seriously and thoughtfully about form ueed in
For the peer group members, 1g2 is an emphatic
deliberate speech.

-235
 TABLE 3 20

USE OF INVARIANT BE2 BY NNE PEER GROUPS

Di SINGLE AND GROUP STYLE BY PERSON NUMBa

Environments
is are
be ble2
A
.2
Thwiderbirde A 2 60 7 122 3
B 10 64 26 327 47 80

Cobras A 2 61 1 76 3 94
B 12 73 39 230 44 90

Jets A 4 69 6 209 19 211

B 27 180 30 500 43 105

Oscar Bros A 40 6 191 3 72

B 8 25 0 114 10 50

Lames B 2 52 2 145 7 48

236
 Thls observation ad s a further dimension to the
meaning of /goo In dwel ing upon a stative condition,
120 lends an tbstract, somewhat hypthetical character
aewell as a general and emphatic one. Indeed, we might
refer to 'deliberative' ke. as well as 'general'.
We have not yet touched upon one formal usetag
of 120
in"
which is most removed from SE* the use of 12 4,
the following constructions

(188) If you beinf bigger than me, I wouldn't say

nothin', [15, Oscar Bros., #584]

(189) ...if you bein' so many times come down to the

office have a complaint on you, they kick you
out' a project. (152 N.Y,O., YEI-41)

It is possible to combine two Ill's in SE, as in ygm...axft

Iging..gacia, but it is usually rett considered acceptable
condition, such
with an adjective indicating a permanent It
as Ids. In (189), there is no clear SE equivalent,
seems likely that these are cases of
be +ing be2

in the underlying structure, where 1411 is realized as

Then the
Amb vocalized, reduced and contracted to zero.
of
meaning of (188) and (189) is a peculiar combination
meaning of Isto,
the unmarked meaning of lel, the stative
gloss as 'if yot
and the progressive. We may attempt a This would
are during that time in the condition of...'
lead direct3y to the meaning of isanall which we find in

(190) ..bein's that you little, they're gonna devan

tags of you... Beinl as that he's littl
[14, Jets, #940]

Note that all these sentences show the deliberate and sober
charscteristio of Igo, al
type of discourse cited above as 'In
though it is of course not confined to such styles,
their grammar to
these quotations, NNE speakers are using should be evi-
deal with reasonably abstract matters--it the
dent that the vernacular is not at all confined to
concrete,

0. 11119 j
3.4.12.
In the course of studying inva iant lao, we find many ex-
amples which seem to have the force of"the future:

(191) Well, if I be the winner, I be glad

[13, Jets, #605]
Here the second .11g, might w 11 be from an underlying ;laic

237
 In this ca el it seems more likely than not
similarly in the fol owing instance:

(192) 'Cause you still be making money.

[12, N.M., #367]
If indeed there was an underlying rill, in these and other
sentences with 12,, the question arises by what means the
2111 is deleted. Do the phonological rules developed in
the preceding sections operate upon this member of the
auxiliary as well?
First of all, there can be no question about the
status of 2= in An, Although various forms of gang..,Ig
carry most of the burden of the future, there are many
situations where 11111 is appropriate, and it is freely
used in full and contracted form. The emphatic 2111 is
quite common

(193) [Do you ever fight over dough?]

Of course. Bven thou I know it's the root of
all evil, but I 2111 Light over it.
151 Cobras, #496]

(194) Now a girl will get out there--I mean, she's

not particularly tryin' to hurt you, but
she'll put a hurtinv on you, You know what
I mean? [25, N,Y.C., 1/866]

In final position, after ellipsis, we typically get gill

195) If I get married again, I will.

[26, N.Y.C., #840]

is quite common, even in the future perfect, in the

rifting style (see 4.2) of the Bohemian Brothers:

(196) We will have succeeded... [17, Cobras, 'MO]

We also know that mill is deleted by the existence of a

continuous transition between consonantal Liao a back
unrounded vylar glide W, and zero. Before jag we hear
many slight traces of the (1) glide, especially in the
combination"
The complete disappearance of will plainly requires
rule (3) of the sixteen phonological rules (p. 207) which
vocalizes the velar [I], but also rule (7) which deletes
die resulting glide. In some cases it is quite plain that
an underlying gjahl has been removed by this process:

(197) They find out that he was a soldier.

37, 8.0., #833]

28
There are many other cases where a deleted gal- produces
an ambiguous result, since the unmarked present can often
stand with a future meaning, and the line between the ex
tended present and the future is not easy to draw. It is
also possible to have ambiguity which includes the future
and the preterit. In a taped "telephone conversation" be
tween a Chicago teacher and an adolescent girl, the teacher
asked the girl if she had asked her mother for her father's
name, and the girl answered

(198) (a'firnda°t)

To moat listeners, uhis is 1,...temausat, but in this,case

it means ' 0 The monophthongization of /aw/
,

before voiced consonants, combined with the velarization

and deletion of 2120 leads to this neutralization,
o te.e o o The exact posi
tion of the vocaliza on o ) is no yet clear. In the
sixteen rules, the 1) rules are placed directly after the
(r) rules for the sake of clarity, clearly they follow the
(r) rules, but it is not clear haw late they may be placed.
It is possible that the (i) vocalization rule is really
quite late, for the general -1,A simplification rule may
precede it. Our data is not yet complete on this point, but
it appears that the frequency of deletion in -did clusters
is closer to the (KD) bench mark than the low level (VD)
rule, If that is the case, then 4- at this point is be-
having like a consonant, and the (I) vocalization rule will
have to follow. This is a particularly clear case where
the quantitative evidence of the variable rule bears direct
ly on the question of ordering.
The principal open question concerns whether or not
there is a general rule for the deletion of the initial:a-.
Should rule (8) on p.207 be modified to include g-as well
as la There have been suggestions along this line37, but
for a number of reasons it does not seem to be the case for
NNE
1. Initialg is absent in several members of the aux
iliary: 2111J0 msula. This may be considered the same item,
in its present and past forms, and so we have only one al
ternant on which to base the rule. Wza and WM do not show
deletion of g as a rule, although we do have a very few ex
eeptions

(199) Last time I back in Florida. Yeah.

[39, N.Y.C., #873]

1100) That's where I raised at.

[38, Va., ffess]

239
We also have a number of cases of one Cobra member be-
ginning sentences with Laarjai..4,4. where xag is deletea
few exceptions, we can say
beiore Ir. But with these
that there is no general rule for deletion of the xi
of am in the
NAB (which is the only representative
Paat in NNE). There are other cases where NAL is de
leted, but it ls by the same mechanism as that which
operates in the Wt. constructions discussed
above, on p, 215; 130) is such an example, as well as

(201) But one of the things that kept me going I

didn't like to be beaten. [50, N.Y.C.) #849)

2, There is no general rule for deleting glides

which would simp1i4.4 rule (8), since initial zp- is
clearly not deleted, even when the vowel is reduced and
almost gone in ylknow.

3. It is possible to argue that grag is an exception

to the 24-z deletion rule, motivated by the necessity of
preserving the distinction between log and pitz in unstressed
form, However, it would then be necessary to add the en-
vironment of the tense marker (just as in contraction)
since the very common weak word am does not lose its in-
itial yt in NNE, although there are other English dialects
whidh do so,

We can conclude then that the.= variant is a die

tionary entry in SE as well as NNE, one of the alternant
forms of 2111, and it is this abbreviated form which is
vocalized and reduced to zero by the contraction rule.
Forms with initial 21:-. can be heard as alternants of the
vocalized (I] i*orm; thus one can say for LallUggjaul
(wwobihee] or [eribihe] or faebihee].
There are of course many complex ways of treating the
other future form, AA.B.2111E_Ia or somm or ,am aoina to, and
these will be discussed in 3.5.2.

3.4.13. The soc

In the discuss on of
the finite forms of 11.1h above, we concentrated upon the
central peer groups which best exemplify the grammar of
NNE. In Table 3-21 more complete data is given on the
social and stylistic stratification of the operation of
the contraction and deletion rules. In addition to the
basic peer groups, we have separated two groups of lames-
a pre-adolescent set and a group of teen-agers. The five
pre-adolescents are much more clearly isolated than the
older boys, as noted above. The teen-age lames are those
in the Jet territory who are not members of the club in
any way, and have no knowledge of it, but they may be
members of smaller hang out groups on their block.

-240
 TABLE 3

SOCIAL AND STYLISTIC 9TRATIPICATION IN TH3 USE

OP THE CONTRACTION AND DELETION RUL S IN NNE

are

STYLE

T B rds A .59 .70 .96 .90

B .72 .50 .92 .90

Cobras A .97 .66 .89 .81

B .76 .58 .98 .89

Jets A .74 .58 .91 .88

B .66 .45 .93 .94

Oscar Bros A .72 .61 .96 .90

B .60 .52 1.00 .85

Lames--PA B .75 .15 .77 .40

Lames--TA B .63 .30 .90 .79

Inwood A .89 .00 .96 .02

B .75 .00 .78 .03

Adults
Middle el A 33 .00 .50 .00
B .33 .00 .59 .00

Working el.
Upper No. A .65 31 1.00 .84
B .56 .13 1.00 .00
Upper So A .54 17 1.00 .67
B .39 .05 .91 .28
Lower No A .47 .38 .97 .41
B .45 .22 .99 .46
Lower So A .77 .48 1.00 .52
B .49 .20 .98 .88

724,1
 In addition, Table 32l shows vhe full break down
of the adult sample into middle class (Northern), and
upper and lower working class (each divided into Northern
and Southernsub-groups). Although this represents only
one quarter of our adult sample, and the various cells are
often reduced to only four or five members, the pattern
which emerges is quite clear.
The data is given as values of qp for the rules
operating, rather than in terms of the percentages of the
surface forms observed. For 1,A, this represents the con
traction rule operating first, then the deletion rule
acting upon the pool of contracted forms, just as in
Tables 3-14 and 3-15. This should produce a sharper
picture than simple observations of surface forms, and
bring us closer to the social stratificatio of the gram
mar itself.

For Arsil we observe first a reduction rule which

gives us (e) from (cf)--a distinction we do not observe
in our studies of j. The next step unfortunately com
bines the operation of two rules--deletion of postvocalic
schwa and contraction, which we cannot separate.
We first observe that the contraction rule operates
upon jia in a fairly uniform manner among the peer groups,
ranging from .60 to .75. The Thunderbirds, as we observed
before, use quite a few full forms in group sessions--
whether this is a charactaristic of younger speakers or
not we cannot say. The lames use the contraction rule
in the same way, and so does the Inwood group, The most
marked difference in the use of the contraction rule is
seen in the middle class speakers, who use it only half as
much: i"; is clear thtt the liberal use of free forms is a
mark of middle class speakers in this community. There
is some variation among the working-class speakers, but
none use as little contraction as the middle class.
In all groups, except the T-Birds, we see that there
is less use of the contraction rule in group sessions or
casual speech than in single style; the middle class
speakers remain at the same low level in both styles

There is much sharper stratification in the use of

the deletion rule for Az. All groups show stylistic stra
tification here, using deletion much more in style A (ex
cept for the middle class, which does not use it at all).
The effect is much more marked among adults than among
the youth, and here we see more regular stratification
among the members of the working class adult groups:
the lower sections use more deletion than the upper ones.
There is no obvious difference between north and south.

242-
 The use of the deletion rule clearly shows how
different the lames are from the peer group members--
much more so than the phonological variables studied in
3.1 or the 71,d simplification rule. The pre-adolescent
lames use the deletion rule very 1itt1n, w of .15, and
the adolescent lames are considerably below any of the
peer group members. Of course the white Inwood groups
do not use the deletion rule at all.

Turning to the rules for aza, wo see only two sub

groups which use any degree of unreduced forms. The
middle class is sharply distinguished from the others in
this respect, and the pre-adolescent lames also use a
fair number. A corresponding difference can be seen in
deletion and contraction of the reduced form. Again the
middle class does not do tills at all, and the lames less
than the peer group members. Note that this rule does
operate at a very low level for the white Inwood groups
they are capable of deleting the postvocalic schwa and
then contracting, while they cannot delete a lone [4.
This confirms the lesssystematic remarks we made on the
use oE these rules among white Southerners, and shows that
our analysis of the removal of Au is in the right direc
tion.

Finally, it is interesting to note a sharp difference

between peer group members and adults in their use of the
deletion-and-cintraction rules foram There is no clear
style shift f. r the youth at all, but adults (with the ex
ception of one sub-group) show a very sharp difference.
The upper section of the Northern working class is most
extreme in this respect. In casual speech, the patuern is
that of the adolescent peer groups; in careful speech, it
is closer to the middle class--Bm was never removed en
tirely.

The regular style shif4 in the use of the deletion

rule for Ag ic much clearer here than it would be in ob
servations of surface forms, In our various observations
of the speech of the peer group members so far, we have not
detected very much regular style shifting in speech--it is
only in the most formal styles that the phonological vari
ables such as (r) begin to shift. This analysis of the
contraction and deletion of ;iji is plainly much closer to
the vernacular patterns which are important to members.
We have remarked in other publications (Weinreich, Labov
and Herzog 1968) "in a language serving a complex (i.e.,
real) community, it is b enç e of structured heterogeneity
that would be dysfunctional" p.101). The functioning of
NNE can be seen in this table, and the way in which peer
group members exhibit a "nativelike command of heterogeneous
structures".

-243
 TABLE 3 22
DEVELOPMENT OF PHONOLOGICAL CONDITIONING
OF DELETION OF CONTRACTED ifj, AMONG FIVE
NEGRO GROUPS IN SOUTH CENTRAL HARLEM

Percentages of contrac ed 11 deleted

Oscar
T Birds Cobras Jets Adults
Bros.
Age: 767-27 r12=13J ar16Jrr6-5:83r-2O :-T
Individual interviews
After pronouns K 52 72 61 18 22
V 56 65 62 24 10

After other noun

phrases 37 46 58 67 43
21 25 19 00 06

1
Group ses8ions
After pronouns 67 76 58 68 25
56 80 62 50 28
After other noun
phrases 75 67 40 54 42'

67 80 36 00 13

1
For adults, casual speech within individual interviews

Develszient of phonologlsal.smiktimirAL...thq
effect of a following.mml. It has appeared at many points
in this investigation that the most characteristically phono-
logical constraint io that of a following vowel. Howe/br,
the previous discussion, based on Table 3-14, we were concerned
with the preceding vowel vs. a preceding consonant. In !,,Table
3-22 above, we can observe the gradual development with age
the phonological effect of a following vowel upon the deletioW
rule. We have isolated first the strong effect of a preeilding.
pronoun, and examined the effect of a following vowel wish and
without a preceding pronoun. With the younger groups, there
is no clear-cut pattern at all--if anything, the effect of a
following vowel is to encourage deletion. But the older peer
group, the Oscar Brothers, shows the effect of a vowel after
noun phrases, and the adults show an even more general effect
of this phonological feature. The gradual phonologization of
these P-rules--the introduction of more and more phonological
conditioning--seems to be a regular development within the NNE
speech community.
-244-
 The steady growth of phonological conditioning is
apparently the result of continued contact betweenrefer
NNE
and SE, as well as other dialects. We can hardly
mixeJure, for it represents
to this influence as dialectrule-structure of NNE. It
a systematic change in the
is quite possible that the adult speaker re-interprets
in adolescence,
many of the NNE features which are used reconstruct
within a larger framework which ealowg1 him to
be circumspect,
a more general system. Here we have to adults have lost
because it seems generally agreed that The
most of their ability to reconstruct underlyinvrules.Table
kind of stylistic use of deletion which we see in
3-21 is conceivable within this model of adult language;
by Table 3-22
but the structural re-organization implied Note
is not as consistent with previous conceptions.
that the effect of a following vowel is a variable con
straint which is not a part of the rule among pre-adoles
cents. It gradually emerges among late adolescents, and
Such a
for adults.
then assumes considerable importance constraint may re
shift of the position of a variable
present just that type of restructuring which is openthe to
adults, and this process may indeed play a part in
techanism of ling#stio change within the community.
3.5 The verbal paradigm
In the extensive discussion of 3.4, we reviewed the
effects of sixteen phonological rules upon 111 and otherof
important elements of the auxiliary andover-view
verbal system
of the
NNE. In this section, we will take an
data on person-
verbal paradigm, introducing some new in the
number agreement and the use of the negative ,ainit
preterit. We will conser the regular verb in variaus
irregularities of per
tenses, positive and negative, the There are
fects and preterits, and the modal system. attempt to
many open questions in this area, and we willthere is solid
confine the discussion to the points where The
evidence, the results of our grammatical searching. to
material presented in this section is therefore limited
well founded at the
those conclusions which seem reasonably in
moment, and which appear to be useful for those engaged
important
teaching SE suo NNE speakers. It is particularly
notions in this area,
to avoid idiosyncratic and speculative problems, since at
where there are many unsolved semantic
this time linguists cannot claim to have madeWe very much pro
wish to avoid
gress in semantics, even with regard to SE. the ed-
the imposition of new and unproved speculations upon overburd
ucational system in ghetto areas, which is already
ened with programs based on very little evidence.

zezesturzanatt_agramigni. Evidence presented in

3.5.1.
3.31 priacipally in Table 3-10, leads us to the inescapable
in the
conclusion that there is no third-singular marker
equivalent,
NNE regular verb. All persoa-number forms are
and there is no rule which singles out the third-singular.
having a special
English deviates from the normal pattern in
mark in this position, in any case, since it is overwhelmingThe
ly the unmarked position in language after language.
position in an
third singular is most frequently the zero
strikingly
inflectional language, and the SE -s stands out
when we begin to look into language universals.
auxiliaries in
There are a number of frequent verbs and
SE which also show this -s in some irregular combination:
hue - ALOU4 E-12 EAMR, y - gays. None of these
Table 3123 gives some
show person-number agreement in NNE.
limited data on flave and az Amt and mar,
which we examined
members and sev-
for agreement in the speech of 33 peer group
eral other contrasting groups. In each case, the actual
form and the zero
numbers of instances are given of the -g
form. Have and are given for the third-singular contexts
for third-singular
and for all other contexts; want and my
alone. We find that ,have
behaves in the same way whether it
is auxiliary, quasi-modal (110Zta) or main verb, positive or
different in the positive and
negative. However, sig is quite

-246-
 Lala 3-23
PERSON-NUMBER AGREEMENT OP HAVE, DO, WANT SAY
FOR NNE PEER GROUP MEMBERS AND OTHER GROUPS

have do don't want say

±3.2 za tact zal, 1,31! .:.-ag +3s 102
Club mem- -s: 5 0 0 0 2 0 2 1
bers (31) 0: 21 44 20 44 61 163 16 26

Oscar Bro -s: 6 0 2 1 7 0 3 3

thers (3) 0: lo 41 4 20 11 83 0 9

-s: 6 0 1 0 10 0 7 0
Lames (10)
Os 4 29 8 8 18 107 4 12

Inwood (8) -s: 26 0 13 0 8 0 6 19

ph 0 23 0 40 17 74 2 0

TABLE 3 24
PERSON NUMBER AGREEMENT FOR WAS AND WASN'T
FOR NNE PEER GROUP MEMBERS AND OMER GROUPS

lst sing. 3rd sing. elsewhere

ALlz I= Aiaz "ark Auz 3:21.b
Club mem- was: 40 54 54 117 54 51
bers (31) were: 2 2 13 5 9 8

Oscar Bro- was: 11 13 8 32 2 3

thers (3) 0 0 0 0 7 6
were:

Lames (10) was: 13 19 28 20 3 5

were: 1 0 0 0 15 4

Inwood (8) was: 11 24 25 76 0 4

were: 0 0 0 0 21 8

-247-
 Again, A9, as
the negative, so both forms awe shown. seemsto behave in the
auxiliary support and as main verb grammatical condi-
same way--there is no obvious sign of does and
tioning. It is immediately apparent that laxA,
number of
don't are the NNE forms. There are a small
ba2 forms in the third singular, a few aznalta, and no
cases of Ag. There are no hyper-correct -s forms in the
3s environments. Similarly, the predominant forms for
4411i and :gay have no yawl was included becaus-e of its
the number
status as a quasi-modal, as representative of
of verbs without auxiliary properties which appear frequent
subject as the fol-
ly as concatenative verbs with the same position in colloquial
lowing verb: these have a special here
syntax, as discussed in 3.5 below. We are concerned
with Hama, parallel to ganna, where the nasal appears as
flap or simple [xi].
The Oscar Brothers appears here separateiy because the
main body of Jets,
members were clearly different from the not
Cobras, Aces and Thunderbirds. The Oscar Brothers are also
patterns, but they are
only older, and closer to adult as
not a named group in the sense that the others are;
informal hang out group of
noted in chapter II, they are an although they are the
a fairly individualistic chw-acter,
dominant group in 1390 5th Ave. within their age range. doesn'ts,
Here we observe a fair number of bas forms, some
that the -.a forms do not
and mantBja. It is worth noting deal of individ-
enter in any regular way; there is a great form of correc
ual differencft in the use of as in any
tion in late adolescence. In most of these cases, one mem
ber provides the bulk of the 7,1 forms.
In some ways,
Ten lames were included in this study. Brothers, since
they are further towards SE than the Oscar
contexts is hub and there
the predominant form in the +38 D2 and Any
is eviderce all along the line of SE influence.
are still used in +38 contexts, however.
The white Inwood groups show a very regular pattern
have known it in other
which follows the WNS paradigm as we
situations. There is perfect agreement in
does - aan - say, The quasi-modal mams shows some
fluctuation. But the major deviation from regular person-
dpn't, where we see that
number agreement is with sigasnli .

non-standard
the Inwood group has the same percentage of Therefore in this
Aonft as the lames and the Oscar Brothers. the WNS pat
respect, these two groups wqr simply following based on
tern, and their use of don't cannot be taken as
the NNE pattern. Do, bmg and my are the characteristic
strong
NNE forms, and there is no doubt that they carry a
sociolinguistic mark.
different types,
The adults fall rather sharply into two

-248
 and those who did not.
those who followed the NNE pattern section of the working
There were several from the upper agree-
class, raised in the North, who used person-number
ment in the same way as $B does/ and of But course the middle
there were also
class speakers followed this pattern. class, who are
several froA other sub-groups of the working
not necessarily SE speakers in other ways, who followed the
these irreg
SE pattern here. One gets the impression that concern, and
ular varbs are a matter of considerable social
:?egular agreement with
speakers are capable of using fairly third-singular
ha/4, Acullb etc., even when they do not use however, there is
with the regular verb. On the whole, of the deletion
between the use
a fairly good correlation contraction-dele
rule for .14 (and to a certain extent, the
tion combination for av) and the pattern of the irregular
verbs. Among the adults
raised in the South, we find many
perfectly--again there
who preserve the NNE pattern almost vowel of 412 ftees to
is the tendency for the alternatingFor a natural NNE speaker,
help maintain the regularity. into the
the form slaw is heavily marked. Further research speakers
correlations bet"een these variables for individual
the best route to use
may give us a clearer understanding of
in teaching the SE pattern.
ement.atz/m. Table 3 24 shows
Our present information
the corresponding pattern for mu. the positive
shows that this varb behaves the same way in
and the negative, and the overwhelming pattern is that maa
show a small amount of
is the NNE form. The club members of yieze forms in the sing
cross-over, with a moderate number
of the deletion rule,
ular. These may represent the operation a lone fz] if the
acting upon the [4 of (wA, or even upon greater concentra
initial [ml should be elided. There is no
category than in the ls and
tion of 3a4r,e in the oelsewheren there is no
3s positions. On the whole, it is clear that
agreement for Eaa. The auxiliary and
the main verb do not
far as this data
seem to behave any differently- at laast as
carries us.
The Oscar Brothers are clearly moving in the direction
influenced by the SE pattern.
of SE, and the lames are heavily concentration of yam in the
This is apparent in the higher absence of 24x4 in the ls and
appropriate SE slot, and in the
38 environments. Finally, we see that the white Inwood group
disagreement of
follows the SE pattern quite well, with some of cases of they
the main verb: we find a moderate number
mg, but no I.g9r4, again in conformity with what we know a
bout WNS patterns. Note that this
also shows that the Oscar
direction of WNS
Brothers and the lames are leaning in the
would think if they were
and depart from NNE more than one
simply compared to SE speakers.

249
 We conclude that there is no entry in the NNE die
the NNE speaker
tionary for 14ab 47 Ilan or .Y1.9Z.e.: if from
is to learn them, they must be imported "outside" in
some sense. Morg generally, we note that person-number
agreement exists in NNE for only one verb: bel, which dif
ferentiates la and aarg in the same way thAt SE does,
as shown in Table 3 18.

3. 5 . 2.
It was shown in section
gluLausulan. Y341 .
3.3,5 that there is no basis for positing a third singular
for the regular verb, so that the present is completely
unmarked in NNE. On the other hand, the burden of 3.2 was
that there is an -ad suffix for the regular verb. Further
wall
more, we have noted that the past tense category is
supported in general, although there is considerable varia
tion in the specific Xormo used in irregular verbs.(See
3.5.4 below). The basic pattern then is quite regular

I work you work he work they work

I worked you worked he worked they worked

Whether or not the -AA ending also holds for the present
perfect is difficult to say at present, because the data
of this
on julyz.g.ssid is simply too sparse, and the position
tense in NNE is not at all secure.
NNE has both y2122 and gaing.I2 for
Tbg.flatiami.
the expression of the future, and of course the unmarked
present form is frequently used as well. In 3.4 above, we
reviewed the effect of the phonological rules upon gin,
but there can be no question that the underlying form is
quite secure in NNE. Various forms of gaing..tg are more com-
of
mon, and certain routes in the morphological condensation
this form are highly characteristic of NNE.
subject to the same processes
The form siatiLgaing.tes2 is
of reduction, contraction and deletion which lead to the
elimination of aigt in the surface forms in other environments.
But the frequency before g2ing.A2 or anna is exceptionally
high, verging on the status of a semi-categorical rule. Once
the rule becomes a constant, as it is for many speakers, it
is quite likely that there will be a re-analysis of anna
as a lexical item which carries the tense marker itself.
This has happened with several other items in both WNS and
NNE, such as kelt= and gatja. The deletion of 2s1 before
battex, and of tyg or La before gat.ta has reached a semi
categorical status (indicated by * in the rule) with the re
sult that thare may be lexical change and even an alteration
of
in the pattern of the auxiliary. There is no question
anna or latter taking on the formal properties of an auxil
iary in yes-no questionc or tags but in several respects
these forms become quasi modals.
if

250
 and gotta, in
Oemantically, gopna fits in with ketter modals
that they are sentence modifiers; they follow the dummy
the sentence with a
in transposing to the head of
It subject:

(202) He better go It better be that he goes

(203) He may go It may be that he goes
(204) He gonna go It gonna be that he go(es).
occurring in
There are many cases of such lexicalization (and
NNE, and it is important to distinguish productive have
reversible) phonological processes from those which
by lexical ehange
operated historically, but are now blocked
in NNE a vast
In the case of gum, there remain on hand which may tell
number of intermediate morphological forms going
the NNE speaker about an underlying relation between
and Emma. The same argument applies to .trazzaing..12
clearer in the case of am
as Is....gaingta, but it is even
gaing../2, and we will consider the morphological condensa
tion of zazzing,A2 below.
The
sen carried
study of morphological condensation has never difficulty of
very far by linguists, partly because of the of
studying the phonetics of actual spe-ten. In the case
Aitzoing.tg, we can distinguish many of the same phonetic
long range
processes of assimilation which can be observed in
studies of the evolution of a language.

(205) [1] am going to

mmgovilkItu
vowel reduction
[2] emgownte
simplification of
[3] emgo4-33te
triphthonge
emgoulte assimilation of
[4] nasal to -t
assimilation of t
(5] emgoilite
to nasal flap
emgorp monophthongization
[6]
emgone reduction of flap to
[7] nasal
mgone contraction
(8)
English.
At this point, we are still within standard colloquial
further con
There are now two major routes to be followed in involves the
traction. The one that is favored by SE speakers
reduction of the (o) to [e]; the unit thus becomes a weak word.
available, in eithe
It should be noted that there is no process in one fcvm or a
WNS or NNE, which can remove the nasal [m]:
nother, this nasal will remain.
251
 We will refer to this option as the xaduction route,,
and follow it through two sub-paths. The first is charac
teristic of SE and WES: the assimilation of the [ill] to the
point of articulation of the following [g].

(206) 9) mgene vowel reduction

[10] rsene nasal assimilation

[11] jgrio e-ellision

[12) 13ne log simplification

Note that this last step is a normal and frequent process

still operating in the evolution of English, At this point
no further reduction is possible, all of the forms used up
to this point are actual intermediate forms encountered, and
since many of the orderings here can be reversed, there are
other intermediates such as hgone]. But for SE or WNS, it
is not possible to say he] or fne]. To ohe best of our
knowledge there is no future form Ilna.at.

The NNE subpath on the reduction route is the reverse of

that shown above. Instead of the nasal assimilating to the
following stop, we get the assimilation of the stop to the
nasal--unusual in English, but the rule in other languages
such as Korean,
*mmene assimilation of stop
(207) (9i]
to nasal
mene simplification of gem
inates
mne e-ellision

*mme assimilation of nasal

to preceding nasal
me simplification of gem
inates

Note that all of these rules except [91] are necessary and pro-
ductive in other areas of English phonology. All of these forms
are actually used in NNE, except those marked * (because the
simplification of geminates is automatic and immediate in allegro
speech). Thus (101] is very common and highly marked as NNE:
LUntina.gri, If n It is [131], however,
.

which is most common among our speakers.

(208) Ifm-a shoot you. [15, N.Y.0 YH-31]

If it were not for the presence of these intermediate forms,

the derivation of Imam from Litm_ggine_to would seem rather
distant and unconvincing, but all of these are available to
the analyst as well as the native speaker.

252-
 The other route which is characteristic of NNE, and not
taken by WITS, is the .7194gLaam1izPIign route.
Thus we have
above:
by.a different ordering of some of the processes noted
emgow)jte ellision of unstressed
(209) [21]
vowel
w
emgo nte nasal assimilation
[3')
emgollp asuimilation of -t to
(4')
nasal flap
w reduction of flap
[5') emgo ne

mgo n contraction and ellision

(6'] of 9
mgGn nasalization of vowel,
(7')
loJering
mg3 loss of nasal, compen
(8') satory lengthening

The same processes operate upon ilLgaing.12, yielding [goo]

without a preceding nasal: ga_gauLdzAt; this
characteristic sound of NNE is not easy to express in dialectto
literature. All of these forms are heard, but in addition
we also have the option of invoking the same processes
as in [91.,) under (207):
[9) *mm;* assimilation of stop to
(210)
nasal
(1011] MO simplification of gem
inates
Perhaps (10") is the most marked NNE features among adults, and
On the other
it is used affectively in many tense situations.
hand, the route marked by (207) is perhaps more characteristic
of younger speakers.
Finally, it should be noted that a different ordering of
these rules will reduce the first vowel instead of the second,
yielding a risinp. instead of a falling diphthong.
go
w

gewin rising diphthong

gwxn e-ellision

We do get (211-311) occasionally from sone

speakers with a
strong Southern background, but we do not gethear
the equivalent
in the Carib
with long 1, usually spelled gwine, which we
bean. Of course (211) does not as a rule occur with If

This long series of morphological alternates illustrates

the rich variety of dialect forms available within NNE it
self, and gives some indication of the ways in which NNE can
differ in its rules from SE on very particular points.

253-
 Tha..n.trgagizadnaft. In 3,4.10, we
discussed in some detail the situation of NNE have, which
is in some senses quite marginal. Abstractly, we would
have no hesitation in positing an underlying have, but
there is evidence to show that nativt speakers do not have
this readily available at all times. At times, when an SE
speaker would unhesitatingly use ILEau4 In find other members
of the verbal paradigm appearing, and not always the same
ones.

(212) I was been in Detroit. -

[10, m Birds, #498]41
As far as the past perfect is concerned, there is no such
variation. P2e-adolescent and pre-pre-adolescent speakers
use the past perfect readily, with appropriate semantic
force.

(e13) [How did the fight start

I had came over... [8, T-Birds, #933]

There is little basis in our current material to

comment on the.upgressive and its combination with various
tenses. We have noted in 3.4 that and meag are more fre-
quently deleted when they occur in progressive constructions
than otherwise--that is, the -lng suffix carries the prin-
cipal load. There are many interesting problems in studying
the development of complex forms, but as far as the basic
sentence structure is concerned, NNE use of the progressive
seems to be quite comparable to SE.
The assive in colloquial English is primarily the
g21 passive, ariUNWis no exception. Again, many
interesting problems arise when syntax is complicated by
several converging factors, and it is true that there are
restrictions on the g2/ passive which are not yet well under-
stood. There are some cases where the IA passive seems re-
quired:

(214) It's split up. [16, Cobras, #515]

(215) It's puffed up. [14, Jets, #526]
(216) It's jacked up. [17, Oscar Bros., #549]

Perhaps these and many similar examples must remain un-

related to the passive, but it seems that they do embody
the formal machinery and semantics of passive construc-
tions. In any case, the gal passive is predominant, and
is used regularly in complex constructions where the sub-
ject is acted upon.
(217) He was gonna get put out the club.
[10, T-Birds, #465]
(218) I never had got tol' on. [14, Jets, #521
 3.5.3. Negatizeform. Along with the positive forms
of the regular verb, we have some characteristic negative
forms which mark the NNE paradigm. It was noted above
that the normal form of the present negative is don't, not
doesn't. For the negative of am, is and are--that is,
be the most usual form is of course ain't,
l'

(219) It ain't my stick; it ain't my stick.

[14, Jets, #940]

We also have isn't occasionally, Is not, and more frequently,

not--see examples (33-34) and-762-64) in 3.4. We can
get the following kind of intimate variation of Linl± and
lm not:

(220) I ain't gonna tell you no more, I'm not gonna

tell you. [15, Jets, #572]

Historically, ain't developed out of hasn't as well as

isn't and aren't (and amn't), and it still functions as the
negative of have in NNE.

(221) Well no, she ain't had no kind of nobody to bring

her up.42 [48, N.0.1 #232]

In these respects, NNE follows WNS. But one way in which

NNE departs from WNS in the negative is to use ain't for

(222) I ain't see the fight; and I ain't hear the

fight. [13, Jets, #605)

(223) "I ain't git but a little bit." [15, Cobras, #489]
(224) ...so I toldlim I jain't pull it. [15, Lame, #623)
However, ain't is not used alone for the negative in the
past tense; didn't is also used, with roughly equal frequen-
cy. Again, it is possible to have the two alternate in in-
timate variation, within the same sentence:

(225) Well, he didn't do nothint much, and I ain't neither.

[12, T-Birds, #365]

This situation is typical of many cases of variation within

NNE where those who search for a homogeneous, invariant dia-
lect will choose one of the variants as the original, and
the other as an importation from standard English. The judg-
ments are plainly determined in advance, for the one which
resembles SE will obviously be rejected--didn't in this case.
We therefore receive reports that the paradigm of NNE has
the negative past as ain't Verb, with no mention made of
didn't. As we shall see, adults use didn't primarily, and
make very little use of Llnli, so it is natural to assume

-255-
that the older speakers get, the more SE didn't they import
into their speech, diluting the original pure NNE. It
should follow that as we go to earlier and earlier stages
in the life history a the speaker, the more Rin't we should
find. If there is a regular progression with the younger
speakers using more and more ain't, then it would follow
that there is such homogeneous dialect in the background,
at least as a useful abstraction.
Because we knew that adults rarely use ain't, we also
assumed that pre-adolescents use more ain't than older boys.
However, a careful and accountable examination of the data
shows that this is not the case. Table 3-25 shows the use
of ain't by the major peer groups, lames and the Inwood groups.
It is certainly not the case that the pre-adolescent T-Birds
use more ain't, on the contraryv-they begin with one third
ain't in bothAroup and single style. The adolescent peer
groups use 50'/o ain't--the Cobras, the Jets, and the older
Oscar Brothers, who we have seen approximate the adult model
on many other features.

TABLE 3-25
COMPARATIVE USE OF AIN'T AND DIDN'T IN
THE PAST FOR NNE PEER GROUPS AND OTHERS

instances in the i:reterit of

ain't didn't 0/0 ain't

T-Birds (12) Style A 8 17 32

B 11 23 39

Cobras (16) A 38 44 46
B 8 10 45

Jets (32) A 29 42 41
B 60 64 48

Oscar Bros. (4) A 20 20 50

B 19 26 40

Lames (10) B 10 33 23

Inwood (8) A 1 22 04
B 0 37 00

( ) indicates no. subjs. in grammatical searching

-256-
 quite
The development of ain't in the preterit parallels3-20.
closely the observations we made of be2 on Table
stronger with
Here we see a vernacular feature becoming
late adolescence.
age, and reaching its fullest use in most
This is characterstic of two of the heavily marked
features of NNE, which are rarely used by adults, and ofthe
implication is that this dialect is not the property its
it emerges in
very young children. On the contrary, groulos which
most complete forms among the adolescent peer We do not
exemplify the vernacular culture (see 4.1).
features of NNE which
deny that there are undoubtedly some
is no question
are strongest in young children, but there
that be2 is at the heart of NNE. It is one of the few
in any
grammatical features which have no corresponding form
of the white dialects we have been studying.
take
The basic paradigm of the regular verb would then
the following form:

he work he don't-00n' work

he worked he ,d1.Vt 1 work

'11-4/ work I
hev:Ii11-.4 hqmn't
ain't gonna5
work
is going to
--Tonna ---.gon,
Ton'
This paradigm seems a little complex, but the bewildering
variety of surface forms of NNE is only barely suggested here.
its
Note that don't can lose its initial .3onsonant,,as well as
final cluster, yielding a simple nasal vowel [0] as opposed
to the [go] of the future. Actually a which
paradigm is a poor
carry us from
substitute for the ordered set of rules
and all of the areas
the underlying to the surface forms, before such rules
delineated here need further investigation
can be written,

truly
3.5.4. The irregular_past. Formally, the past is
of the past is well
irregular for NNE. Although the category past forms
established, the particular shape of the irregular
shows a wide range of variation. A tabulation of the many
irregular variants which we have encountered is hardly en-
study of these may
lightening, though eventually a careful
the moment. We find many
show system where none appears atgeneralization
instances, of course, of simple of a minor
pattern to one more common. Brought is thus shifted to brung
fly take on preterits
in a great many cases. Know and guyy and
knowed and growed and flied. Sit has a preterit sitted.
to imply that
I ran shifts to I runned. But we do not mean alternants
these are regular patterns, or that the regularized
are NNE features. For one thing, NNE has inherited a great
deal of the unresolved fluctuation in English dialects which

-257-
has been current since the four principal parte of Old Eng
lish were reduced to three in varying ways. The perfect
forms do not seem to be clearly distinct in NNE from the
preterit forms, perhaps this is an exaggeration, but as
find
we look through the records of irregular preterits we
ff v u e w; H t;
P;
and many instances of w
ey
etc.
.22113d3.110-YA...W.e= 2PW
We also have frequently ,I,had...cAme.

In all of the discussions of grammatical problems in

this report so far, we have attempted to find general prin-
ciples of interest to linguists and of possible value to
teachers of English. However, in the case of the irregular
preterits and perfects, we have no positive contribution to
offer as yet. The fact that the pattern resists patterning
may be of interest in itself.

3.5.5 T
Ijsmut. In the discussion of Hype Z and Hyper D we intro
duced a number of examples of and a few of -Al being
transferred to inappropriate positions, where no tense
marker is normally present in English grammar. We need not
take this data as signifying only a weakness in the speakers'
grasp of the category concerned. We find a number of in
stances of NNE speakers violating the general rules which
placte sla for support of the tense marker or which assign
We fre
a tense marker such as -21 only in finite clauses.
quently find cases where NNE speakers have given do-support
in infinitive clauses.

(226) And I have seen the cop came up to the house

and told him don't he whip this child.because
the way you whip 's brutality. [50, N.C., #616]

This quotation seems to blend direct quotation with indirect,

and that may account for the dpnit in place ofmt. But we
also have cases such as

(227) ...to don't throw bottles and rocks.

[11, N.Y.C., #389]

(228) I juslhapDenf to wen' over there. [repeated]

[37, S.C., #833]

There is no question about NNE speakers! competence with

the meaning and appropriate use of went, even if they do not
distinguish perfect and preterit. The same is true of lad

(229) 'Cause I was supposed to had had it done long

time ago. [laughter] [17, Oscar Bros. #484]

258
 cautious about
This being the case, we must be somewhat The problem
drawing conclusions from such hyper-forms.
which the morphologi
may nov relate to the firmness with
rather with the rules for
cal form is grasped in ICE, but
of the tense marker.
the placement (and neutralization) D unless we
The following cases would be considered hyper
took this into account

(230) She just stood there and let him picked081]

on
her. [12, Lame,

(231) ...wouldna let him did nothin'.

[16, Cobras, #607]

about AlA, but about the

These quotations tell us nothing reflect regular varia
rules for placing sliA. They do not to tens of
tion in NNEthese are rare instances comparedthey may be
thousands of accurate tense placement, but
in NNE rules which re
symptomatic of certain weak points the following
main to be isolated. On the other hand,
example, consistent with the trend noted in 3.4,halg:
does show
systematic difficulty in locating full forms of

(232) I didn't drink wine in a Jang time.

[16, Cobras, #518]

s'ows an irregular form

Furthex, the following quotationfree of any flaw or check in
of the preterit whioh is quite language:
the semantics or the formal structure of the
(233) We= went to school. [15, Cobras, #566]
pat
We must distinguish between three types of irregular
terns, accordingly.
a. Isolated cases of deviations from a regular
found
pattern, but which are not the kinds of deviations
in other dialects (230-231).
b. Irregularities in the selection of,items for
a semantic category which is
itself rarely used t232)
c. Irregular fluctuation of lexiceil choices
without any immediate flaw in communication.(233).
consistent
Although the last type of irregularity is
it is possibly the
with a smoothly functioning vernacular,
the alternate
most serious for those who wish to teach may go unnoticed
forms consistent with SE. Types ,a and the sentence or do
by many listeners, who misunderdtand categories
not perceive the distinction. But type a uses
sociolinguistic
which have long since been assigned their
value, which are well known, and well understood. across
over communicates perfectly
The expression zaJascicame non-cognitive
dialects; it communicates meanings as well--
of
too well for those who adopt SE as an'absolate.standard
educational achievement.
2'59-
 Irregularities of type a are of particular interest
to linguists because they indicate that the speakers of
the langvage may be making a new and independent analysis
of the grammatical structure. It may be a faulty analysis,
and eventually fail, but it is a product of the spedkers,
linguistic intuition--the same mechanism which enables a
child to learn language so rapidly in his early years.
Examples (230) and (231) take on a new aspect when we find
other cases with = and a clearly marked preterit form
following:
He woulda let lem fought. [17, Oscar Bros., #593]
(234)
He woulda probably let ,em
fought,

This misplacement of the tense marker follows a verb which

is unusual in twl) respects, (1) It takes a bare infinitive,
similar in this respect only tomag. (2) It is used ini
tially as a fixed particle without other clear verbal prop
erties in We cannot give a full logical argu
ment for the shift of tense marker from yi.o.= to= to
light, but the following discussion of modals will show how
an analogous process has indeed taken place in NNE.

3.5.6. There are two aspects of the modal

211a.naAala.
system which mark NNE as particularly different from SE.
One is a fairly straightfoward matter concerning p.m and
aulA. The two are equivalent as far as our NNE speakers
are concerned,
He thought he can beat me, [11, N.Y.C., #393]
(235)

(236) They'll teach you what they could.

[15, Cobras, #429]

These are typical of many such caees which show conclusively

that ENE speakers do not distinguish betwaen the two. But
we need not think that this is unusual, because WNS speakers
in New York City show the same trait.
Throughout Southern English thare
11.0.11g_roglag.
is a pervasive pattern of "double modals" which is not
of
pos
whi e
sible in Northern dialects. Prom the observations
Southern linguists, in the South, we have43

(237) If you can find that cancelled check, I may can

go out there and get it

(238) [I'd like to take that machinery in there and play

around with it to see where to put it.]
You might ought to do that.

-260
 The last example, said by a dentist to his laboratory
technician, is said to be equivalent to glie0 sh91414. May
gan is equivalent to Northern zwyjza_akiLI2. There
are many facets of this use of double modals which remain
unexplored, in white Southern speech and in NNE, Formally,
they violate a simple rule of SE that one modal does not
fol/ow another. Semantically they pose many problems of
interpretation. In any case, we find that NNE differn from
white Southern English in just the ways that we have come
to expect--by a generalization and further extension of pos
sibilities that are already present.
Another linguist raised in Jackson, Miss., reports to
us that MAY....9.MU and BSY.22Mid are acceptable colloquial
style; that ale= is coupled with o
.gagattz
and that and
can precede....22a1.41 and ants can precede .00uT4
or u2M1a. Any of these are negativized by adding 7n41
to the second modal, Furthermore, alLiagata is possible (as
it is for many Northern whites). But magt..101.1. and ppfht
aop't are marked as NNE only. In a recent communication,
we learn that inightleItar is natural and frequent,44
One of the first things that a linguist would like to
know about double modals is whether yes-no questions can
be formed, and tag questions; and if so, how? We have
been unable to obtain any information from native speakers
of Southern dialects on this point. Their intuitions do not
supply the data. illight.11,kattla is not possible; it
turns into ?, at least in self-elicitation.
It is possible that questions simply are not formed with
double modals.

We obtain a wide variety of such forms from our infor-

mants.

(239) In deep water, I might can get hurt. [14, Lame #742]
(240) It might could be worse. (52, Fla. , #663]
(241) I might can't get no more fines, neither.
[12, NYC, On]
(242) I might would let him go. [29, S.C. , #836]
(243) Even in the streets, people useta would ask us to
sing. [35, S.C. I #729]

Some of these forms allow a simple semantic interpretation:

jgb oan and .coula are Atia# be RNA to. Eiabit.VOld is not
so easy; whether or not it maans anything different from
I might..12±_him.g2 is difficult to say. There are many ex-
amples of 20.g.ta_sold

(244) All these boys, that useta could beat ya, they
can't best ya no more. [26, N.J., #610]

261
glagia.sauld plainly means NagiA.D.2.0t14.12. But does mpetg
woulg mean more than luseta'?

(245) He useta would push me out of the trees,

[35, 5,0,, #729]

There is a corresponding present form to zdal_2944:

(246) [Can you get your civil rights without getting

your head busted? You might will in the long
run. [29, Ala., #883]

Semantically, we feel theo these are pleonastic forms,

based on the model of iniglatsma14. There is nothing at all
odd about using a modal form for the periphrastic bq able to,
though from a formal point of view it does break down a gen
eral rule of SE.

(247) Well, you must can't fuck good, then.

[26, N.J. #707]

In addition to these forms, we also find a sizeable number

of the mi.t....un!I forms which are said to be unacceptable to
white Southerners.

(248) I mean--I ain't seen they wardrobe; but

if they gon' walk around the street with holes in
they pants, they must don't have too much in they
wardrobe; right? [17, Oscar Bros.,#559]
(243) She still might don't even like the thing.
[390 N.Y.C., #803]
(250) You Bight
could go to the church and pray a little,
but you--that still might dan't help you.
[13, Jets, #521]
(251) [Conversation in an elevatort]
Father: Didn't you read the note.
Son: I read it,
Father: Well you must didn't read it too goods
These examples merely illustrate the free character
of the use of gagitAclat, night don't, etc., in NNE, They
make no claim to semantic interpretation beyond the modal
itself. We find that the tense marker now follows the mode
and requires do-support.
We can speculate on the underlying process which leads to
this advancement of the tense to second position. In the older
pattern of jaght.ssg2sl we have two modals, each of which is
capable of having a "zero" tense marker. When there are two
in a row, we have only the general rule of English that states
that the tense marker comes on the first--but hardly any visi
ble evidence. It is a reasonable hypothesis to place the

262
 be
moda on the second element: the change would s mply
that the tense marker is placed on the last modal instead
of the firstquite consistent with observation. The con
version of the first modal to the status of a pre-verbal
particle becomes increasingly plausible as we consider the
material on quasI modals in the next section,

3.6.7. claaml#4715alL.
makes up increa1y aware of a large claso items whic4
.1.1

have some of the - )perties of modals but not all. Forms

such as =Lit 34.0: 11 wInnat
lowing propertiGs:

a. They are fused with the following which rarely

if ever appears in full form. There is voicing assim
ilation, formation of flaps, simplification of geminates--
the processes of morphological condensation typical of
frequently conjoined function words.

b. For several, there is no tense marker left from the

verb: usetp, Auplauta, gottg. The other two have no
tense marker in NNE.

c. For all but Eanaa, the corresponding form with a

separate subject is impossible or literary, and for
many colloquial speakers, there may be no connection
between and ; wann g. Nothing,,else
can intervene between the verb and the la particle.

There are further phonological processes operating upon these

forms typical of frequent functional items. ItajalppacipsLIQ,
becomes I'm aposta (ameposte) for many speakers, WNS and NNE.
These quasi-modals do not have many of the formal properties
cif the modals sm6 say, etc., but for the reasons given they
may easily be re-analyzed as pre verbal particles or sentence
modifiers, not as main verbs.45
If we now return to the Ilyper Z and hyper D examples
from 3.3 and earlier in this section, we see that in many
cases the speaker is transferring the tense marker in exactly
the same way as in maxt.,=.1it. In the case of hyper-Z,
only (20a,b,g) will allow this interpretation. But many
of the hyper-D examples we are dealing with are consistent
with the notion that the tense marker is advanced for the
reasons given. fislippauta appears in (229). Further? we
have many examples of the quasi-modal me& in the preceding
section on double modals. This behavior of iiaeta is not at
all confined to Misita.,== or usets fionft.4

(245) He useta thougbt... [16, Jets, #614]

(246) She useta hadda pick at me. [35, S.C., #729]

(247) My mother usetawantedme to be a doctor.
[29, Ala., #883]

-263
We also get similar constructions with the quasimoda1

(248) He happened to made the club up, [16, Cobras, #504]

As always, one can get idiosyncratic patterns which go be

yond the normal development, in this case with the result:

(249) They must be can callin' us white, then,

[13, Jets, #04]

Here we have three items in a row which bear zero tense

markers. Considering the diminution of person-number agree
ment in NNE, one can understand how the role of the tense
marker and its placemert becomes problematic: only the -AA
gives a firm indication of where the tense is, and that is
difficult to hear and retain in many regular verbs, The
irregular past tense, of course, is more frequent then the
numbers of verbs would indicate. Note that many c4 the
examples givu. which place this irregular verb later in the
sentence involve such zero items as 121, as in (230-231).
It is no accident that the other verb which can precede a
bare infinitive also appears with the tense marker displaced:

(250) That's what makes me don't trust them motharfuckers.

(16, Jeets,#6143

Our conclusion strengthens the conviction that the

cases of hyper-D rarely indicate any weakness in the grasp
of the -AA suffix, but rather a change in the rules for the
placement of the tense marker. Clearly items like the quasi
modal laitar do not take the tense marker:

(251) She better had been fair with me. (16, Jets, #562]
(252) He better hadda moved out. [16, Jets, #6.44]

The NNE speaker then makes a rightward movement in the tense

marker to the first item which clearly carries a tense. If,
one is not located, do-support is set up. In (252), t
is rejected, haslia also (though to us it is plainly past
and move is selected to carry the -al. There is no doubt
that thieruleconflicts with other operating rules, and
needs considerable investigation to be specified formally,
but it appears to us the correct solution to the ',hyper-DP
forms cited throughout this repo t

There is a well-known
Southern quas. odal, h ch occurs frequently in
our materials.

(253) My father liketo kill me. [15, ()bear Bro 4584]

264
 (254) Ilike to drove downafedone night.
(38, N.0,, #888)
(255) I like to drowned. (25, Fla., #825)

I was like to have got shot. [29, S.C. #2071

(256)
The meanings in all these cases are 'almost', and it occurs
with =lea many times, Laintad, siaannaA, 09t, etc. The
expression luilie...12..441,1 is very common among white Southerners,
and even among those who have a diphthongal [al], this word
is pronounced [1mk) very often. There is some reason to be
lieve that it is derived from :Watt and is not related to the
verb laixt. In any case, ?4ke to functions like the pre ver
bal particles wy have been discussing above.

When we say that iv occurs frequently, we do not mean

that it has the status of a 240. It may be considered a
Southernism" which is retreating in NNB in northern ghettos;
all but two of our examples are from adults raised in tne
South. Nevertheless, this use of 1/iEge, may be encountered
in any of the northern ghetto areas, even among Northern
speakers.
lha..quAlli-mialjigu, The pre-verbal particle
suzu is another Southernism, widely used among whites, which
we find in moderate frequency in our data. It is not main
taining itself like 120, and may be disappearing in the nor
thern ghetto areas. "

(257) We done got this far; le's run! [15, Oscar Brosp#584]

(258) I done told you on that. [13, Jets, #606]

(259) You don't have it 'cause you done used it in your

younger age. [15, Lame, #624]
(260) But you done toll em, you don't realize, you d--
you have told tem that, [39, N.Y.C., #804]

The meaning in (257-259) is plainly altaaly, and this sense

fits in with the notion of done as a perfective particle.
In (260), we see it replaced by taxe, confirming the notion of
a perfective meaning.4boIt frequently is reinforced with algr_adey:
(261) I done told you already. [13 Jets, #606)

(262) She done already cut it up. [13 Chicago, #470]

These meanings are very clear, but they do not account for the
sense of dona in many other cases, which seems to be essential
ly intelnsive.

(263) After you knock the guy down, he done got the works,
you know he gonl try to sneak you, [13, Jets, #606]

26
 After I done won all that money. [12, T Birds, #620)
(264)

(265) 'Cause I'll be done put--stuck so many holes in

him he'll wish he wouldna 4aid it,
[17, Cobras, #515]

It is difficult to see a perfective meaning in these examples,

and even more i.. connection with a verb like gaxgral

(266) I done about forgot mosta those things.

(46, ILO., #665]

(267) [In a restaurant in Ohio]

forgot my hats done forgot my hat! I done
forgot it; [elderly Negro man]

The meaning of Amu, like so many elements of the central

grammatical system, is inevitably disjunctive. It has a
perfective meaning, and with it there is usually associated
an intensive meaning. But there are occasions when the in
tensive sense occurs without a perfective sense, and then
dpne, is seen as perfectly appropriate. That is equally the
case when a non-intensive perfective situation occurs, such
as (259). This is a part of the general process
by which
meanings cluster, overlap, but never perfectly coincide.
In this case, the meanings of perfective, intensive, and
'relevance to the present', normally converge: we 4one
3.6 Negative attraction and negative concord

This section wtll deal with a number of syntactic pro

characteristic of NNE
ceases in negative sentences which are
In 3.5.3, we consid-
and differentiate it from WNS and SE.
ered the morphological shape of negatives, and their place
in the verbal paradigm. Here much more extended discussion
Some of the
will be given to the syntax of the negative.
sentences produced by NNE speakers are strikingly different
from SE in their surface form: Overheard at Spotless Cleaners:

(269) When it rain, nobody don't know it didr t.

In the midst of our first teen age group session, the leader
of the Cobras said:

(270) It ain't no cat can't ge in no coop.

(15, Cobras, #477]

In an early narrative of the danger of death, a Negro man

from the SEENYC samp3e, raised in New York City, said of a
gunshot:
(271) Didn't nobody see it, didn't nobody hear it. 4210)
(46, N.Y.C.,

These sentences are puzzling because their semantic interpre-

tation does not fit the known rules of SE or WNS. For white
speakers, (269) and (270) have just the opposite meaning from
(271) is that
what the speakers intended. The construction of
of a question, yet the intonation contour and the context
plainly signal a declarative statement. It would seem at
first glance that these sentences represent deep-seated d f
ferences in the organization of NNE grammar, whlch affect
meanirg and the fundamental syntactic apparatus. However, the
discussion in the following pages will show that this is not
slight ad
the case--that these sentences are produced by
justments in transformations used by all English speakers.

In this section, we will be concerned with the rules for

negative attraction, concord and incorporation into indefi
considera
nites. The generalizations will be useful for a from
tion of the non-standard syntax of WNS and NNE alike; the
this analysis, we will derive one of the clearest views of
The
relations between SE, WNS and NNE as systems of rules.
general pleonastic character of certain NNE rules willofemerge
nega
more clearly. In general, we can say that the study
tive attraction and concord offers one of the best opportun The
ities to study the relations between grammatical systems.
anelysis given here will not enter deeply into the internal
structure of the variation observed, nor study the variable In
constraints in NNE, although that is a logical next step.
this case, we will be able to compare dialects by using the
simple triplet of 0, -, 1--characterizing rules as applying
never, optionally, and categorically.
267-
 3,6.1. The...a7; v tt ctiam.xmlg. From the out
set, we must take into account t e fundamental rules for
negative incorporation and attraction first formalized by
Klima (1964:267, 280). Klima begins with a category and of
4.
Quantifier which includes such surface forms as rome
These are converted into Lagfinites in the presence of a
negative pre-verbal particle, so that instead
of *That howm
AM121.1..baYS,f5221,0,dagZett we have the indefinite any
replacing
zaza in ThatjmutawAgmalm_tAtmeLany.j,9sza. In the notation
used in this section, the rule will appear as:

(272) Neg - X - Quant

1 2 3 1 2 Indef 4. 3

(273) Quant - Y Neg

1 2 3 Indef l 2 3

Two rules are needed since the rule operates both forward and
backward from the Leg which is located (by a previous rule)
in the pre-verbal position. Throughout this discussion, we
will use the simple notation .N..2g for the sentence-negating
Neg which is transferred from the type marker to the pre-
verbal position. Adverbial negatives, or negatives implicit
(+Nee with an
in a word such as 21/109m1 will be indicated as
appropriate subscript on the bracket such as (411cg] adv'
The rulesgiven here apply throughout the sentence, since
no restrictions are placed on X and Y. There are cases where
the rule is optional, and obligatory in others, but the de
tails will not affect the further discussion.
Given these indefinites, we find that in SE the negative
This
is attracted to the first indefinite in the sentaace.
process is obligatory if the indefinite precedes the verb,
but optional if it follows. Thus we have in SE:

(274) Nobody knows anything.

But we cannot have

275) *Anybody doesn't know anything.
276) *Anybody knows nothing.
These rules are obligatory for NNE speakers as well as SE and
that sen
WNS. In our memory tests (see section 3.9) we found
tences such as (275-6) were simply baffling to our subjects.
They did not even try to repeat them--the effect was close to
that of a foreign language.
When the indefinite follows the verb, we can have either
form, with or without negative attraction:
271 John knows nothing.
278 John doesn't know anything.

268-
The indefinites that we are concerned rith are realized
(without the negative) as ny, Alm, ever, =W. When
the negative is incorporated, we pt
not any -> no, none
not one -0, no one, none
not ever-0, never
not either-4, Jleither

Even without the negative incorporated in them: these inde

inites carry negative Information; that is, in negative
sentences, their presence instead of other Quantifiers in-
Icates the operation of rules (272-3). The incorporation of
the negative is a purely formal operation in this sense.

279) 1 want some more.

2801 I don't want any more.
2815*1 don't want some more.

Given the existence of a negative element in the underlying

structure of (280), the resulting forms of the quantifiers
are predictable and carry no information.
As Klima has obse:oved, the negative attracticn rule is
ordered after the passive transformation, since the nega-
tive of Esagsly.1,eikuLany=ng is Esdhing._,IaallszLIi...anyhQsly.
It is also obvious that this rule is ordered before person
number agreement takes effect.
It is intereoting to note that the obligatory character
of negative attraction ia strongest when the indefinite is
in absolute first position, and that some items can protect
the indefinite from the obligatory force of the rule. Thus
the following examples seem quite acceptable to many speakers'
289 Por anyone not to come would be a shame.
283 That anyone didn't want to come is hard to believe.
Thus complementizer placement (Rosenbaum 1966) must be ordered
before negative attraction, if we are to preserve a simple
statement of the conditions for obligatory application of the
rule--i.e., aboolute first position. The situation is not
so clear with the third member of the set of complementizers,
which theoretically has an abstract POSsessive feature pre
ceding the indefinite:

(284)*9Anyone'snot eating in my mother's restaurant is

bound to make me angry.

When the clause is embedded in a matrix sentence, the situa

tion also seems to be marginal:
9
(285) 'I hate for anyone not to eat in my motherto res-
k

taurant.

269
 (286) I hated it that anyone didn't eat in my mother's
restaurant.
(287) si hated anyone's not eating in my mother's restaurant.

Although these sentences are marginal, they are clearly more

acceptable to most speakers than
(288) *He noticed that anyone didn't go.

It therefore appeal'o that "first position" may

be irrelevant
It
to the conditions for obligatory negative attraction.
allowed to
seems more likely that an indefinite is never out)
precede the negative; note that (as Klima has pointed
the marginal ea:6es of (282-4) almost always involve
verbs or
predicates of negative affect. The negative content of
hate seems to diminish the obligatory force of negative at-
traction, and of course an actual negative remaves this com
pulsion altogether:

(289) I don't believe anyone would eat there.

For a consistent approach to this obligatory condition, it

seems best to posit that the extraposition rule is obliga-
tory, operating before negative attraction. Thus the nega
tive predicate precedes the indefinite as a zesult:

(290) It(anyone doesn't eat in my mother's restaurant)

- is a shame It's a shame (anyone doesn't eat
in my mother's restau.ant).

Sentences such as (282 4) are therefore de.,ived by a later

of the
complementizer placement, foregrounding, and deletion
dummy It. The basic outlines of the SE rules for negative
attraction are therefore:

X Irdef Y - [4-neg] Obligatory if

(291)
2 3 4 1 2+4 3 X E (+neg]

not con
In the notation used here, the symbol E means "doesin the pre
tain". The feature (+negi is of course contained
verbal particle Nag as well as in such adverbs as hardly,
verbs such as 01.0t, Aany,
scarceALY, rarolY, 4S1AS26 and
as well as predicates such as ALAduale, harlsiaraitand,
impose:0)1e, zisligulsaa, and jankalgyablg. Marginal cases
involve latul, detestt, which lead to intermediate accepta
bility of sentences such as (285-7).
rule of negative incorporation will
After (291), a
a pre-verbal particle Reg with the
apply that combines
none, never, etc. This rule does not
Indefinite to yield
as harday, which simply remain in place
affect adverbs such
to give HArdly.anyholy When the main verb of the sen-

-270
 quired a
tence contains [+neg], then there will be re hout moving
special provision which moves the feature
No
wit
the verb: AnyannausLthant eparate pred
When the (+negj feature is contained in a s
ication such as.ip q shamed the operation of (291 will
lead to exactly the same results as extr position:

(292) It - anyone Y is a shame

1 2 3 4 14+23
Therefore we need not propose that extraposition be
made obligatory. The force of (291 ) is in effect a com
pulsory extraposition, and we need
not enter this con
dition for non-negative sentences
to
A second part of the SE rule transfers the negative
a following indefinite,

(293) Neg - X - Indef

1 2 3 2 1+3 X E Indef
only to the
This rule is optional, and applies as shown
pre-verbal particle.
I didn't hit a nyone I hit no one,
(294)
note that some
There are special conditions required to but
adverbs such as harsUiy can be transported by the rule,
are unaffected
not others such as malgx, Verbs, of course, This rule is
even when they cont ain a negative feature.limited for
not general to all of SE: it is sharply
colloquial speech We cannot specify the particular con
.
standard,
ditions under wh ich (293) can apply to colloquial
(295-7) are
but in general it cannot. Sentences such as
bookish and literary in flavor,
ow nothing about it.
296 He struck no oil.
297 D id he find no one home?
which we may call
These are characteristic of a dialect the Standard
Standard Literary English [SIB], as opposed to
Colloquial Englisk [S0E] which does not apply (293) and pre
serves the negative in the pre-verbal position.

291 I don't know anything about it.

299 He didn't strike any oil.
300) Didn't he find anyone home?

The cases where SCE tolerates a later negative seem to be

emphatic as in nt not f o yku or involved with
But we also
embedded sentences as ALIBLAWainguAo...4.2. natural than
have ._bs_ajtaLinatadTxy, home, which seems morenot clear, butt
Thepe misro anybsuly homq. The detnils are
in outline 293) is SLE property.
-271-
 WN e.te t ve One can
3.6.2,
that
sum up the SE approach to negative attraction by saying
the negative is attracted to the first indefinite of the
sentence--obligatorily before the verb, optionally there
after, The non-standard equivalent of this statement is
simpler on the face of it: the negative is attracted to
evcry indefinite. But it is necessary to add the same
conditions: obligatorily before the verb, and optionally
thereafter. It would seem necessary, then, to preserve
the two separate rules of type (291) and (293), and to
alter them so that the negative is dispersed pleonastically
throughout the sentence. If it wyre not for the distinction
of obligation between pre-verb and post-verb status, we could
write one transformation with a convention to indicate posi
tion before or after the verb.

The distinction between negative concord and negative

attraction or conJord is that the negative remains in place
when it is transforred--that is, it multiplies itself.

(301) (+nog] - X - Indef

1 2 3 1 1+3

Since there are no restrictions that X must contain no

Indefinite, this rule is plainly simpler and more general
than (293). We can use the more general feature j+neg] here
since adverbs such as ImIslly set this rule into motion.

(302) [WNS] He hardly eats any food--0,H, hardly eats no food.

However, negative verbs such as Amy or Ama?ji do not operate

this way, and certainly further details must be added. Here
we will be concerned with the form of negative concord with
the pre-verbal negative and negative adverbs. The rule of
course is optional--there is no compulsion on WNS speakers
to convert every indefinite into a negative, and as we shall
see, they do not.
(303) I don't think AnylsAy wants to die. (16, Inwood, #708]

As far as the scope of negative concord is concerned, there

seem to be no restrictions on sentence boundaries, and it
can be extf,,ded to include all indefinites within the
surface
sentence limits. To a certain extentp this is true of SLE
also, for (293) shows no constraint to sentence limits:

(304) I don't like the way any of you did that.

(SLEY-+I like the way none of you did that.
(WNS]-0I don't like the way none of you did that.

There are many details to be worked out here, esp ^ially as

far as SLE is concerned. He didn't 0.14:b wIlere **ere pati

-272
Axacdirt does not transform to 11.e..p AA
But it is po sible
ing..Alm/ without changing the meaning.
with the
to say Act_slidaLL,Rair)±,212=2,Absztjamact.lia
same meaning as the original, Furthermore, it seems pos
sible to extend negative concord indefinitely,.,

(305) [WNS] I ain't gonna sit in no chair and let no

crazy lawyer tell me no lies about no law that
no judge has in no law book that no smart pol
itician wrote or nothinf like that, nohow.

There is tust one negative in the underlying structure here.

In general, negative concord, or "double negatives" offer
underlying and
a very clear view of the difference between will
surface structure, A strong stress on a second negative
signal the intention to refer to a second negative in the
deep structure. Thus we reverse the meaning by stress

(306) Nobody here drinks 24 beer X Nobody here drinks

no beer.

If we preserve the constraint that the intervening material

in (293) or (301) does not contain a negative, it will still
Thus as
be possible in (301) to have negative concord*
long as the negative is reduplicated, we can pass on from
indefinite to indefinite. But this restriction would not
be appropriate if WNS speakers can skip indefinites:
9
(307) Nobody takes any stuff from nobody around her
'

Such sentences seem acceptable to our native'intuitions at

of
one moment, unacceptable the next--and the difficulties
using intuitive judgments with non-standard dialects will
be shown in chapter 4. Only further exploration of actual
WNS speech patterns will provide this information. But at
the moment, such a restriction on (301) seems unnecessary,
and the present form will generate (307).

Irmagm.±.9.1.1===lal.Aultim. There are two

distinct dialects of WNS as far as negative concord is con
cerned. For one, which we will call WNS1, the
following
sentence is unacceptable, for the other; WNS2, it is well
formed.

(308) Nobody don't know.

Por WNS tha negative can appear in the pre-verbal position

We
as wall as incorporated into the preceding indefinite.
2'
following in
can also retain this negative with transfer to
definites.
(309) Down there nobody don't know about no club.

273-
These sentences will not be produced b (301) as it now
of t e negative attrac
stands, for after the application
tion rule (291) the Neg is removed from pre-verbal posi
tion, and it will not be transferred back again by 301)
(310):
On the other hand, these rules will produce

(310) He don't know nothin'

and WM,. Thorefore
and this is acceptable to both WM,'WNS, butrnot WM,. What
rule (291) and (301) characterize this
adjustment in the rules will register 'the facts fot
dialect? We have two choices:
that
a. Make the Negatrac rule (291) pleonastic,
let the structural change lead to
1 2 3 4 1 4+2 3 4

This will keep the negative in the pre-verbal position,

there, yielding
but it will also keep the (Illeg] in hardly same for pred
Mail.14c.fumlwAy.aaray.lataJihaI,4"-Wrirthe make WNSI,
icates like AA..A.Abamg. Purthermore, it will
from SLE, 4
seem more different from WNS, than WITS, is (On the other
which iu on the face of it a'strange rgsult, with the type
hand, this kind of pleonasm would fit in well
AnytOY denies that Nobody denies that.)

b. Develop the Neg Concord rule (301) further by

marker, as one
including the pre-verbal position, or tense Thls indeed
of the target sites for negative transfer.
seems to be the right solution, in view of a development of
step further, as dis-
this rule in NNE which carries us one
cussed below. Thus we have
(+T]
(301') (stineg]- X - Indef
1 2 3 1 2 1+3
to either a tense
Here the negative feature is distributed
evyn if both are op
marker or an indefinite. But note thatresult by distribut
tion0q (301') will generate the wrong following clause.
ing the negative to a tense marker in a
(304') I don't like the way any of you did that
(WNS] *---)a don't like the way none of you didn't
do that.
(+T],
Therefore we must write in a restriction that if 3 is
then X F i0. In one way, this development is mot entirely
desirable, because WNSo has a more complicated grammar,
generality for
even though the data sbems to show greater
its use of negative concord. Note that the scope of the
enlarging from SLE
single underlying negative is gradually
to WNS to WNS These are all optional rules, though it is
1 2'

274-
apparent that the frequency with which the rule applies drops
steadily as we consider points further and further from the
original position. The use of "optional" here is only the
first step in the development of a variable rule, but it wil?.
subrules
serve very well to contrast the optionality of some
with the obligatory character of others.

Thajgg e nstake.,:atjaggidatmssulaal. When

3.6,3.
we approach NNE, we are first struck by the ranging
qualitative ex
from very
tension of negative concord, with sentences to carry
ordinary uses of (301) to others which somehow seem of (291)
the principles further. We have the ordinary use
and 301) in

(311) Nobody had no bloody nose or nosebleed...

[13, T-Birds, #375]

The negattve concord rule (301) seems to be applied with

great regularity.

(312) I'm not no strong drinker. [15, N.Y.C. #YH 41]

She didn't play with none of us.(27, S.C., 852]
(313)
(314) She might not never get him no time.
(15, Jets, #560)
concord builds up
In this last example, we note that negative even though
with a regular rhythm which seems to go beyond WNS,
the corresponding SE sentence, Misual
janut, is merely4emphatic

(315) You better =I never steal nothinl from me.

(16, Jets, #614]
are
Combinations with might"ngt_mmt etc., and IIIBIAly.flAX=
very common.
(316) A nigger hardly never get no pussy,
(16, Lame, #753)

(317) Once you get an even break, don't fuck it up,

'cause you might not never get no time see tem
again. [15, Jets, #560]

We find that NNE falls in the class of WNS, since the nega
tive is freely re-transferred to the pre-verbal position.

(318) Nobody don't know where it's at0[17, Cobras, #518]

(319) Nobody not supposed to bring firecrackers to school.
[13, Jets, #610]

(320) Down there nobody don't know about no club.

[25, Pla., 025]
(321) Nobody might not surprise me, and shoot me!
(15, Oscar Bros., 4585)
275
Thia last example meant "Nobody will surprise me." So far,
it seems that NNE is equivalent to WNS0, but with a slight
qualitative richness in negative concord, But the important
thing about the basic negative concord rule for NNE is that
it is A= optional, while for both WNS dialects, it is. 90
Whereas the WNS rule may operate 10, 20, or even 80 or
per cent of the time, the NNE rule seems to have a q of
1.00. Table 3-26 shows the distribution of the negative
concord rule (301) within the clause for NNE peer groups
and others. The contrast with Table 3-5 and 3-6 is quite
striking: these show the variable whidh approaches most
closely to the status of a constant--simplification of
monomorphemic clusters before a consonant. But in Table
3-5, almost every one of the ten Jets d)zops the rule at
one point or other--only one showed 100'/0 simplifiRation.
But eight of the same ten used negative concord 100w/o of
the time in transferring the negative to indefinites within
the clause.
Table 3-26 shows in the first column the absolute
numbers of applications of the rule compared with the
total number of indefinites where the rule might haxe been
applied. For the NNE peer groups, it applies 98-99'h of
the time in single style, and--for the T-Birds and Cooras,
1000/o in groups. In the second column, the numbers of
individuals who used the rule categorically is shown--in
every case, the great majority. A comparable table for
100,Th will shnw the reverse--the great majority drop the rule
arTne point or another. As we shall see in Chapter 4, one
can actually deal with these individual cases quite success
fully, and show that most of the exceptions to such a reg-
ular rule are motivated in terms of the marginal position
of the individual in respect to the group- or the presence
of a conflicting set of values.
The regularity of the NNE negative concord rule extend3
somewhat wider than most NNE features as discussed in 3.5.
The lames are not far behind the peer groups--only those in-
dividuals who are most removed from the peer group culture
show variation in their use of the rule. We have also noted
here the 48/48 record of the Danger Girls, our one record of
a female peer group, and the regularities which appeared in
our work with Negro adolescents in Venice, Cal. and the Hough
area of Cleveland.
The white Inwood groupo contrast sharply with the dava
for the NNE peer groups. As we can see, WNS can use the
negative concord rule quite freely--but it is essentially
variable for all white speakers wp have met. Here the Inwood
groups show a high percentage--80'4/o--of negative concord,
but nowhpre near the NNE level, And only 4 of 15 records
show 100Vo: two of these were trivial oases of 1/1.

-276--
 TABLE 3 26

USE OF THE NEGATIVE CONCORD RULE

BY NNE PM GROUPS AND OTHERS

Negative concord within the clause outside the

clause, to
1...Q.B.LLIDAS=2 S-modifier
STYLE Amt./maul. MP lige/ Inatanme indpfiniteg

T-Birds A 62/62 5/5 2/13

11/13 12/34 1/11
94/96

Cobras A 70/10 11/11 12/35 0/1

B 18088 14/16 7/18 0/5

Jets A 149/151 13/15 10/38 1/3

B 360/370 25/30 39/97 2/1

Oscar Bros. A 53/55 4/5 10/21 5/5

B 79/81 3/4 6/12 0/2

Lames B 73/81 10/12 1/6 0/3

Danger Girls A 48/48 4/13

Venice B 31/37 4/6 4/9 0/1

Hough A 12/12

A 25/32 2/7 0/36 cV2

Inwood
[white] B 34/42 2/8 0/35 0/1
Thus NNE differs from WNS in a most important way, The dif
ference between a variable rule and a categorical one is
lightly.
a fundamental one, and the transition is not made
When we see how sharply all of the NNE groups are divided
from the WNS groups, and how uniform their behavior is, it
becomes quite apparent that NNE is a system in itself,
though closely related to t43a other English dialects

In our presentation of variable rules, we have wished

to emphasize that this variability is not a deviation from
the "true" norms, caused by some difficulties in performance
which make it impossible for speakers to grasp these norms
as well as others do. If that were the case, then all NNE
rules would be variable, in so far as they departed from SE.
In this case, what would we say about WNS? That they failed
to grasp the NNE norm? What failure in performance makRs it
possible for NNE speakers to apply negative concord 100',/o
of the time? What has happened to the "dialect mixture"
which was supposed to account for the variable rules studied
in sections 3.3 and 3.4? In 3.5 and 3.6 we see the oppos
The
ite situation, where NNE is consistent and invariant.
question must be posed to those who see NNE as a collection
of deviations from the SE standard, and to those who see
the actual perfor,gance of the ghetto youth as a deviation
from some ideal, homogeneous Black English. In either case,
confirmed by
we see that the existence of variable rules is
the discovery of invariant rules--we cannot hope to explain
away the variability of the copula and use the same argu-
ments for the constancy of negative concord.
V u ec t e t
The consistency we have shown here will not appear at first In
glance to those approaching negative concord as a whole.
the first place, the transfer of the negative to the pre-not
verbal position, incorporating with the tense marker, is
constant in NNE. On the contrary, speakers use it from 25
to 50'/0 of the time. . keeping fairly close to the average
.

of 35-400/o. All of tha NNE groups show some use of this

with ITINS
sub-rule, following (301') and tharefore agreeing '
in this respect. But the Inwood groups do not--they are
clearly WNS1, using only rule (301), as Table 3-26 shows.
Another sub-section of the rule which must be
split off concerns transfer to indefinites outside of the
clause, which is definitely not constant for NNE--on the
contrary, this is not done much more often than it is done.
The last column of Table 3-26 shows the frequency with which
NNE groups and others incorporate the negative into apposi-
tional Ipitber, =lam Anymo;'e. These plainly stand out-
side of the central clause, separated by sentence bound-
aries in the underlying representation, and are not in-
cluded. Typically, we have
(322) They're not too hip, or anything.
[13, Jets, #605]
In our first quantitat ve studies of negative concord we
ineludedthese indefini es with the primary category, but
it soon became apparent that the small degree of variability
in the rule was due to just this factor, and the rule ap
peared as properly categorical when it was removed.

As far as the adults are concerned, we find that they

fall away rapidly from the NNE categorical rule. Only
three of the adults in our sample used the rule all the
time--two of these are in the lower section of the working
class raised in the South, and all three are men. One of
these is the only adult who used a moderate percentage of
Ault in the preterit (see 3.5.3). The study of negative
concord among the adults is therefore a study of social
stratification of a variable feature, and is quite apart
from the NNE constant rule we are considering here. This
situation confirms the view we have of the NNE grammar,
that it develops in pre-adolescence and reaches its full
and most characteristic form in the years 13-17 among the
central members of the street culture. As a speaker leaves
this culture, and enters adult life, his grammar changes
quite rapidly towards a modified form of NNE- though still
incorporating many of the fundamental rules,

The uce of pny and other indefinites in e negative

clause is therefore a mark of departure from NNE. As we
examine our records for such items, we encounter the names
of adult women who are noted for their hypercorrection in
other areas. For example, a woman marked for her many
examples of hyper-D in 3.2.9, says

(323) He won't do anything but go... [35, S.0 #729]

One of the lames who stood out sharply since he was in

terviewed together with a secondary member of the Jets says:

(324) I don't have any laat friends. [15, Lame, #623]

Even the lexical choice and the content of this remark can
identify the speaker as remote from peer group culture,
in which the corresponding term is madLugan. Larry W., the
speaker, will figure prominently in our contrast of lames
and peer group members in 4.3. He said to John Lewis at
one point, wWe don't be In the house; we be on top of the
house..." ahd then turned to Leon who was with him and said

(325) But we don't be there anymore, dummy!

Ct12=aarginal.gxtsmiga. Besides the sentence-

modifying ..e.Lthessi and sinytm,Lxasot there are a number of other
variable categories within the clause involving implicit [neg].
One such item is githe.ut which bears a [4-neg] as seen in
this pair of quotations:
 (326) I gave you a dime, too, without no effort,
[15, Lame, #623]

(327) ..without no police botherin' him.

[16, Cobras, #607]

of without
At the same time, we find a great many cases
Thunderbirds
plus Any. For example, the leader of the
excited group
says, In sounding against others in an
session t t t 211h221
aparajimaxg.2n,Eluzit any,Eumg We must therefore
consider that some implicit [illegj do not have the same
implicit in
status as others. We can feel the [neg)
kat which makes the following non-standard:
.

(328) My sons, they ain't but so

26, N.Y.C., #840)
Wouldn't be but one. 36, 5.0., #729]
(329)
(330) They don't know but one thing. [52, Fla., #6623
enter into the same pat
Yet the 32111 does not necessarily hand,
tern of compulsory negation as Dat. On the other xgaalagay,
baraly has an implicit negative, and along withrepresented
etc., it enters fully into the
consistent rule
in Table 3 26.
Since we now know
211gLaadaxlying.mantifiara, concord
that NNE is categorical in its use of the negative about
rule, we oan use this information to make inferences
indeterminates
the nature of the underlying quantifiers or It is common
which are converted to "indefinites" by Neg. in this
ly assumed that the indefinite article is included
Some would argue
category, as reflected in Klima's account.
bodk. But this
that 3, may underly n2 in I don't have AO NNE speakers
seems very unlikely, in v75W7a7he fact that
do not convert a tom.
[12, N.Y.C., #416]
(331) Never lost a toe, either.
I ain't never lost a fight. (12, Chicago, #4713
(332)
the notion that imag. is
In the same way, we have to reject far as NNE members
the underlying form of any, at least as
are concerned.
..I don't give my friends some. (13, T-Birds, #4653
(333)
I ain't want some more. [9, T-Birds, #586]
(334)
(335) They don't have something like this.
[13, Jets, #610]
We don't sometime use that. (12, N.Y.C., #416]
(336)

-280-
It is possible that this use of agae, represents a failure
it
of the negative incorporation rule at the outset, but
seems more likely that the indefinite is somethingswjan
more
abstract than lime or Azy, and that the choice of
represents positive semantic information. There is certa n
of view, in saying
ly something wrong, from an SE point
LjsaaLt_hame_sLamatWaag_aika._tJaat. The expression IjsuiLt,
Amu is marginal for most. But it must not beIn forgotten
large areas
that the meanings of these items can shift.
of the middle West, especially through Ohio, it is quite
normal and acceptable to use eaDy positively. ittrzajisz_thg
izazigsLany.inag means lwe go -nowadays' and the redundant
use of an,y with negatives gives way to morb positive seman-
tic function.

In a
BasaiZAt.9.4...thg_DggatiYA-U_Ilgt,
great many sentences with nPgative concord, NNE Tail a
free-standing zat as one e2(v,:a negative, where one would
have expected the rules for negative attraction and con
cord to incorporate it with others.

(337) My mother, she ain't took me there not yet.

[9, #364]

(338) Not no more hardly, though. [13, Queens, #819A]

(339) I can walk through this wall, but not my physical

structure can't walk through this wall.
(15, Cobras, #566]
This phenomenon is not very common, and is hardly E. part
of the regular rule, but it seems to represent an extension
of negative concord which takes the negative to other likely
places where support is not usually provided, and realizes
t as zal. Sometimes it appears RS .11.0

(340) I never went to no much school. [35, N.Y.C., #343]

3.6.4, Laufax....of tbg.nagative jpeya1

Like the dialects of WNS
'..09.Aitaaa0.-MtallealaWag.
outlined above, NNE can transfer the negative to indefi-
nites outside the clause.

(341) I'm not gonna stand there and let nobody hurt lim.
[15, Jets, #524]

(342) But I don't think itIll be nr, more than abcut ten
months. [151 N.Y.O.,

This laws item may not be included under this rule if the
special negative transport rule for Lihink..that... precedes
transfer to
the negative concord rule. In any case, the
following indefinites is quite frequent.

281-
 (343) He never did know wanta know h w nothin' happen.
35, 5,()., #729]

We now encounter one further extension of the negative con

cord rule which is entirely outside of WNS possibility. It
is indeed quite beyond the imagination or comprehension of
WNS cpeakers that a negative can be transferred to the pre
verbal position 122ELIslusayln&slaima. For WNS speakers,
such a negative would inevitably refer to a Aragiasi under
lying negative in the deep structure, and so reverse the
meaning. We first encountered this phenomenon in a statement
7_

of Speedy quoted above.

(270) It ain't no cat can't get in no coop.

This sentence occurred in a conversation which followed the

question, "Do cats .. ever get into your cage?" Speedy, the
leader of the Cobras) answered Clarence Robins, "They never
(Pot in one of mine." Junior says at the same time,
o; they scree-- unless they got th- one of them j
coops!" There is general laughter, Speedy chuckles twice,
and utters (270).

For some time, we considered 4hat (270) might be an

idiosyncratic extension of the rules, although it occurred
in a context which made this seem unlikely. However, in the
course of the next year we collected the follow4ng additional
examples:

(344) (0: What about the subway strike?)

Well, wasn't much I couldn't do. [15, Cobras, #496]
(345) I don't know if the girl never got fucked or not!
[13, Jets, 4.621]

It was not mentf.oned in

our previous discussion that myex
in pre-verbal position does not accept the interpretation of
negative concord from a prsvious clause in WNS.

(346) I told you, I don't believe there's no God.

[16, Jets, #667]
From the context of a lengthy discussion, there is no doubt
that the speaker, doesn't beliGve that there is a God.

(347) Whon it rain, nobody don't know it didn't.

[statement made by a Negro clerk]
(348) Back in them times there ain't no kid around that
ain't--wtsn't even thinkinl about smokinl no reefers.
[29, Bronx, #812]
Finally, we observe the following line embedded in "The Fall",
one of the most polished of the long epic poems preserved in
the oral tradition of Negro folk lore:

-282
 (349) It wasn't no trick couldn't shun he

In this toast, the narrator is telling of a whore who was

a superb professional, and in Saladin's version given here,
the negative is transferred to the following clause just as
in the other examples. The meaning is, "There was no cus
tomer who could shun her," (For further discussion of
toasts, see 4.2)

Y.and.aanatanay.21
The discussion of
negative concord allows us to compare at this point the
range of dialects through using the three basic concepts of
Op "p I discussed in 3,2 above--symbolizing that a rule
is never applied, is applied optionally, or is always ap
plied, The following scheme symbolizes the situation:
Use of negatjve concord
with indefinites with tense markers
flame olfmac other oli Amg.glama other cl.
SE 0 0 0 0

WNS . . 0 0

. " 0
WNS
2
.
NNE 1

This gradual extension of the scope and completenessof a

grammatical rule is characteristic of many NNE features.
In general, it provides us with the kind of model required
to explain changes in linguistic structures--an impene
trable mystery if we confine ourselves to the study of
categorical behavior. Within each of these - symbols thare
is a rich opportunity to discover the variable constraints
upon the variable, and to penetrate more deeply into the
mechanism of the shift which is seen here in synchronic
section.

3.6.5. II There remains one important

feature of negative syntax, in which NNE carries colloquial
Southern beyond the pattern used by mtlte speakers. It is
the negative inversion first noted in (271), in which the
reversal of tense marker and subject characteristic of ques
tions occurs in declarative sentences.

-283-
 (350) Ain't nothint happenint In shit. [16, Jets, #668]
(351) Ain't nobody complainint but you, man.
[16, Jets, #715]
(352) Ain't nobody gont let you walk all around town to
find somebody to whup them. [15, Oscar Bry, #584]
(353) Ain't no white cop gonna put his hands on me.
[16, Jets, #562]

These and many other examples will illustrate the strong

affective character of this construction. As far as the
formal structure and derivation is concerned, it is possible
to relate them to sentences of the form N. 1

(from Indef - is - V) or from sentences with tvo) original

clauses of the form '
pmlninf (with dummy
m SE tbgrp). The second proposal is obviously the simplest
--the deletion of a meaningless yields the right results.
In (350-353) we usually do not find the relative complemen-
tizer and copula retained, so that it is plausible to derive
all of these from an abstract
(354) Indef [$] cop It - cop - Indef [S]
(+neg] fisneg]
We also have cases where other predicates stand after the
indefinite.

(355) Ain't nobody in my family Negro. [12, T Birds, #3181

(356) Ain't nobody a man. [15, Cobras, #566]

(357) Ain't uothint broken on me to fix. [10, T-Birds, #465]

(358) Ain't nothinl you can do for tem. [56, S.O., #755]

The last example is strong evidence for derivatioa from sen

tences with dummy it, Whereas (350) may be derived from
a single clause, and (355) similarly from Ea.adyiatzy family
ain't NCIT21 if we posit an underlying
(358') *Nothin' ain't (that) you can do for tem.
since this would be automatically converted to (358")
(358") It ain't nothinl (that) you can do for tem
Furthermore, we have other sentences where the tense marker
is retained after tha indefinite, pointing to a second clause
in the same way as (358):
(359) Ain't nothinl went down. (rpt] [18, Jets, #561]
(360) Ain't nobody ever thought 'bout pickinl up nothinl
[25, lila., #825]
With all of this evidence, it seems odd that the present
section was entitled "Negative inversion", This choice of
a heading reflects the fact that we cannot overlook the

-284--
relationship between (350-357) and such sentences as
(271) Didn't nobody see it, didn't nobody hear it.
146, N.Y.C., #210]

This is plainly negative inversion, somehow rolated to

Ea.,QAY . It is a form which is apparently well
known in colloquial Southern speech, without negative con
cord: adn2.t.any.122.4y.1Lea.i.t. The aihat forms cited above
are apparently not used by white southerners, although we
have only meager data on this point. As we noted
in 3,5.3, Aln4t is used for 4jrclillt about half the time in
NNB, so that the following may be parallel to (271):
(361) Ain't no cop never beat me in my head.
[16, Jets, #614]
Furthermore, the explanation of (350-357) as derived from
two clauses does not suggest any reason why Anartgjatust are
always involved. On the basis of the derivations given, it
should also be possible to drop any dummy it.
(362) It ain't my stick Ain't my stick.
Of course we know that this is a possible deletion, although
it is not common in our records, but it can hardly be mis
taken for the type of sentences we have been quoting. The
deletion of j in such a hypothetical sentence as Alat.my
&Usk is casual, allegro style, whereasAity:t,ao.up never
ImAlLing,Ind.mx.laad is not: it is emphatic, excited, and
strongly affective
There are other cases where the explanation from two
clauses ls not possible. We find As2122,1 as well as .11=1,
indicating that the tense marker has been moved from the
main clause and received support.

(363) Don't nobody break up a fight. [12, Chicago, #470]

(364) Don't no average motherfucker make no fifty dollars
a day. P.6.. Jets, #6611
(365) Doesn't nobody really know that it's a God, you knaw7
[16, Jets, #360]

Moreover, it is extremely common for negative inversion to

take place with gen't.
(366) Can't nobody tag you then. [12, Chicago, WO]
(367) Can't nobody beat tem. [11, Cleveland, #3501
(368) Can't nobody stop it. [14, Jets, #616]
So far, all of the examples that we have given show the nega-
tive in absolute first position. It is apparently possible
to have another clause precede, though this is unusual;
we even have one instance of a clause with negative inversion
embedded in another clause.

-.285
 (369) He's big, and can't nobody check him and shit.
[16, Jets, #667]
(370) I know a way that can't nobody start a fight.
[12, Chicago, #4701

The range of modals which can be used seems to be quite

affective nature of nega
limited. From the emphatic and
tive inversion, we would infer that ZVI =alit MINIM
and sibmad are Lot likely to be used. We find one case
of EMU:
(371) Won't nobody catch us, [12, Chicago, #470]

We also find the past tense of the verb which of course

is open to either interpretation discussed'here.
(372) Wasn't nobody home. [16, Jets, #667]
(373) Wasn't nobody gettinl hurt or nothin'.
[16, Jets #562]

But as conclusive as this evidence seems, we also encounter

forms where negative inversion might have been used with mod
ale, but .a=
appears in first position instead.
(374) Ain't nobody could--ylknow like.. [15, Cobxas, #477]
It is the same speaker mte said

In order to assess
ot.
the evl or these two oppo ing interpretations of the
.. sentences, it will be
helpful to summarize the
arguments as follows:

a. It is the simplest mechan- a'. tLnij cannot account for

ism.
did, gag, modals, so we need
negative inversion anyway.
b. Why delete .11 only before
admits no other explana- bf
tion, indefinites?
el. Int and timght may only be
perfect forms here. But even
Adra.t.MILUDEZ.JOBLIKL if they contain tense markers
show two tense markers
this is possible in NNE, Of
d, jundujisthsady.smad shows course Ain't can be equal to
speaker's rejection of SE kjizaLt, or didn't.
negative inversion.

It appears that there are exceptions to the rule that negative

inversion takes place only before indefinites. The following
cases show the opposite.
(375) Don't many of them live around here,
[12, Cleveland, #350]

-286
 (376) Itlys against the law--that's
why don't so many people
do it.
[11, Chicago, #4701

prodult of the NNE

The second example can be explained as a How-
inversion rules in embedded sentences, discussed in 3.7.
ever the first clearly-ehows negative inversion
beforemay.
deletion, but since it
In one sense, the argument supports the
occurred with AWDJJ4 which argues against it deletion,
example cuts both ways.
The conclusion of the argument is plainly that a deletion
is used with some sentences beginning jatzin21,..., producing
Negative inversion
a close resemblance to negative inversiol. actually
is a productive process in itself. Native speakers may lan-
differ in their analyses of different sentences, and the
We will now
guage may accordingly develop in both directions.
turn to the exploration of the rules for negative inversion,
first considering the nearest parallel in SE.
In SLE it is possible
Ltal: liar-LAI
to bring negative adverbs to the front of a sentence, at the
marker and subject,
same time reversing the position of tense
the flip-flop pattern also used in questions.
377 Rarely have I seen such insolence.
378 Hardly did he make his presence known
when.
379 Not often did he notice her.
still formal partgl
These are plainly SZE. Less literary, but
lels occur in our interviews with middlecclass adults.
States did - uh - they
(379) Not until he came into United
decide to get married... [31, Bronx, #677]
and neither
(380) The Negro doesn't know about the Negro,
does the white know about the Negro,
[26, Ohio, #672]

can occur in speech

The same kind of adverbial foregrounding
whlch is not formally marked as SLE, and with adverbs that
gay seems to be favored;
are not strongly marked with (-1-neg]. in casual con-
the following example was spoken by W. Labov Cohen):
versation on the telephone (as observed by P.
(381) ...and only on the 260 can I do it
7
The reference is to a tape recorder, the Sony Model 260.of mid
inversion as the usage
we define this kind of negative in style, we may
dle class speakers, not necessarily literary
be more accurate. Our only middle class speaker raised in th
South provided another example with nei4ther:
(382) Certainly not the most homely girl, but,neither did
I look for the most uh- glamorous.
[46, Ne0,, #669]

-287
 3.6.6. kratra.maresasx.Engits4ofnpatiu,auxagiim
the standard negative
apd nggatiag.g.upszd, The existence
and negative inversion pro
attraction, negative transfer, which moves the nega
vides some evidence for the general rule and this data fits in well
tive to the front of the sentence;
attraction and optional negative
with the obligatory negative One approach to the
inversion which we observe in NNE. distribute the
rules for negative syntax in NNE would be toposition, dropping
negative in one sweeping rule from initial conditions in each
it into one slot after another with special concord and
case. Such a rule would lump together negative over-all pattern
negative attraction; it might simplify the certain information on
for NNE, but only at the cost of losing
More importantly, a single
the particular conditions involved. would lose the .
NNB rule for placement of the negativeseveral processes.
distinction between the charactersof
Thls is common to
a. Obligatory negative attraction. Since it is obliga
all dialects of English which we know.
tory, it carries no information.
Negative inversion with affective value. This is an
b. prominence to the nega-
optional process whirh gives additional It has°
in different dialects.
tive, and takes different formswherever it occurs.
a strongly affective character
the
c. Negative concord. A complex distribution of
negative through various indefinite and pre-verbal positions,
It does not have the af-
of varying degrees of optionality.
inversion, but is strongly
fective character of negative social informa
marked as non standard, and therefore carries
tion.
for
In the ordering of these rules, it is necessary
blocks negative
negative inversion to occur first, since it
attraction. In SLE, we get SclIrcely.2111.anyana...

(383) NEGINVERT (optional)

NP - [+nag]
(4,A)

1 2 3 3 2 1

SLE condition: 3 Adv

NNE condition: 1 [ Indef

"is contained in"

The symbols [ and 3 indicate "contains" and
or "is dominated by", (+A.] is an element of the type marker,
pre-verbal position by a
here duplicated along with tense in
previous transformation; it signifies "affective". Normally
NP; it is not clear
the Indef is the first element of an NNE transformation can
if this is necessary. Note that a later

-288-
move the SZE adverb to absolute first position, ahead of sen
tence modifiers: /VT ficaKcely1E111 annat.aitgERIw -4
gaarscray,...tunt will anyang..atign2I... This is not possible
in NNE, where the negative 4. tense marker seem indissolubly
linked.

(384) NEGATTRAC (obligatory)

Indef - X - (4-neg]
1 2 3 3 1 2

Various special conditions have been indicated in 3.6.1 for

verbs and other items which contain implicit [4.neg]. There
are no clear limitations on X. Just as negatives are trans
ported right without any clear-cut limit, so it may be pos
sible to move to an indefinite which is located well to the
left. This rule applies to all dialects.

(38) NEGTRANSPORT (optional)

(1-neg) - X - Indef x F Indef
1 2 3 MINIM+
2 1 3
22E-01.2111Y.

(386) NEGCONCORD
(4.neg] - X Y
1 2 3 1 2 1 4. 3

P222.42i.APPly.ig.A.U.DX.agE
If Y = [41] I slaafLuji.apay...taMs
if X ( s SUMILc....t..aPP2Y.ALM2
otherwise optional
If Y = Indef, if x E Ahligatary,itsztiu
otherwise optional

These rules account for the major outlines of the data pre
sented, and assemble the sub-rules for various dialects into
a single over-all pattern. The ordering of (385) in relation
to (384) is not fixed. Once (384) has applied, (385) is
vacuous, since X is then Indef Y. If (385) were to come
first, (384) would reverse its effect. The present ordering
is thus the most efficient. To illustrate the operation of
the rules, it may be helpful to show the derivation of several
of the observed sentences from the point before (383) to the
surface structure.

-289
A 1ndef+body Neg ever - ed + think about

pick+ing up - Indef+thing
(383) -4 Neg Indef+body ever ed + think -

about - pick+ing up - Indef+thing

(386) Neg tg! (+neg)+Indef+body [1-ngg]+ever

ed + think about - pick+ing up (+neg)+Indef+thing

Ain't nobody never

thought about pickint up nothinl

Since this sentence was spoken by an adult, (386) was not

obligatory, and it did not in fact apply to _ever. The result
was AuLLAW291,y'l

She might Neg ever get him Indef time

(+T]

(386) -4 (4ineg]+ever get - him - (+neg]+Indef

+time
-4 She might not never get him no time.

C When it rain,
it t
Indef+body (+T] Neg - know - #
pa I
(384)-4 Neg Indef+body [+T] know # it 4.3a/
st
(386)-4 Nea Indef+body [leg]) - know # - it -
+nog
-4 nobody don't know it didn't,
3.7 Questions
questions in NNE will be
The following aiscussion of
fairly circumscribed, The data that we have on hand is not
negatives, or the copula,
as extensive as that dealing withmajor focus of our attention.
and we did not make questions a obtain very many
In single interviews, one does not as a rule
questions; in the double interviews conducted by Johnsessions,
Lewis
In the group
later in the series, there were more.
occurred in the card games
the greatest number of questions We were particularly
which "preceded" the session itself. cards, and ex
fortunate in that members tended to cheat at other.
changed quite a few quevtions in challenging each Cobras
sessions, the
In one of the first adolescent group first few pages:
were playing blackjack. We find in the
Derek man,
(387) One mom hand?...Didn't I call it?.Hey/ Go for
I'm not goinl for that. You know that? that
what, man? Whatcha talkin 'bout, baby?...See is y'all
now? You can't take none.Awww man, what cheater,
talkinl about, man? ...Y'all eallinl me a / This
now. Right?...Clmon, man! Whatcha doin'?
This the
the last hand./ Whatchyau.talkinf about? man?
beginninl of the hand! / Eh! Whatchyou doinl,
'Pall gave me some wrong cards, man........ Hey,
he took my nine? / M-hm. Why don't you use it
like a man, punk? Ain't no pretty thing [chuckle].
You don't wanna do that, do you?...Where the othar
where the other
card at?..Where the ace and - uh -
card I gave you?...You wanna snow or hit?
first few minutes of
'These are simply the questions in the the card table.
tape, as the members faced each other across throughout
Even in excited group sessions of the sort cited concentrated as
this report, we do not find as many questions
in card games.

As we examine this particular collection of questions, we

which give us very little
note that there are quite a few forms marker, which is the
information OA the position of the tense
crucial problem in question syntax. In our grammatical search
sentences which
ing, we paid particular attention to those
keep accountable records
gave us fall information, and aid not
of questions such as Lousno..±hat? Y'dig? im.manna-gpaff.sa
traced the forms
hit? Over a limited portion of the data, weparticularly yes
of WH- questions and yes-no questions, and In the following
no questions embedded in other sentences. for a brief survey
discussion we will draw upon this materialtentative conclu-
of the question problem, and provide some given above will
sions. A brief examination of the material
indicate that where there is full information on the tense
simple questions.
marker, it follows the SE pattern -at least in

-291-
 But there are a great many indeterminate cases, as a result
of several of the processes discussed in previous sections:
consonant cluster simplification, copula deletion, and the
deletion of other members of the auxiliary. In embedded
questions, we will see that NNE does follow a path of its
own, or at least goes further along non-standard paths than
others have done.

3.7.1. Yes-no,questions There are a great many yes

no questions where the tense-marker and auxiliary simply
do not appear. One of the commonest expressions among peer
group members is ylunumatan'? We also hear ylknow? yLale
As in any sample of colloquial speech, a literal counting of
questions will be flooded with a great many of these.
These examples are sometimes referred to asita-deletion,
which implies that they underwent the flip-flop rule, then
received do-support for the tense marker, and afterwards had
the 412 removed. There are of course two other possibilities.
a. A2-support is never provided,-and the isolated tense
marker simply disappears like any unsupported abstraction.
b. The flip-flop rule is never applied. These are
simple additions of a question intonation to a declarative
sentence.

The second possibility appears the most unlikely, al

though it is frequently cited. The addition of a rising in
tonation in English does not have the same meaning as the
use of the flip-flop rule or the substitutian of a WH-form.
A citation from discourse analysis, brought to our attention
by Emmanuel Schegloff, provides some convincing evidence on
this point. A radio interviewer asked a why-question of a
telephone caller, who responded, "Why?" with a rising in
tonation. As all native speakers of English realize, this
was not a question directed back at the interviewer; it
was a quotation of the original question which preserved for
him the right to continue. If he had answered "Why?" with
a falling intonation, this would have maant that it was the
other person's turn to talk. In other words, WH-questions
with rising intonations are requests for confirmation, not
questions of the item to which the WH- is attached. Simil
arly, a yes-no question of the form "'You're going home?"
with a rising intonation is a request for confirmation or
rejection of the statement--the intonation places quotation
marks around the statement. Normal yes-no questions, with
or without a rising intonation, utilize the flip-flop rule
to question the truth or falsity of the statement: "Are
you going home?" For these and other reasons, we believe
that many of the questiond without an apparent tense marker
did undergo the reversal of tense marker and subject which
is the basic mechanism of a question in SE. But that is not
necessarily the case with NNE, which may have a different

-71292-
set of rules. We therefore have to cope with the large number
from
of indeterminate cases and see what the basic me0:wlism is
our interpretation of the cleer cases. We find many clear
cases of the flip-flop rule operating in NNE
(388) Is that a shock, or is it not? (13, Cobras, #493]
(389) Is ym down? Are you down? [14, Jets, #497]
(390) Do you have some? do you? do you? [13, Cobra5, #493]

Altogether our limited sample of the grammatical searching

produced 104 such questions, with forms of lai(34), ids1 (39)
and modals (28). But we cannot state at the moment what
this
was the total population of utterances against which
group can be cited, for the reasons given above. There are
the
a very large number of naterances which do not show
flip-flop rule, but those which are requests for confirmation
are not easy to distinguish from those which question the
content of the utterance directly, an even largernumber may
be merely checking for feed-back--retaining phatic coamunion
with the listeners. Por better information, it is necessary
to look tc WH questions.

3.7.2. Rksluesttonq. Once a WH form has been attached

to a noun phrase or adverbial, and brouglIt to the front If
of
the
the sentence, we are plainly dealing with a question.
question has superimposed upon it a rising intonation, we may
conclude that it is being quoted rather than used, but this
is indeed rare in our materials.

The ambiguous cases are still quite numeraas with WH

questions, for one can easily claim A.Q-deletion (or failure
of Ag-support) in the following:
(391) What I need, a 6 or a 5, right? [15, Cobras, #477]
(392) And mhy he do that? Every time somebody fuck with
me, why he do it? [16, Jets, #560)
(393) Why they listen to me? [13, T-Birds, 4275]
(394) How it ta(ste)? [15, Cobras, #477]

Even when the A2-form appears in a question from the inter-

viewer, it is possible for it to be deleted in an echo.
(395) (What kind of things do you do gvith your father?
What kind of things I do with him? [16, Jets, #667]

A certain number of questions occur which are not in the

standard, inverted form, nor ambiguous like (391-395), but
are clearly framed with the tense marker after the subject.
(396) So why you didn't go to school? (26, N.J., #616]

-293-
 (26, N.J., #620)
(397) Why you don't like him? [rpt]
N [13, T-Birds, #1-6]
(398) How I just cheated?
[13, Jets, #6043
(399) Why I don't need no grease?
[12, overheard at
(400) Why I can't play? 113th St. playground)

standard WH
On the other hand, there is no shortage of
questions, with the tense marker before the subject.
(15,Jats,
(401) Why can't you get--get your motherfuckin,--
in (387), we can class4ghe
If we re-examine the extracts information they yield on
WH-questions there according to the
the position of the tense marker.
WH-(43-NP: etandard inversion
what is Vali, talkinl about, man?
Why don't you use it like agman, punk?

WN NP: no information
Whatcha talkin 'bout, baby?
Whatcha doinl?
Whatchyaulallanl about?
Whatchyou doin't man?
Where the other card at? card I gave you?
Where the ace and - uh - where the other
information,
Thus we see that six examples give no direct
through the operations of traction and deletion of 141 and
this information. The first of
AIM and only two preserve There are no examples
these is emphatic, the second negative. natahysEa
of WH NP NI]. Note that the semi-fixed form
(wAN is common in WNS as a result of morphological condense
tion which removes Au and then palatalizes the -1 before the
In WNS we do not consider the possibility of an
y- of yoa.
underlying *What you re doing?
But we must consider this as
of (396-400).
a possibility in RIT8, in the light
makes it
Sometimes the juxtaposition of two variants
in a given place.
clear that the deleted element was
what they goin' fight
(402) What is they goin' fight for? [14, Jets: #599]
for?
of intimate variation of this sort, the
Of the many examples full form as the first variant,
overwhelming majority show the
form as the second. Here we can safely infer
and the deleted of the second in the
that the order of the fir,:rb is the order the same inference f om
underlying structure. We might draw above.
the position of AlaBLig.v.all.talkin.Lahigui?
questions proves us
Our semi-quantitative study of WH

-294-
 rule
with some insight into the frequency of the flip flop
in NNB, Considering the regular verb first, which requires
Aa-SU port for the tense marker in SE, we find:
WH NP
do 13 don't 17
did 12 didn't

WH NP
don't 2
said (2)
had
lost (2) 8
kept
looked
wanted
WH NP
present contexts 35
past contexts 10

One thing which is immediately apparent is that the position

of =It etc. after the subject cannot bedothe result of a
late transformation which first provides support in the
If
standard position, and then re-reverses positions again.
positions
that were the case, then we would get sla and ILA in
comparable to (397), (399), and (400. We do not, andNP,
we can
the
of WH
conclude that in a certain number of cases position and then
tense marker was preserved in the original simply
lost through phonological processes--for the past--or then,
never registered in the present. It will be necessary,
to examine the 45 zero types to see how many of them could
have been derived from WH NP (+T) forms.

In the case of the past contexts, eight of the ten verbs

not have
were ambiguous--pgi, gt, ,bust, etc.--and may or maydo not do
carried a tense marker. Only two of them plainly
so--EmyPu_099 'PM? implies the deletion of a past tense
well be examples of
marker somewhere. But the other eight may of the present con
the non-inverted order. In the 35 cases
texts, a certain number may have in fact been non-inverted,
do not have as
but since third singular 7fi rarely occurs, we
many clear cases as the past shows. It is possible, at the
utmost, that all 35 were non-inverted, which yields a majority
logic would
for the non-standard form; in the past, the same
yield 16 nan-iaverted against 14 inverted forms.
most of the
However, the evidence of ,donit suggests that
NP types, for only
zero forms are in fact inverted WH (+T]
When we
two out of nineteen negatives were non-inverted.

-295
turn to the modals, we find that inversion is normal Only
one out of 34 questions with modals showed the non-s andard
WH NP-PrT] form. Two cases of questions with have also
showed the standard inversion.
Finally, we have a variety of morphological forms in
volved with finite forms of the verb 121. For past tense
mat there were 15 standard inverted qubstions, and 4 non
inverted, Two cases of ADI were non-inverted: Ehata/EL.
JaVkiJa' tg? The four cases of ,aze which were actually
in the surface question were all inverted in standard form:
it seems likely that most of the non-invertedAufs would be
deleted, As far as IA is concerned, we are dealing with a
great variety of fixed forms such as Maulag, and the tag 12,11
Altogethar, 50 questions with lee, might be considered part of
such frequent semi-idiomatic constructions. There were only
five other cases of inverted jai, two non inverted, and ten
zero forms
Thug as a whole, the evidence of la, points to about
25 30 `70 of NNE WH-questions following a non-standard pat
tern without inversion of the tense marker. The modals are
more solidly in the standard pattern. It must be remembered
that we are dealing with the central core of the vernacular
NNE culture here...very little of this data can be considered
subject to udialect mixtureu. In our memory tests (3.9),
tha evidence confirmed the notion that the basic pattern for
direct questions is WH [-PT] NP--the flip-flop rule applies
in the same way as SE, although there is a sizeable amount of
variation in the application of the rule. For SE, there is
no question that the flip-flop rule with questions is a cats-
golz;I.cal (Type I) rule; for NYE, it is variable, Type III.
Ad7txamine the data on hand, it appears that the inversion
rule is subject to a great deal of individual variation;
some apply inversion consistently with WH-questions, some
variably, and some consistently preserve the non inverted order.

3.7,3. kaulsaesLauestism- The situation with embedded

questions is quite the opposite of that which prevails with
direct questions. We find a very large number of sentences
in which the inverted order is used, while SE uses the non-
inverted order,
In SE, yes no questions are
usually embedded with an II or mrhatblm complementizer, and
tha order of the embedded sentence is NP (+T]. There are
two possible routes to arrive at this result: in one, the
question shows a aip-flop, and this is re-reversed when it
is inserted into another sentence. In the other approach,
the presence of a complementizer blocks the application of
tha flip-flop. In any case, SE has complementary ways of
registering the presence of an abstract Q in blie underlying

-296-
sentence. In direct questions, inverted order; in in
direct questions, the presence of an If or Aleillex, In the
two-transformation approach, there will be a rule for in
version (actually applying more generally than shown here)
and a second rule which places the complementizer where
appropriate and re-inverts the order of the tense marker.

(403) Q-INVERSION
(4.Q] - NP
1 2 3 4 2 4 3

(404) Q-EMBEDDING
V X - +T) NP
Q]
2 3 4 5 6 1 2 (if)1 4 6 5

Cond. 1: Y E WH

The X term in (403) may include a WH-attachment. Without

(403) applying, we get Ehatja,aid! With (403), the result
is ? If X contains no WH-attachment, then
(403 gives pio Ile 49 tt? When a verb such as ma, magm,
or jrzgaiira, containing (.4.Q] precedes the embedded sentence,
the effect of (403) is reversed, and we get Laardaji4Lba
suisLit, or simply The complementizer
whether sometimes appears in place of aliz though it is
completely unknown in NNE.

A single transformation to achieve the same purpose

would apply after the transformational cycle:

(405) Q-DISPOSAL
# (441] Y NP PI]
1 2 3 4 5 6

Cond. jo if X[V, YEWH- 1 2 if 4 5 6

otherwise 1 2 4 6 5

There is considerable evidence to show that NNE does not

have (404). In (405), Condition A will not be required,
and the reduced (405) will in effect be (403). In the light
of this situation, the (403)-(404) sequence seems preferable
for SE and other dialects as well. The following show the
NNE treatment of embedded yes-no questions:
(406) I ax him do he have a attribute. [12, T-Birds, L 6]
(407) You ask him can you play.. [12, Lame, #516]
(408) He should decide..is he able. [15, N.Y.C., #YH-31]
(409) Let me see could I think of some right away.
[25, S.C., #774]
297-
 (410) So they they called my mother upstairs and asked her
did she know the lady. (34, NYC, #894]
(411) ..and you run thlough and see can you get - uh#7663
thfough them. [29, 8,0,1

There is some latitude as to which verbs contain the [4.Q]

which permits the inverted form to follow. Kam is used
freely with It but is not as common with the NNE construction.
(412) You jusl know is the boy nose bleed, [13, T Birds, #375]

An examination of our grammatical searching forms shows that

this is the predominant construction in NNFer Table 3-27
shows the number of cases in which NNE group members and
others used the inverted form without the complementizer,
as against the number with the standard construction.

TABLE 3-27
INVERSION VS, COMPLEMENTIZER IN EMBEDDED
YES-NO QUESTIONS FOR NNE GROUPS AND OTHERS

Tense inversion Complementizer

STYLE is NP F411

Thunderbirds A 2 0
11 4

Cobras A 0 0

5 6

Jets A i 0
B 14 13

Oscar Bros. A 1 0

B 0 2

All NNE groups 29 25

Lames B 0 4

A 0 0
Inwood
B 0 6

298-
It is perhaps too strong to say "predominant" in the l ght
of the total figures given here, but there is other evi
dence to show that some embedded yes-no questions are In
categorically inverted without complementizer in NNE,
the memory tests (3,9) we find that certain sentences such
as
LafaBca_...221A,Lbajaatjagplay.lmicatizall are re
peated back instantly as Bo and only
some of the boys are capable of repeating the original sen
tence. It is quite polsible that we have not yet formu-
lated the conditions on (403-4) or (405) in such a way as
to show the truly variable portions of the rule for NNE
and the categorical portions. A rule comparable to the
variable rules used in 3.2 and 3.4 wtll undoubtedly show
an * at some point which registers the categorical nature
of Lapara.Aidjal...
Furthermore, we note that embedded yes no questions
are extraordinarily rare in group sessions, but when they
do occur, they are always of the favored NNE form. There
are only four such examples in our current data, but there
are no opposing cases.

gmlnd0a2kcia 42112. We do find embedded WH

questions which follow tie,. standard pattern without in-
version. Transformations (404) and (405) note that the
11 or Anil= is placed only if a WH- does not precede
the tense marker. If it does, the effect of the (404) trans
formation is simply to change the order of NP and tense
marker, and Condition A of (405) has no effect at all.
(410) I don't know how she caught me. [12, Jets, #6373
(411) I don't know what they're doinl, but they're not
hustlinl. [33, Va., #888]
(412) I didn't know where the strength came from.
[57, N.0., #8193
We have a very sizeable number of embedded WH-questions
where the order remains inverted, following transformation
(403) without any additional conditions.
(413) I don't know how old are he. [11, N.Y.C., #423]
(414) I 'onl tell lem how old are them sometime.
[11, N.Y.C., #4233
(415) ..I don't know how did I do it. [15, Ala., #471]
(416) ..that's what's trumps. [15, Oscar Br., #5E43
(417) I don't know what's his name. [16, Jets, #638]
(418) If my mother catch me, that's what's the problem
gonna be. [16, Oscar Br., #559]
(419) Where did she get the coat from I don't know.
[53, N.Y.C., 4813]

-299-
 (420) But how many kids you can see today, fifty years
old that can say that? [55, N.0., #816]

Even in the presence of ctrong hyper Z correction, we find

(421) You mean how does he gets away? (11, Lame, #507)

We have every reLson to believe that the non-standard in

varsion with WH questions embedded in other sentences is
just as characteristic of NNE as embedded yes-no questions,
although we do not have quantitative data at present. The
fact that NNE speakers can preserve the inverted order in
embedded yes-no questions is important in interpreting
such sentences as
(422) I don't know how old my parents are, but I know
how old my sister. [11, N.Y.C., #367]
Although we normally would argue that parallel clauses have
parallel construction, in this case it seems more likely
that the underlying form is ..1192,91Latt_my,aialigar. Other-
wise, this would be a unique case of deletion of final, nee
essarily stressed jai, and as far as we can see, this is a
categorical impossibility for NNE and SE speakers. But the
deletion of la in this, the normal position for many of the
vernacular speakers, is quite normal.
The conclusion of our investigation of questions is
that NNE has the single transformation (403) which oper
ates variably on direct questions. The grammar does not
seem to have (404) for complementizer placement. A cer
tain amount of variability in the order of embedded ques
tions can be expected in the light of the variable applica
tion of (403)/ and need not be attributed to a second
variable rule (404). This interpretation fits in with the
results of the memory tests (3.9) and shows NNE grammar
here as missing several of the complications of SE in its
formal apparatus. It is reasonable to show NNE as not tak-
ing the additional step (404), as many WNS and even SCE
speakers omit this transformation--at least wiTh yes-no
questions. Expressions such as I ked cou 00
are common colloquial forms in tha South--all of our in
formants agree on this point--and we hear them quite often
in the casual speech of Northerners. Indeed, we find that
occasional use of (403) without (404) occurs in our own
speechl more often than we realized before carrying out
this analysis. The difference between NNE and SE here
is clearly a matter of cp, the frequency with which the
rule (404) is applied. The presence of a WH-abtachment
triggers the rule categorically for WNS and SCE speakers,
and will eventually appear in the rules as *WH but
the syntactic operation upon embedded questions is in fact
a variable one.

-300-
3.8 Some other syntactic variables of NNE

In the proeding sections, we have dealt with those

major areas of NNE grammar and phonology which seemed most
central to the grammatical system, and which are respon
sible for structural interference between NNE and SB.
There are a great many other areas in NNE syntax and phon
ology which might be consideredwhich have intrinsic in
terest for linguists, and which might well be important
for educators. In this section, we will do no more than
indicate the existence of these areas for research, and
then only for some of the more prominent issues. We
hope that such indications will be useful for those doing
further investigations of NNE; any one of the topics
briefly considered in this section will raise many questions
of great interest to linguistic theory, and enlarge our
understanding of the relations between NNE and SB.

3.8.1. kalguLit. The first item which will be con-

sidered here require-i some apology at first glance for its"sys
tematic position. It is merely the substitution of one
formative for another, and as far as we know, has no further
effects upon syntax. But it has considerable interest in
its own right as a distinguishing feature of the fundamental
vernacular, and as an indicator of the speakers' relation to
NNE. Because of its miscellaneous character, it is perhaps
appropriate to consider it here, and then examine a more con
nected series of NNE syntactic features. The item we are
referring to is the use of dummy j where SE usesikara.
Negro speakers will occasionally use jj, in environ
ments which are quite natural to SE as well, but instead of
the jja referring anaphorically to a particular object, it is
a general izt referring to nothing at all.
(423) It's a school up there.. [29, Bronx, #812]

However, a great many other utterances are difficult to in-

terpret from an S114, point of view until one realizes that the
jt is a dummy element.
(424) It wasn't nothint to do. (15, Chicago, #471]
(425) It's a plenty us--it's about a hundred a' us.
[13, Chicago, #4713
(426) It was them chickens back there.1 ..
[3, Cobras, #477)
(427) It's very little to jumping rope, but hardly one way,
you know. (61, N.J., #749]
(428) It was some verses to it. (35, S.C., #729]
(429) It wasn't no way for them to gtt up.
[35, 8.0.1 #729]

-301-
 (430) I know, it gonl be many a day they ain't gonna
give y(su that chance. [14, Jets, #5993

Normally, thedummy It, represents an obligatory transforma

tion from an underlying form NP is which is never realized.
the
But with the passive, one can show an equivalence as in
two variants given in rapid succession below.
(431) It was missinl a pencil. Uh. A pencil was missin'.
(13, T-Birds, #1166)

When this use of dummy jji combines with other features of

NNE, the sentence can be hard for SE speakers tOwnderstand.
(432) It ain't that much--you know--people out in Long
Island you be around with than it is in New York.
[13, Jets, #605]

ut sf The use of dummy jst.

y_ii.
is an excellent sociolinguistic MUker of a speaker's to die
the
tance from the NNE vernacular. It is quite parallel
Igo in this re-
use of non-inverted yes-no embedding , or ofcategorical, but
spect. For some speakers, alt, for .01ere is degree of fre-
in general it appears as a variable of a high
quency. Table 3 28 shows this distribution.
TABLE 3-28
DUMMY it AND DUMMY there POR
NNE PEEN GROUPS AND-MI:PBS

STYLE dummy44 Aummy.I4mg 0/0

A 0 100
T-Birds 5
40 23 64

11 6 65
Cobras A
48 20 71

11 61
Jets A 17
115 39 74

7 70
Oscar Bros. A 16
B 30 16 65

19 45 30
Lames B

0 48 00
Inwood A
5 39 11

-302-
Inspection of Table 3-28 shows that dummy is cora
'arable tothe regular sociolinguistic variables which we
ave traced elsewhere. Except for the Thunderbirds in
group style, with a very small number of cases, the figures
range very closely around the two-thirds mark. But the
lames are in a completely different category--below one-
third use of dummy ..14, (and this is quite irregular, vary
ing with individuals). The Inwood group does in fact use
a few examples of dummy jzt--whether this represents the
influence of Negro speakers, or a genuine possibility in
WNS, we do not know.
Other dummy _elements icn NNE. In addition to
dummy 1,11 NNE speakers also use ±hay riot for tbere are.
It is possible that this represents the systematic plural
of thara.la = =jai.
(433) They got some bitches around here.[16, Jets, #560]
(434) They got the Aces, they got the... they got the...
etc, [15, Chicago, #471]

The dummy )2exe,, or .tilere is often used with gig, where SE

would have ja r Ima as the verb.
(435) So Calvin had a rock, and we--us--ylknow, here go
a wall and a far away, here go a wall.
[12, T-Birds, #265]

We find the use of this dummy element occasionally through

all age levels of the NNE peer groups. In general, I'm have
seen a number of differences between NNE and SE in rela
tion to dummy elements, the verbs go. and ABy--the type of
purely formal manipulation of function words characteristic
of grammatical machinery.
Finally, it is worth noting that the use of dummy
is apparently invisible to most white speakers. Even though
they hear a great deal of Negro speech, and read a good deal
of dialect literature, white speakers are as a rule complete
ly unaware of this particular feature. One reason is that
it is usually in obscure, reduced form, by rule it cannot
bear stress, and the representation may be nothing but a
short M. In rapid speech, WNS speakers will also reduce
tlarallb dropping the initial fricative, in some areas voc
alizing the [xi] and shortening the vowel. The result may
be very close to the Ds] which represents NNE it's, and
it may be quite easy for WNS speakers to re-interpret the
NNE form as their own.
 3.8.2. amiaattg_sgm, A number of the
far have represented
character-
the elim-
istics of NNE discussed so
ination of redundancies and pleonasms that we find in SE:
11:16;, or 11RVQ 4d, for example. There are also many
cases where NNE uses several forms where SE uses one. The
process of negative concord achieves massive pleonasm,
and double modals seem to have this character in some
cases. There are many other features of NNE which are
plainly pleonastic, most of them are general character
istics of Southern colloquial English, according to our
informants.
pia. The word plug is being' used for Ana
quite frequently in SCE presently, and it also occurs in
NNE, It is extremely common to find both And and plug
used together.
(436) And plus I bought me some spinach and rice...
[15, Jets, #491]

Or either. The cmparable disjunction is the

combination7517511-ad eitIker--more common, perhaps, than
ADA.P12B,
(437) ..or either, we all say "Not it! Not it!"
[11, N.Y.C.,#422]
(438) he's high, or either messed up. [151 N.Y.C.,YH-41)
(439) When you're hurryinf up or either dancin'..
[14, N.C4, YH-2]
AdverbEt-9t.Ria2g. It is a well known feature of
Southern Mountain speech that place adverbials are strung
out in long sequences where other dialects would use one
or perhaps two. In our materials we fina
(440) I wanna get down back on that Seelow.
[13, Cobras, #488]
(441) So they was gonna leave right back.
(55, N.C., #232)
(442) ...you won't go get back into any more trouble.
[15, #Y11-41]

(443) I came on back out. [13, Jets, #605]

Appuxiplators. There are many ways of expressing

that something is close to, or almost at a certain figure in
NNE speech. It is possible that some of these features are
related to the vernacular attitude towards precision and
specification in general.
(444) So he'll bring in almost close to two hundred a
week. [15, N.Y.0,, #yH31]
(445) ...and from in Brooklyn I worked there round about
a year. [15, N.Y.C., #YH41]

-304--
 Qther Overbs, One can sense the same type of
operation in such duplicated forms as the following:
for the kids to suffer.
(446) But still yet, it's no reason [27, N.Y.C., #732]
brought up as white..
(447) Perhaps maybe if I was [27, N.Y.C.% #732]

Slay_lat. In some ways parallel to malndi, we

.g.aly unless as a
find analay_DO, use-a as a preposition, and
conjunction.
(448) I didn't play wit' only but Wayne and Tyrone.
(11, T-Birds,#516]

(449) (Some of lem live in this buildine] T-Birds, #516]

No... only but Jose".
(15, Cobras, #652)
(450) Only unless we vt some joints.

We also have ly./...augpi as a similar pleonasm.

but except me and Tyler.
(451) Everybody's getting caught [14, Jets, #624]

AdVitaial e n ypoptasis. One

3,8.3,
of the most common non standard marks o NNE, and one which
has become particularly well known recently, is the use of
At in relatives arid que;st:tons with Aim.
(452) The dent is the place where yau rest at when you
get caught. (12, T-Birds, #265)
(453) Where you gonna hear this at? [15, N.C., #M-2]
(454) ..right around the corner where I used to live at.
[15, N.Y.C.,#YE-41]
(4r3) Where you gon' be at? [15, Chicago, #471]

This pattern is not at all confined to NNE, but it has recent-

ly become one of the overt markere of non-standard Negro
speech. Traditionally, it would be explained as a blend
 92.-Xt-Al.al and
p2aps..1Mgra..yoll rest,. The fact that it shows up in ques
tions means that the mechanism of WH-attachment is in
volved. It would seem that there are two different modes
of relativization and WH-attachment--one for noun phrases,
the other for adverbials.
(456)ja The dent is the place + you rest at the plac
the dent is the place (that) the place you rest at
the dent is the place you rest at
(457)1a The dent is [ X 1 + you rest (at the place400--*
j2 the dent is [X]Loc + you rest WH-lat the place400--*
the dent is [X]00 WH-lat the placejucyou rest
the dent is (X)L00 where you rest

The straightforward procedure of (456) brings the noun

phrase lju..pla2a to the front of the embedded clause and
eliminates it. The adverbial relativization of (457) at
taches WH- to a higher node, the adverb of place. The ma
trix sentence has an abstract representation of place which
may be zeroed out to yield Iba. e ymaggl. In
NNE, we find that the WH- is being attached not to the high
er node but to the noun phrase, leaving the jxt in place.
There are four adverbials which can be involved in this
type of proces
place + at the place where
time WH + at the time when
manner WH + tinIthe way --0 how
by
reason WH- + for the reason why

When relatives are formed with the noun phrases contained

in adverbials of time and manner, the remaining preposi
tion is usually delezed.
(458) I liked the way + he did it in the way
I liked the way he did it ir
I liked the way he did it.
But reason adverbials are more likc, place, in that the re
maining preposition can still stand in many cases.
(459) I liked the reason + he did it for the reason --
I liked the reason he did it for.

This being the case, we would expect that NNE would show
forms with tar parallel to Itt, if the analysis is correct.
NNE does show such forms, and so does WNS.
(460) That's why you got your friends there for.
[15, Inwood, #687]

-306-
 Another aspect of this process involves hypostasization
to go from
of the abstract adverbial. It J., possible Here the
(457d) to Illaal.whemzu,..xtftl, locative
abstract term jilit_plagew is not 10.entIrcAl tophrases
the
must be
phrase at.A131.43,182.2 in the sense that noun
identical in relativization. It is derived as a surface
get
expression of the abstract category, Similarly we can
Eay...119.42. zemplaszty. The exact conditions under
but it is
which these forms can appear are not well known,
apparent the NNE differs from SE in this respect,
how fast they go
(461) ..and sometime I like the way
[12, Venice, #V 55]

(462) She'll learn the way how to come.

[55, N.C., #232]
There is also a use of 1,22.11211.2w which seems to carry
the same burden.
I feel like this way. [14, Jets, #599]
(463)
(464) I'll tell it like this way, [25, Pla., #8253
Bros.,#590]
(465) Don't never get like that way. [17, Oscar
challenge for the ana-
Each of these forms offers a special under
lyst, as long as we cannot specify the exact conditions It
whidh hypostasization can take place in SE and in NNE,
seems acceptable to say in SE Therq's a
way.12mAgAg_thil
but the following are clearly not SE:
(466) ..because the way how he act and carry hisself.
[29, Ala., #8833
(467) They find out how the way you feel about it.
[39, N.Y.C., #804]
(468) That's just the way how he can say that he wants
some..That's just the way how they make friends..
That's just the way how he car say that he wants
[11, Lame, #499]
some.

Adver12_111Acement. Comparatively little is

3.8.4. and
known about the placement of adverbs in English syntax,
it is possible that the study of NNE will enrich our of gen
eral knowledge considerably, There is a wide range
rules which we
non-standard forms which apparently violate
informants, we ga
cannot yet specify. Prom our Southern white
ther that most of these are acceptable in colloquial the
speech in the South. We will not attempt to analyze
topic for fu
examples given here, but present them as a
ture research.
staadard ways,
lysin appears foregrounded in many non
(469) Even she had a cake and candy on the..+able.
(21, N.Y.C., #263]

-307
 (470) "even a guy might pick up a garbage can.
[18, Queens, #3003
(471) I Ion/ even think her birthday is yet.
[55, N.C., #2323

Many is moved to the pre verbal position:

(472) That's what mostly we call fem. [15, N.Y.C., #1CH 313
(473) We don't mostly use all them..words
[14, N.C./ all-'21
(474) I mostl live' all around there. (25, Ala., #893]

Allard and jagat ollow suatay in being foregrounded to the

left of SE positions. Here they are both in initial posi
tion, instead of being associated with the verb,
(475) Almost my life was 1os6. [15, Jets, #5263
(476) But most thing I did was take the orders,
[15, N.Y.C,, IIYH-413

Certain approximators and quantifiers also tend to appear

to tha left of tile SE positions.
(477) She's about a woman in her early forties.
[29, #8133
(478) I lived here arounf for 12 years. [15, Jets, #324]

It is apparent that all of these are leftward shifts compared

and
to the standard position. Why this should be the case,
whether it can be reduced to regular rule, remains to be
seen. We can now turn to the seemingly eccentric behavior
of all. The standard lablanljm_alLsymar shows a fore
grounding of AlLayav
(479) She started..kissinl all over me. [16, Jets, #560]
(480 This I all had to acquire from hearsay.
[53) N.Y.C., #861]
Here ,a2a moves left much asmitly does above. There is
a more general use of AU which is sometimes asamplettay,
sometimes may, in SE equivalents--a general intensifier
that is not easy to translate into SE.
(481) We supposed to be all friends, fn, ehit.
[16, Jets, 4614]
(482) But he act all stupid. (15, N.Y.C inH-41]
(483) I just might get hurt up all bad. [13, Jets, #605]
(484) I ..bust him all in the eye [11, N.Y.C., #363]

It should be clear that the position of adverbs, and their

ridh development in NNE, will yield information about
'tho syntax of English adverbs in general.

-308
 3.8.5, gp c
=alma= One of the
most intriguing ways in which can differ from SE is
in the ways in which quantities are specified or approx
imated,

(485) [How long did you live there?)

..for about--...three or five years,
[12, N.Y.C., ill'681]

A slightly older boy used the following construction,

[131 T-Birds, #375]
(486) I got aboul over ten of fem.
An adult alsc approximated in a way whlch is odd to SE:
(487) About two is in jail, now. [29, N,Y.C., #812]

These expressions do not occur often enough that we can

categorize them as regularities or irregularities in NNE
or specify the kind of irregularity involved (see 2.5).
But they do provoke the analyst to consider further what
can be said and what cannot be said in SE or his own dia
lect.

There are many other topics which might be considered

in this chapter: problems of count-noun vs, mass-noun
assignment, of faar-ji2 embedding, of tense sequence, of
proximate vs. obviate in =IQ - g2, =lig -lam. But the
major topic which is left untouched is the comparative.
We will not attempt to survey, even briefly, the problems
involved here, except to state that they are of such a
depth and complexity as to outweigh any other topic whidh
we have treated. Sentences such as the following will only
barely indicate the kind of complexity which we and NNE
speakers must deal with in the comparative.
(488) 'Cause when you watchin' a game, you ain't gittinv
that much fun than what you would really be playin'
it. [13, Jets, #'605]
(489) I have a better a'vantage to learn to play than
watch, [rpt) [12, Jets, #637]
These sentences are part of a very rich crop of comparatives
derived from answers to the question, Mould you rather
watch a game or play one?"
Finally, we might consider the following sentence
which contains many items we have dealt with so far:
two cases of dummy ja, ain't, the copula..,but the intri."4
cats problems of the comparative reflected here have not
yet been touched by our analysis.
(490) It ain't that much--you know -people out in Long
Island you be around with than it is in New York.
[13, Jets, #605)

-309-
3.9 Memory tests

This section will deal with a series of repetition

or "memory" tests which we developed after our major field
work with the NNE peer groups was completed. These tests
have a great deal of interest for grammatical theory, for
they give us direct insight into the relations between
underlying and surface structure in NNB, and the asymmetri
cal relations of perception and production for many NNE
speakers. Furthermore, they give us some direct confirma
tion of the feattlres we have characterized as "NNE" in the
foregoing discussions as variable or constant elements of
the underlying grammar. The data from these tests yield
additional insights into the unresolved questions that have
been raised, and enable us to correct several misappren
sions on the details of-the grammatical rules.
Despite the many advantages of repetition tests, we
feel it necessary to enter a strong warning against the
rapid adoption of such methods by those who wish to study
accom
the linguistic competence of Negro children without an
panying study of the actual use of language by these chil
dren in favorable environments. Our repetition tests were
developed after several years work'with the peer groups that
we tested; we were able to provide strong and controlled
motivation for the task used in the tests; and we were able
to interpret the results in the light of our knowledge of
behavior and peer group relations. We believe that repe
tition tests have a place in a school testing program, and
that they will yield a great deal of data which has never
been tapped before. But under normal school testing condi
tions, such teste will suffer from the same ambiguities and
misinterpretations which have characterized most testing pro-
grams; a full discussion of this problem is presented in 4.3
It
in our discussion of tha social controls on language.
is quite poss!ble that an uncritical use of repetition tests
will lead to serious misconceptions about the status of cer
tain rules in the children's grammars. As we will see, the
intersection of the test situation and the rules can reverse
some of the relations which prevail in actual speech.
3.9.0. gzigin.oLtatAgate. In March, 1967, we were
carrying out a series of supplementary interviews with eight
year-old boys in the Thunderbirds' project, 1390 Fifth Avenue.
At the same time, we were developing our analysis of the
copula deletion rule, as now reported in 3.4, and we wanted
to construct some tape-recorded tests which would show the
informants' reactions to the deletion of clause-final:La.
Mr. Robins therefore asked two eight-year-old boys to re
peat back
(491) He's not as smart as he thinks he is.
 not
After many trials, Mr. Robins gave up; he simply could
get this sentence repeated back in that form. As indicated
briefly at the end of 3.8, the comparative poses great dif
ficulties for NNE speakers, and this sentence structure
simply was not available to this boy. It was returned as
EA...Watt...4amH
and many other variants which indicated that NNE gramma-
tical structure was intervening between perception and pro
duction.
Imitation, repetition, or shadowing tests have been
explored in some detail as a means of discovering the gram
matical competence of young children (Fraser, Bellugi and
Brown 1963; Miller and Isard 1963). There has been some
question as to whether children's ability to comprehend
and repeat back sentences runs ahead of their ability to
produce them; it seems clear that children can repeat
back
much longer sentences within their grammatical competence
than outside of it, and that there will be changes in repro
duction in the direction of the internalized grammatical
rules. But this was considered primarily from the stand
point of "language learning" in early years. It was be
lieved that children had learned most of adult syntax by
the time they reached the ages we were dealing with. No
one had investigated the kind of crosa-dialectal patterns
whidh we were now considering, where linguistically well
developed adolescents had internalized a consistent grammar
distinct from the SE rules. Vie suspected that memory tests
might give us useful information with children 10 to 12
years old, and possibly even 14 to 16 years old. Further
explorations with eight-year-old children showed that sen
tences of the type (491) were indeed difficult for them to
repeat back, but non-standard equivalents in NNE patterns
came back without much difficulty.

3.9.1. eour Thunder-

birds werelgathered for a group session in April, 1967,
which centered around memory tests. A list of twenty five
sentences was prepared which included the following,

a. Sentences with SE patterns which differed from

NNE patterns we knew to be strongly entrehched, or even
categorical. Example: Ealay.lutmAaak.aa_gixplane, end,
either.

b. Sentences with syntactic patterns which did not

occur frequently, where we were not sure of the NNE rule,
such as M12 '

he ie.

0. Long sentences which seemed to pose no grammatical

problem, such as John told Bop and Boo told Rioggx.And.iban
Baas told RiakY.

-311
 TEMORY IEST FORM
(For First Thunderbird ession)

1, One sma,t fella he felt smart, what he is

2. William is a stupid fool/and I know that's
friends/but
3. He didn't go anywhere with any of Boo's
David's friend is with me all the time [and I found
out if he dil anything wrong. Roger told
4 John told Boo and Boo told Roger and then
Ricky.
5. Bugs' black blood (2 times). is he?
6. Money isn't going to the center anymore,
7, I asked Alvin if he knows how to play basketball,
[and he said he did] to make a cake
8. She went to the store to buy some sugar
for Boo's birthday.
to Money.
Roger doesn't know what Boo always said of
9. us took a
10. Nobody ever took an airplane, and none
bus, either.
11. ohe sits and shits by the seashore.
12. What Larry is is the smartest one, [but he doesn't seem
to know all the answers I do.
13. I haven't taken a bath for a month, but I done pissed
last night.
14. Besides, he can always kick her in the teeth if he
wants to,

15. Mbney, who is 11, can't spit as far as Boo can.

I will.
He will eat more potato chips than Rogerl/but
16. now he'd
17. Calvin useta would play cards with
rather play with +he roaches [all the time]
13. She slits the sheets, the sheets are slit by her.
19. He knows there's a difference between them, [but he
doesn't know exactly what it is3.
20. Let's find out if Boo lives on a hundred and fifteenth
street. and a
21. A box of biscuits, a box of mixed bf.scuits
biscuit mixer.
22. You guys can usually find some women.
23. Why do you look like you ran into a cement mixer,
Mr. Jones?
24. Nobody saw it and nobody heard it.
25. The more he farts, the worse it smells.

-311a-
 d. Tongue twisters, such as Agai2,...12-aci_a_slcboo

e. Sentences of natural interest, containing taboo

words, general insults, such as all nd
Aganhaza; As far R4 Boo QM
The more he farts, t worq t s e s. For all sentence
types, the names of the Thunderbirds themselves were used.
We wished to provide the maximum motivation to per
form the tasks required for sentence types 21, and c, and
accomplished the purpose of raising the interest level
and departing as much as possible from a school situation.
The tongue twisters helped to draw attention away from the
grammatical features being studied. Further motivation
was provided by a betting system. The sentences were
spoken by one staff member, and one Thunderbird attempted
to repeat. Each effort was judged by another staff member.
Successful repetition was a win, unsuccessful was a loss,
and one nickel exchanged hands each time. The Thunderbirds
each operated with a stack of ten nickels provided by us at
the outset. Before the staff member gave his judgment aloud,
the other Thunderbirds checked off their own judgments on
a chart. There were no challenges to the judgment of the
staff member after he made his decision.

&mate. Our expectations were fulfilled by the

results f this first memory test: categorical NNE pat
terns w re imposed upon the SE sentences, whereas variable
NNE patterns were not. There was no problem of length:
long, unproblematical sentences were repeated bank easily.
What was most impressive was the way in whicl. certain SE
sentences were understood and repeated back instantly in
NNE form--a process of considerable significance for lin
guistic theory. We will present the main impact of these
results under headings which pertain to the grammatical
Mature being studied in many cases, actual quotations
from the responses will yield the clearest view of what is
taking place beneath the surface productions. Boot, the
verbal leader of the Thunderbirds (see 4.1) went through
the entire series, as did Money, his less verbal and younger
follo*er, so that quotations will be mostly from these two.
No attempt was made to achieve completeness or comparability
in this exploratory session.
(1) Negative concord. The negative was regularly dis-
tributed to all indefinites within the clause, as we would
expect from 3.6, but it was not so regular to sentence-modi
fying indefinites outside the clause. This pattern fits the
data of actual speech quite well, since the categorical rule
does not extend to SI either.

-312-
$E 12: :gob0,45r.,imax.tafiLaa.airp

Boot: N-N-Nobody never took a airplane, none of us took a

bus, neither. take
Money: None of us never todk an airplane, and none of -
none of us never take a bus, either.
David: Any of - say it again, please. [rpt). None of - any
of didn't take a airplane and none us - say it
again. frpt]. None of us took a airplane, and
none of us took a plane, either--bus, either.

There are other examples to show that the negative element

is transferred to sever most of the time, and only
occasionally to s, tur. David is having a lot of trou
ble: his negative concord rules seem to have been com
pletely disrupted at first, but the final version was good
ty
NNE. The rapid repetition of Boot and Money was more
pical. Note that ,a-an is clearly not an indefinite.

There was no tendercy to transfer the negative to p e

verbal position in SE72,A: 112.122V n

(2) The copula and third-singular 7g. There seemed

to be little difficulty in repeating back the copula, which
fits in with the findings of 3.4. This item is readily
available to NNE speakers. Responses to SE-2 Njjajaigja
oo n tf regularly pre
a 9.41p
served thelals in one form or another. Third singular
71 was preserved quite often, which indicates that the
problem for NNE speakers is not in producing the inflec
they
tion, but knowing where it goes. Given the model,
can imitate it with some success.

SE711:
Boot: She--she sits and s'its by the ssseasaw--shore.(1,1,11).
She sits and sits by the ss-seasaw--sh(LI)shore. No!
She sits and sits by the sea--shore.
Money: She sits and shit' by the seashore. (LIM)
SE-2.6 akt....11.1111211
Even with tongue-twisters such as this or difficulty in ar
Ilagjg; ....htl...ahaltp.ass_glitlysitu, the
ticulation rarely interfered with the 7a in plural or third
singular. An easier sentt)nce such as SE-25:
frote,..Lbb.s.augg showed no problems with -g, even
The
though it was broken up by a great deal of laughter.
symbol (LL..) indicates the presence of laughter above.
(3) WH-attraction in embedded sentences. SE-2 posed
considerable difficulties: the formation of a nominal
in
seems to be subject to various eccentricities which are
dependent of the question raised above (3.7) concerning in-
version of the tense marker. It seems to be a matter of
the adjustment of WH-placement.

-313
SE
Boot: William is a stupid fool, thafs what I know what he is.
Money William is a stupid fool, and I know it what that is--
what he--say that again? [rpt] ...and I know that is
he--what he is.

When the WH-clause stands as the subject, it violates one

of the strong constraints on NNE and colloquial speech in
general against complex subjects. The simplification is
the usual development of a dependent pronoun.

SE-12: Nhataarzy....is J,E1 th9 PDIATtC# czne.

Boot: Wh-what Larry is he is the smartest one.
David: What Larry i What Larry is, he's The smartest one.

(4) Embedded yes-no questions. Here there was a very

strong tendency to supply the basic NNE pattern of re
taining the inverted order wi6hout a complementizer.

SE-2: .lam.ta.nlay.baaXattall.
Boot: I ax Alvin do he know how to play basketball.
Money: ax Alvin if--do he know how to play basketball.

On the other hand, a similar construction with the verb

find out, was handled without difficulty.

SE 0: Let's find out if Boo lives on a hundred and

fifteenth street.
Boot: Let's find out i--if Boo live a hunnerd fifteen
street.
Money: Let's find out if Boot live on a hundred fifteen
street.
Larry: Let's find out if Boot live a hundred fi teen
street.
Here the SE order was retained. The implication is that
110.= differs from ga in the absence of a [444] fea
ture--a possibility which seems to be confirmed below.
This sentence also shows a uniform deletion of third-
singular note that it occurs before a vowel. The con
trast between this and the other cases noted above seems to
confirm the logic on syllable division presented in 3.3.10.
One of the main purposes of sE-2g. was to check the NNE
form of ahunner& against SE Boo live,: on
,a liundped and fifteen±LAIrlgt, The ALIA and the --./h are
regularly deleted, but the word 1fftssal survived.

(5) Some marked Southernisms. In general, we find

that lexical items which are clearly marked Southernisms
tend to disappear in repetition tests. The equivalence
of done and ban are beautifully demonstrated in the fol-
lowing repetitions.

-314-
 done
I haven't taken a bath for a month but I
SE71a:
pissed lact nigh/. but I done
Boot: I haven't take a bath for a month,
piss' last night.
Money: haven't taken a bath for a month, but I have
pissed last night.
laat month, but
David: I haven't taken a bath la--since
I ha' pieeed tonight.
aalyin_usla
We find that the form Regja_zzasi in SE-1't
woul4 puy...sardp.tritkauaz upptq by Boot, but not
mlib.112.maglita was simplified to
by Money.

(6) Dummy ere and jai. We did not find any tendency
to substitute dummy it for Ike= in SE715: lia.kmang.ilvarala
ia.suff ervw e
difficulty
(7) Effect of length. We did not find any pro-
with long sentences unless they contained grammatical
SE-A: J Boo R gar.and.than
blems. was oc
R did not give trouble: the
11Q sentences which were shorter
casionally omitted. All of the to bal-
than average were prepared with additional clausest PUY
f kn
ance this factor: These increments in length
ImalaIlall [and he said he did .
seemed to make no difference to the end result.

distributed
In summark, we found that NNE speakers although we
negatives in accordance with our expectations, strong and
would be as
did not anticipate that the effect
Copulas were not affected but
as striking as it appeared.
the third-singular 7a was. Complex syntactic forms were
ques-
simplified to colloquial forms. The embedded yes-no clearly
verb contained a
tions followed the NNE rule if the
marked (-4]. Heavily marked lexical items were perceived
standard, dropped if
and tended to be kept if they were
they were non-standard; but the grammatical apparatus of
suffered rapid re-organ
etc., was not so perceived and confirms the impres-
ization. The limited effect of length grammatical pro
sion that we are dealing with problems of
cessing, not simple additive effects of memory.
Thunderbirds did not follow
The judgments of the four
any consistent pattern; they did not regularly perceive
conformity with SE or with UNE
any one pattern in close
grammars.

3.9.2.The gecond ThunderbtxLalagial. Two weeks

later, a second group session with eight Thunderbirds was
material for the second memory
convened. The linguistic appeared
tests was concentrated upon those items which had

-315-
 negative concord,
be the most sensit...ire and most revealing:
embedded yes-no questions, WH-attachment, etc, The tech-
nique was modified considerably, and the nature of the
material altered in the following ways.
Tongue twisters were eliminated, since concentration
upon grammatical points did not seem to bo a factor. Con
trols for length did not seem to be a vital point. But
for each SE pattern, a comparable NND pattern was entered,
with slight lexical differences. Thus SE-B I asksdAlyirt
he culd_gg was matched with NNE-3: X_Bala,LIRmica

A new betting system was introduced in order to test

the subjects' ability to reproduce the SE patterns under
maximum stress with maximum motivation. While the main
group of Thunderbirds held a session in one room, with the
usual refreshments, one subject at a time was tested se
parately. The first ten sentences were read to him by
the interviewer and he repeated each back once. Then he
was awarded five, six or seven nickels on the basis of
this over-all performance. For the remaining sentences,
the following rules were in effect:
a. If the subject repeated the sentence correctly on
the first trial, he won one nickel.
b. If he did not, the sentence was repeated again by
the interviewer, if the subject's repetition was correct,
it was judged a tie, and no money was exchanged.

e. If the second repetition was wrong, the inter-

viewer then read the sentence again, contrasting the cor-
rect form with the subject's incorrect form:
"km said, I ax.Alyin_94341,1.12e_go but I said,
iqmign4f he coalLgo. Now, L.B.010LAAmin.it_h4 .aSam1 l

If the subject repeated the sentence wrong on the third

trial, and again on the fourth trial, he lost one nickel.
Ths stack of nickels stood in front of each subject, and
the sound of the nickels being paid is clearly audible on
the tapes.
When the subject returned to the group session, he usuali
announcediloudly how much he had won: winnings ranged from
$0.75 to $1.50. Motivation was very strong.

Pour of the subjects were tested by Mr. Cohen, and four

by Mr. Labov. Results seemed to be equivalent in the two
series. The non-standard and standard sentences were given
in mixed order.

316-
 Ugatja,. The results of the second Thunderbirds
and added
session confirmed the first exploratory series, the
some information on individual differences among
that some of the
Thunderbirds. Furthermore, it appeared compelling than
grammatical patterns of NNE were even more A differ
had been assumed at first--for some subjects. speaker is
ence began to appear in the degree to which a
or from a dif
bound by the rules of his own vernacular,
abstraction of his
ferent point of view, the degree of
perceptual processes. Some subjects tend to perceive sur
face details more than others.
The complete series of sentences were given to the
series of the mul
first four subjects, and an abbreviated
tiple betting sequence to the second four.
(1) Negative concord, The word gram occurred in
two sentences with initial negative indefinites,
following
subjects shifted to
the SE pattern. Three of the eight subject
yiever, at some point. In the NNE sentences, no
changed any of the nemex forms to gmex. The force of nega
tive concord is strongest in Boot and David,
YrP
'10_1?0,S13r
Boot 1:Nobody never sa-- o whit never sat at any of tho'
doss, anyhow.
2:Nobody never sat any any of tho' doss, anyhow.
3:Nobody [ese] ever sat at no desses, anyhow.

Considerable stress on the word gzatz was supplied by the

interviewer in -2 and overt contrast in -3. Note that Any,
in SE repetitions,
which normally escapes negative concord with great concen
is converted to ao. after Boot succeeds, As we would ex-
tration, in removing the negative from ,ever.
pect, the §tanyligg does not show conversion topftly.
David, on the other hand, has difficulty with any here.
o'--say it again?
Dav d 1: Nobody ever sat in-in-in-in- none
2: Nobody never sat in none of tho' desses anyhow.
-3: Nobody--aww! Nobody never ex-- Dawg!

Sentence SE-la tested the SE equivalent of the sentence spo

several
ken by Speedy of the Cobras which has been cited NNE-19:
times in our discussion, and which here appears as

NNE-I9: t d41.1M.1.19.9.2213.
Boot had no trouble with this. But David did.
David 1 There ain't no cat that can't get coop.
2 There ain't no cat that cat can't [ark]
in no [kirk]
3 There ain't no cat that can't get
rule, but
David's difficulty was not with the negative concord
with lip which he perceived as thgre, and the general com-

-317-
plexity of the scntence. Others have trcuble with the
to the pre verbal posi
NNE rule which moves the negative
tion in the next clause

Larry P 1: Ain't no cat get any coop

It ain't no cat could get n--no coop.
-2:

Here we see the fluctuation of j, and the equivalence of

aamla and agai. The negative concord rule for indefinites
Money has par-
in the second clause ds of course optional,
allel problems with this NNE form.
There ain't no eat that can get in any coop.
There ain't no cat that can get any coop.
There ain't no cat can get in no coop.
coop--in--in--
It ain't no cat can't get in any coop--get in--
It ain't no cat (Isn't get in any
sentence with the same mean
Note that Money understood this although he had trouble
ing that it was originally intended,to the SE equivalent, we
in reproducing Jo. If we now turn
confusion on the formal rules,
find that he shows the reverse

SE-19: There is no cat that can get In any coop.

Money-1: Is no cat could get in any in
coop.
any--that can't get
-2:There's no cat that asn get
in any coop.
-3:There's no eat that can get in any coop.
of the negative
To sum up the situation on this extension following clause,
concord rule to pre-verbal position in the
showed difficulty in
we find that two of the eight subjects

either, Only two

ut SE-19 did not produce much trouble,
of !!!!! !?ochflitidtrcn:::o4c1!:::!!7!!:::!flonn::ems
for NNE speakers, and
that the rule is not a universal one
yet is well enough entrenched to survive under the formal
in SE contexts
test situation and even appear
negative attrac-
Sentence SE-15 violated the fundamental confusion in
tion rule, It caused the most extraordinary
seven of the eight subjects.

SE-25: doesn't sit therq_Anymore, do they?

ApYtagly
Boot-1: Anybody--Hey, you goinl too feel': nickel.
-2: Any--I can't say it; I owe you a
David 1: Hunh?
2: That don't sound right!
Money 1: Anybody-eh- What is that? more, do they?
-2: Anybody ever sits there d-- a ny
-3: Anybody nev--ever sits there--

-318-
Money's solution to the problem posed by SE 15 is to re
move the negative element. Billy produced a comparable
sentence: Az351415cmaaL.aitt.a...lue flnymgmai.aa.thay? which
has a special into est because it parallels the Midwest
development noted in 3.6.
Four SB sentences
(2) Embedded yes-no questions.
explored the situation with embedded yes-no questtons.

SE75: .1...aalia.Wor..111.1.113.0.9.211241g9.
Boot: I asked Alvin could he--could. he go
Money: I as, Alvin if ha can go.
Boot was the only one who had trouble in this initial
repetition. But when the complementizer l*ether appears/
the situation is even more difficult and affects others.

8E-12: val.hmla.play.haaRatlial
Boots-1: I asked Alvin--I asked Alvin--I can't--I didn't quite
hear you.
I asked Alvin did he know how to play basketball.
I asked Alvin whather--did ha know how to play bas
ketball.
Larry F.-1: I axt Alvin does ha know how to play basketball.
-2 I axt Alvin does ha know how to play basketball.

Here Larry Pof who is less dialect-bound than Boot, shows

the same problem. Note that when Elatlar was gtven a great
deal of stress by the interviewer, Boot inserted it--but
it had no function as a complementizer, and the tense marker
was still inverted asjlid.
Sentence 8E7la was parallel to SE 8, and Boot showed
the same pattern with it, with great emphasis, he repeated
the SE pattern on the third attempt. But Larry L., who had
no trouble with previous inversions, produced
SE-l3:
Larry Let's ask Boo does Alvin lives on 115th St.
-2: Let's ask Boo is Alvin lives on 115th St.
-3: Let's ask Boo is Alvin lives a hundred and
fifteen street.
Tha transcription indicates the fact that Larry tried several
expedients to solve the problem of SE-131 producing a hyper Z
and then turning his attention to the pronunciation of
115th St. Finally, we can note the problem-solving pro
cedure of Billy in regard to SE-18:
Let's ask Alvin whether he kno $ the wa t 1
SE-18:
gitckball or not.
Billy 1: Lexax Alvin it he know how to play stickball
whe
whether or not.
2: Lexax Alvin if he knows how to play stickball wh
whether or not.

319
The concentration upon the s in knows indicates that
Billy had not focused upon Ellgjbalt as a problem. When he
does so, it is inserted in the wrong place, and does not
do the job by itself: If is imported also.

Billy 3: Lexax Alvin if he whether--if he whather know

how to play stickball or not.
When we examine the NNE equivalents, we find that
there is complementary distribution. Of the four who
had the complete series, David used the SE pattern for
all SE sentences--and failed to use the NNE pattern for
all the NNE sentences. Boot failed to repeat the SE
pattern for all four SE sentences, and succeeded without
trouble in repeating back the NNE sentences, Larry L.
and Money encountered problems wit:I at least one of the SE
sentences, but none with the NNE patterns. Note that
David is even more bound to NNE patterns than others for
some features, but that he appears to have the SE rule
in this particular case,
We have given the data on yes no questions in some
detail, because it illustrate the asymmetzical nature of
the rule systems involved here. The place of shell=
is not well understood, but sentences with.= are under
stood perfectly well by all NNE speakers. When Boot hears
... and repeats back instantly
it is clear that he has under
ood the abstract meaning

(492) I ask[i-Past] - [ (1] Alvin knows,..]s

Therefore Boot has those rules which enable him to de-codo

the SE form to at least this level of abstractionin this
case, he has not only (403) but also (404) as a rule
interpretation. It seems that Boot is more bound to NNE
forms than others--possibly because his normal level of
perception is at the abstract level of (492), His rules
for producing speech do not incllide (404), and therefore
he repeats back rapidly the NNE pattern with tense inver
sion. This asymmetrical model must be of the nature

Perception: Input -4. (404) (403)

Production: (403) Output

(3) Embedded WH questions. As far as tha usual type

of embedded WH-questions with most verbs, we saw no
problem for our subjects in repeating back either tha SE
form, SE-11: Lg..f2W-t-L--Z-tbnoy...he_said it or the NNE form
NNE-11: 2.142221IJOLULAW.J.11119-Jia.it. But we also in
troduced questions with forms of the verb Igi embedded.

320
VNE 6: ut ¶PhO r
Boot: ound out who car-what it is
David-I: I found out who car it was
-2: I found out what oar it w--
3: I found out who car it is-
-4: I found out what c--who car it was.

NNE-4: ¶hgd9i
maa.1.1.
t out

Boot 1: Say that again?

2 What he got to do is he gots to fi4d out who car
it is--it is.
3: What he got to do is that he hafta find out who
car it is.

This result fitted in with our own feelings about the cop
ula--that it does not obey the same WH-question rules as
other verbs. NNE-A and 1.6 are odd sentences, though they
represent simple generalizations from NNE-21, and the re-
action of David and Boot gives some indication of how odd
these sentences are. Note that the NNE 36/2g possessive
is repeated back, and the dependent pronounju. The only
sticking point is the use of tense inversion with the
copula in embedded WH-questions.

(4) 2wh and Igo. Again wa found little difficuluy

tn repeating back the copula when it was contained in an
SE sentence. The following sentences provided a frame
work in which 1113. is frequently replaced by Ig2 in NNE:
SE-2: What he says is these are the guys he's with all
the ttal.
SE 3: I donll want Junior to c YM_
_ooling aroun.
Only one subject--David--inserted Igo in these sentences,
approximating our NNE equivalents: '
NNE 2: What he say, is these the ggys he 1?el with all the time.
NNE 3: ZJAILLimmtlary to come cause he always be messinl
around.
Of the six boys who repeated back these sentences, no one
replaced Igo with 1st,. This confirms our view that Igo
is never obligatory tn NNE, but it has a vyry firm posttion.

(5) The possessive. Sentences SE.1.4 and -.6 contairi

Ellust, and NNE-A and -1. contain 'mho. In two-thirds of
the cases, whose was replaced by Atm no one replacedad
by ghug. This seems to us a model of a categorical fea-
ture of NNE as it appears in a memory test. It must be
observed that not all of tha Thunderbirds are equally oen
tral or equally bound by the vernacular orlture. Boot,
David, Money and Larry L are at the center of the group,
while Larry F , Ricky and Billy are full members, but not
core members in the same sense (see 4.1). Del is in fact
a lame who intrudes himself into our meetings as a rela-
tive of a member, but is not fully accepted. His relation
to NNE is more marginal than the others (for a discussion
of the internal structure of the peer group in relation to
language, see 4.3).
Given the fact that the Thunderbirds are not uniform,
and that they are in a testing situation which favors SE
to a certain extent, we find that a strongly categorical
feature of NNE will interfere with the SE pattern about
50 per cent of the time, or a little more. A variable
feature, such as copula deletion, will have much less ef
feet upon the repetition process. It should also be born
in mind that there is some variation in rule systems within
the peer group. For example, David was seen to be the only
Thunderbird who repeated back the NNE embedded yes-no ques
tions wrongly--with SE lack of inversion. When we turn to
the records of grammatical searching, vire find David quoted
as saying:
(493) I don't know if he care or not.
If we subtract David, who is plainly different in regard
to this rule, we see that the NNE reaction to embedded
yes-no questions is the same as to Augg--a categorical
pattern where the SE forms is repeated back correctly
only half the time, and the NNE pattern is repeated without
difficulty.

3.9.3. T J Tha most developed, and

best controlled memory test was carried out with the group
of Jets from the 200fs block (see 4.1): eight adolescents
from 14 to 16 years old. In the discussion so fart we have
laid stress upon the qualitative data, and presented the
detailed responses to show the type of interference which
was taking place. In this sub-section we will present a
quantitative view of tha same process. Each of the eight
subjects was handled in the same way, and the data gives us
an over-all view of the responses of this adolescent group.
A Memory Test Form III was prepared with forty sen
tences. The SE and NNE patterns occurred in mixed order,
concentrating somewhat more heavily upon the areas of
greatest syntactic interest. The same betting procedure
was used here as in tha second Thunderbirds test. The first
ten sentences were repeated once, an award of nickels was
made, and the betting system used for sentences 11-40.
The actual sentence list used is given on pages 324-5 be
low. Again, Mr. Cohen interviewed half the subjects, end
Mr. Labov the other half. Seven of the eight Jets had
been interviewed and tape-recorded before, one was a
new member we had not known before.

322
 Table 3-29 presents data on the number of correct
repetitions in the Jets memory test by grammatical cate-
gories. For each category, the number:sof the sentences
concerned are given in the first column, and the number
of correct repetitions in the second.
(1) Negative concord. The sentences dealing with
negative concord contain examples of ,ever - never and
Any - none, as well as the sentence modifiers. It is clear
that mar_ has the greatest tendency to accept the negative
concord. This is the only sub-category in mtdoh there
are more correct repetitions of the NNE sentences than of
the SE sentences. For Atly, the balance favors SE, with
very few cl' SE any's changed tomal, As the previous
discussion would lead us to expect, the sentence modifiers
maykon and =hex show a much smaller degree of negative
concord than the adverbs contained within the clause.
We see that the process of negative concord is still
active in the Jets repetitions, but it does not reflect the
categorical nature of their speech performance. There is
a strong hint here of phonological influence, for the
difference between szer and nmez is much less than that
between any an4111122 ornAIRA. As we examine the quantitative
results of the memory tests, it will be apparent that the
presence of a well-attested morpheme, with phonetic sub-
stanm is an important factor. The pressure of SE can be
felt more directly upon an item like any or Liali or 1,2
than upon tile presence or absence of an 4D, an -1.4
in =gm or an IS or word order. There is no doubt about
the negative concord rule in speech, and we have strong evi
dence for its operation here, but if we had only this data
to inform us, our view of NNE would be limited. What we are
seeing here is the cross-product of NNE, the test situation,
and a past history of test situations in school.
Table 3-29 does not give us a complete View of the
linguistic situation here; it is also necessary to consi-
der tha individual distribution of errors. This is tabul-
ated on Table 3-30, showing the actual number of deviations
from correct repetitions of that particular grammatical fea-
ture considered in that column. As the over-all totals
show) the eight Jets seem to be divided into 'two groups.
There are four individuals who show very little in the
way of mistakes, and four who show quite a few. This is
the case with negative concord in particular (although Laun-
dro can be moved into the first group for all other cate-
gories). Stevie, Junior, Tommy and Turkey handle SE and NNE
negatives equally well; Laundro and Tinker make quite a few
mistakes with NNE, and Joseph and Kitfoot make errors with
both.

It is worth noting here a few other characteristics of

these individuals. The first three--Steviel Junior and Tom-

323
 MEMORY TEST - FORM III
(As applied 6/16/67 with Jets-200's group)

Single Repetition
1. What he got to do is he got to find out who ear itthe
was.
2, What he says is these are the guys he's with all
time messin'
3. I don't want Gary to come 'cause he always be
around.
4. I don't want Junior to come because he's always
fooling around.
5. I don't know why did he do it.
6. None of us ever go there.
7. I asked Alvin if he could go.
8. He didn' t pass some of his tests. time.
9. What he says is these the guys he be with all the
10, I asked Alvin whether he knows how to play basketball.

Multiple Betting:
Correct on 1st repetition = Win
Correct on 2nd repetition = Tie
Incorrect on 3rd and 4th
repetition = Lose
11. Let's ask Boo if Alvin lives on 115th St.
12. Nobody ever sat at any of those desks, anyhow.
13. I asked Alvin do he know how to play ringalicoco,
14. Let's ask Boo do Tony live a hundred fifteen.
15. What Eric is is smarter than him.
16. Nobody never scratched none of those desses, nohow.
17. Let's ask Alvin whether he knows the way to play
stickball or not.
18. There is no cat that can get in any coop,
19. Let's ask Rel do he know the way how to rap or not.
20. What Larry is he is smarter than her.
21. It ain't no cat can't get in no coop,
22. There isn't anyone here who can see it, and there
isn't anyone here who can do it.
23. He didn't fail none of his tesses.
24. They ain't brung me the money, is they? shit.
25. Junior can't spit the same far as Money can throw
26. They'll be done got high, by the time I gets to the
party,
27. I don't know whose book was stolen by those guYs.
28. They must don't be very hip, because they act all
stupid.
29. What I mean is that you're stupid.
30. Hey David, you like chicken best, or you like pork
chops best?
31. Roger or either James had went to Larry and them
house,
32. They haven't told me the answer yet, have they?

-324-
33. Hey, David, do you like chicken best, or do you like
pork chops best?
34. I don't know who book got stole by them guys.
35. What I mean you stupid.
36. Either Roger or James had gone to Larry's and their
house.
37. They mustn't be very hip, because they act altogether
stupid.
38. None of us never play here neither.
39. I asked Junior could he do it.
40. Ain't anyone here wAo can see it, ain't anyoe nvla
who can do it.
 TABLE 3-29

CORRECT REPETITION OF GRAMMATICAL

CATEGORIES IN JETS-200's MEMORY TEST
SE sentences NNE sentences
Grammatical Correct Nos Corrpntt
feture LTS.W-L

Negative concord 38,13 11/16

SE ever - NNE never 6,12 .8/16
42/47 13,21,21, 23/32
SE any - NNE none 12,18,22,
22,40,40 23
6/8 13 3/8
SE anyhow NNE nohow 12
38 g/8
NNE neither

Embedded questions
Yes-no 39,15 16/16
SE if-NP-[+T] 7,11 11/16
- NNE [+T)-NP 13/15
10,17 5/16 14,19
.SE whether-NP-[+T]
- NNE [+T]-NP
5 6/8
WH- NNE [+T]-NP

Possessive 1,34 16/16

SE whose - NNE who 27 1/8

Copula 9,20 15/16

SE N2 is Pred 2,16 11/16
-NNE NP Pred 5/8
SE these are Pred 2 6/8 9
- NNE these Pred 8/8
29 8/8 35
SE you are Pred
- NNE you Pred 4/8
4 7/8 3
SE he's always
- NNE he be always

Dummy it 21 2/8
SE there - NNE .it 18 7/7
22,22 13/16 40,40 14/16
SE there isntt
- NNE 0 + &in't

-326--
 TABLE 3 0

INDIVIDUAL ERRORS IN JETS MEMORY TEST

Yes .no Dummy

NegOono Embedding Copula Possessive it .Tota1
a; NNE S,E NNE SE NN E

Stevie 4010
1 3 2

Junior 1 .1 2

Tommy 1 1 1 3 2 4

Turkey 1 1 2 3 1 7 2

Laundxo 2 5 1 1 1 5 5

Tinker 2 5 4 4 1 1 1 1 12 7

Joseph 4 4 3 1 1 2 1 MIR
1 9 8

Kitfoot 5 5 4 4 1 1 1 1 15

54 37
my are indisputably the verbal leaders of this section of
the Jets. Their voices are heard prominently on any
group session. Stevie talks very fast and continually;
he is the group's best singer, and is well regarded by
the 100's block because of his verbal abilities. His
singing and verbal play is featured im,several of our
video tape recordings. In the same sessions, Tommy is
heard sounding against others (see 4.2) at some length;
he is generally regarded as good with his mouth. Junior
talks a great deal in the group sessions accompanying the
memory tests; his individual intarview (a paired session)
is remarkable for its penetration into a number of serious
topics, and Junior's particular form of Socratic dialogue,
In the memory tests group sessions, he distinguished him-
self by telling,jokes--he seemed to know more than anyone
else, and told them bette
In these memory uests, the verbal leaders exce3Xin
their ability to repeat back either dialect: the situa
tion is just the reverse of that with the Thunderbirds,
where the verbal leader is the most dialect bound. Whether
or not this represents a natural development, or a parti
cular characteristic of the individuals concerned, we can-
not say. Stevie shows his pliabilit in many other ways.
He was the only NNE member who did well on the Vernacular
Correction Test--that is, he was able to correct SE terms
to NNE in a formal situation. Secondly, we see that Stevie
uses very different styles in group sessions and individual
interviews. His style shift is truly phenomenal as com
pared to the group as a whole. Por the forms of la

Stevie All Jets

111 ..th.
group 4 5 24 189 182 129
single 22 5 11 51 67 95

Stevie thus has the unusual ability to shift his linguis

tic performance to a point that escapes the limitations of
any one dialect. Yet this ability is still limited: there
is no change in his use of Butz or dummy lit or any num-
ber of other features. As we have nab:3d before, the cop
ula deletion rule is one of the stylistic devices which
NNE relies on most. Furthermore, it should be noted that
in both group and single styles, Stevie's use of the nega
tive concord rule is categorically NNE.

(2) Embedded questions. In contrast to the situation

with the negativetwe find that embedded yes-no questions
show all the signs of categorical perception and produc-
tion in the memory tests. An SE sentence with an jcif
complementizer is not reproduced corr-ectly in five out

-327-
of 16 cases (though note that not all failures to re
peat correctly recorded here are conversions to the Qpww
posing pattern), and for Ehather, in eleven out of sixteen.
On the other hand, the NNE forms are preserved almost in
tact, We have already seen that in speech, the Ag- con
struction does occur quite often--for the Jets, in 13 out
of 27 cases in single interviews. This fits in well with
the frequency of correct repetitions of the SE forms:
16 out of 32, We have noted that some individuals--like
Boot or Money of the Thunderbirds--are bound to the NNE
form, but others, in the acme series'of tests, are not.
Why, then, do we find the NNE negative concord forms not
as well reproduced as the embedded yes-no questions?
The answer must lie in the mechanism we have already
given for the yes-no questions. The inverted form is al-
ready present in any production of I....aalsaLaxin..11...
Therefore it cannot be difficult to perceive or repro
duce, and it is apparently not overtly stigmatized. On
the other hand, the incorporation of the negative into such
indefinites as any is quite well perceived and has been
stigmatized. We are contrasting (1) an additional gramma
tical process which is definitely not SE with (2) the ab
sence of a grammatical process which is standard. The se
cond can be accepted more readily than the first--or at
least escape detection even in a formal test situation.
The emphasis may be wrongly laid here on the processes
rather than the end result. If we examine all of the re
maining categories, we find that there is a high degree of
correct repetition of zero, deleted and missing forms; it
is the marked forms in terms of phonetic substance which
cause trouble. This simple fact is an important factor in
any such contact situation where a subordinate language is
in touch with a superordinate language.

(3) The copula. The principle mentioned above is borne

out in the various forms of the copula. The NNE forms are
zeros for la before predicate, for Ars, but not for ja,"
and the correct repetitions of NNE forms are scaled acbord
ingly. Only four out of the eight 110's were preserved,
even though we have found it a constant feature of peer
group speech.

We have a large number of 3yhalLmaajcia..., mtat he

.ois is clauses. The SE forms are well reproduced, but a
certain number disappear. The zero form of NNE, Vilat_T
mean,ygm_EUTIA, is well preserved. Note that the you
III= construction is repeated better than ±hese are--
the fusion of the ars. with yam in contraction is plainly
an active process.

(4) The possessive. We have one sentence with SE

328-
aggl, and two with NNE 44,Only one out of eight of the
former was preserved, and all sixteen of the latter. This
is plainly the type of categorical result which would be
predicted by (1) the pattern of speech, which shows that
there is no underlying -11 in the possessive, and (2) the
fact that the absence of the inflection is less easily
perceived than the presence og a au in place of Any.
(5) Dummy jam, and .11. This seemingly isolated
point emerges with the richest syntactic interest in
the' series of tests being studied here. The figures for
show that in sentences 18 and 21, glars,laza.
dumm
and IL ' 0... it is the SE form whial predominates.
But in 22 and 40/ lhag-,-.10=-WaY.9.11.2.11= AAW4Lani-
sma.1.922, the NNE does as well as the E. On the face
of it, the marked form in 21 is not reproduced as
well as the zero form in 40. However, the situation is
not as clear cut as that.
We noted above in our discussion of negative inversion
(3.6) that there seemed to be some speakers who analyzed
AID4i.1102AY as ' Y... In the repetitions of
21f ' is ..., there were two speakers who sub
stituted SE =az two who deleted the j, and one who
did both. Those wIlo said/ ' . (or Tbey
41234i,J32...) were plainly correcting an NNE mark. Those
who deleted the j were performin the operation wilich
makes it possible to analyze 40,
as a parallel case of deleted it
The conclusive evidence of this act of analysis is
provided by Tinker. He made three changes in the sentences
being considered here:

a Changed SE luatejmill to att.ain21, in 22,

b. Deleted the /I in ke._,A=t,...n2.,sat... in 21.
o. Added Email to AlnII.anyludy.texa". in 40.
No more convincing demonstration could be provided that
Tinker views negative inversion with aikit as an example
of 11-de1etion, confirming the evidence provided by Speedy
when he said, Ainit nobo4y_could.
Raturning to Table 3-30, we see that the distribution
of errors across various categories gives us a great deal
of information about the relations of the dialects. There
is approximately an even exchange of errors with negative
concord, and the copula. As far as yes-no questions is
concerned, there are plainly three individuals who are
bound to the NNE forms, categorically, and the situation
is far from symmetrical; the possessive shows the same
situation. Finally, the weight of repetitions lies on
the SE side as far as dummy liat is concerned.

329
 We have not said anything so far about what a "correct°
given
repetition is, No formal definition of correctness is
in our memory tests: the subjects are merely told to re
plain
peat back as closely as they can. It quickly becomesand it
that phonological matters are not being considered,
is the number and type of formatives that we are
of
weighing.
over-all
Of course in Table 3-29, there is no question
correctness of a sentence--we are examining the data for
the reproduction of particular grammatical forms.
Our over-all evaluation of the memory tests is posi
data and the
tive. We are impressed with the quantity of
rapidity with which it is gathered. At the same time, the
foregoing discussion should make it plain that there is no
one-to-one relation between memory tests and the underlying
grammatical pattern. A knowledge of the subjects' behavior
in actual speech situations is essential in correct inter
pretation of these tests,49

It was only possible to

2122,In292/..grop.
carry out memory tests with two members of the Inwood group,
the great difference
but the results indicated quite clearlyIt is simplest to re
between them and the NNE peer groups. subjects, there were
port that between the two
three incorrect repetitions out of 31 SE forms, using the
But for the NNE forms, there
same list as with the Jets. repetitions--four times as many.
wyre 12 out of 28 incorrect shows that
An exawination of the details of these twl) eases from
the pattern fits in with that which would be predicted
the data on speech given in previous sections.

3.9.5. N.9.22phaggailaLltata, We have noted in

our discussion of consonant cluster simplification, that
difficult, or
the clusters -Am, -Ala, -jag are extremely In the
even impossible, for NNE speakers to pronounce.
course of the second Thunderbirds memory tests, we examined
the subjwctsf abilities to reproduce words like tept4,
ghostP, MBOLZ and so on.
The following data is from a series of exchanges
with Boot and Money on this point. The tone of the conver-
sation is didactic only on the surface: it was understood
that the purpose was to repeat 'tfficult words.

WL: What do you call this? Money: e des

kl
What do you call this? e des
What are two of these--
two what? tu des*z

This is of course the normal plural, derived by the processes

-330
of consonant cluster simplification and epenthesis de
scribed in 3.2. Money clearly shows that a knowledge of
the underlying form Aux (with 71E, first deleted and then
restored) is consistent with the plural [desin]. Con
tinuing from this point:

WIJ: Two 'leeks MONEY: tu deseks

f.aiiggaxtv test'
And atagjarL, en tu tesets

With great effort, Money has now pronounced the lag clue
ter after e]
WI,: Say it again. MONEY: en tu tests'

Mats represents the first appearance of a voiceless vowel,

rapid and unstressed, separating two clearly unvoiced.a's
WI,: One gimat. Say &mi. ,MON,EY: gos+stv govst

mhe first utterance was an anticipatory attempt to pr%duce

a plural. Money corrects this to the singular form, with
a final 71.
WI': And two what? MONEY: gourz
Again Money gives the normal plural. He is now encouraged
to try again for the SE form,
WI,: Say jam ghosts... 0

An' there's tm. MONEY: gostsg-

agatell. gostsgsgsgs
liet's try it. Ghosts. gotsesesGs
0 o 0
No, Let's try igut. tostf
OK, Two toasts is lads!. tr. tost 1z tostf
tostsgsgegs

We went on to jalgp and ;jamb which gave even more trouble;

instead of a final -p, -t began to appear. The same basic
pattern as shown here appeared in exchanges with Boot.
WI,: Say thiajill.ELADAs., BOOT: Vs 1z A des10
right?
If there's two of them,
that's two-- what? desk'
Say ,desjcp, desik'
Now try to say atesks. desk4h
Like D-E-S-K_S--deske. des'

331
Boot is plainly mo e bound by NNE patterns with clusters
after front vowels than Money is. When we move on to
back vowels, the situation is remarkably similar to that
presented abovep though by a somewhat different approach

WIi: P/IPst, BOOT: goer

Ah9BIB, gos:
say gh2ata. gowt
Efts,
gos::t

No. That's a tough one.

Say ;twat. tost'
T t tostsesos
0 0
tost'
gaaa toe::
Here Boot shows the repetitive voiceless syllables only for
one utterance before he retreats again to a long si But
later on, deLling with =Bug, we get
: You know what a mosque is mask'

&mem mcsk:s:s
mos:gkgsgsgs
1121asua
The pattern is thus not confined to back rounded vowels.
fact, it appears after ij
WI: Say lies. lisp
lrsgsgs
LiaP lie'

741EIP (1. I
lispl
king. lispgsgs

This behavior of Boot and Money under the pressure of repe

tition tests (with monetary rewards) is of great interest,
since a recursive rule seems to have been set into motion.
Exactly how this interacts with the'rule systems described
in 3.4, and what rules are being set up, are not easy to
determine; we are not dealing with a socially determined
pattern of speech, but with the result of the speaker's
immediate attempt to make sense out of two conflicting ru3-1
systems. It must be remembered that the normal pluralsof
tiftand gh211 are [tes.n] and (gosi.z], or sometimes
bz] and [gostin], and these plurals are produced when
the normal plurals are rejected. The following hypotheses
are put forward.
After Boot and Money produce their normal plurals,

3 2
following their own internalized rules to convertturn
the ab
stract (+plural) into sounds, they are forced to They
their attention to the sounds that WL is producing.
The problem then
hear two [s],s, separated by a silence.
representing
is to interpret this sequence of sounds as motion
some abstract pattern, and than set the rules in
which will produce this surface result.
The sound in between the two.als cannot be a nor
the universal and com-
mal epenthetic vowel, because then
pelling voicing assimilation rule (15) (see p. 207) will
convert the final Es] to (z). But it is plainly not a
(4--anyone can hear that. In ghutg there is of course
a [t], but that cannot be
repreoented by the silence,
since there is no position in NNE where a [t] appears
between twl) s's. Clusters of this sort are not allowed.
Money's first effort to say [teuts], as a matter of fact,
for a repe
seems to have been rejected, since WL asked cluster.
tition. Boot never managed to produce such a
Under pressure, than, a new hypothesis can be seen emer
ging.
as a new
The intervening silence is interpreted That being
kind of epenthetic vowel--a voiceless vowel.
the case, the voicing assimilation rule may apply as nor
We
many, without converting the final [s] into a [z].
then have
gost#Z underlying form
gos#Z (10)simplification of sK clusters
gosp (14')voiceless epenthetic vowel
gosgs (15)voicing assimilation
and
Given the knowledge that there is a 1 in this word,
a in nesigna, Boot and Money react to the request for
further repetitions by placing the consonant in various
positions--before the first xi, after the second Ab with an
epenthetic vowal of its own, etc. There is no regularity
here...it may even appear between the twosals now, because
the cluster is broken up into CVO CVC.
Pinally, we may ask why the epenthatic vowel and
11 is recursive. The form of the new (14') may be
(140 strid] (+cont)##
# 1-cen
1-tenee
tense
Eventually, such a rule might be condensed with the orig
present
inal (14) with cx conventions. But note that in its
form, this rule creates tha conditions for its own re-4pp1i
cation. Given the demand for a plural, (14') adjusts to what
is heard:(149 is at best a working hypothe is for NNE
speakers--and one which does not work. It is the source
of a question, "What is it that is a plural and yet is
not a plural?" The answer is "vowel plus ei We can
construct a series og steps which lead to the recursive re-
sult that was observed:

a. Speaker forms normal plural with (10), (14) and (15),

which is rejected,
b. He identifies a separate final syllable with [9],
and forms the hypothesis that it is separated from the stem
by a voiceless vowel, (14').
c. Having processed stem#Z through (11), (14') and (15),
he receives another rejection.
d. He tries again, and after (11)-(14')-(15) checks the
result to see if he has formed a plural. But he does not
recognize the result as a plural, and therefore adds another
plural #Z, and runs this through the rules, checks the re
malt, fails to recognize it as a plural, and so on.
Throughout this process, the final consonant of the
stem appears in various positions. One of the possibilities
which is realized most often in careful speech is f esti-4
and (gost.1.4. The epenthesis rule (14) or (14') can accomo
date this form by simply inserting the optional stop before
the epenthetic vowel--in effect, broadening the operation
of epenthesis to include
_
(14") -4voc
# cons /rstril
gtense ([
con j) (4.cont1050
4.cen
yttensej
Of course there will be no monomorphemic a clusters, so
this rule will produce poptes, ghaataa, =numb AA2111---
forms which, as noted above, are quite regular in Southern
Mountain speech.

334
3.10 An overview of the relations between NNE and SE,
and sow; educational applications

In this first volume of our report, a number of struc

tural differences between NNE and SE have been investigated
and analyzed. A variety of methods have been used; the
nature of the subject matter has led us to different tech
niques of analysis. No single relationship between NNE
and SE has prevailed in all of these areas* the theoreti-
cal problems so far have been two:
(a) To develop the forms of the rules which reveal
the NNE speaker's knowledge of his language, taking into
account the pervasive and systematic variation which we
find.

(b) To relate the rule systems of NNE and SE--either

as part of a single, all-embracing rule system, or by
systematic comparisor of NNE and SE rules, in their con
trolling conditions, variable constraints, and overall
input variables. In some sections we have been able t,
make use of a simple 0, -, 1 triplet which stops short of
quantitative analysis; but the most thorough and convincing
analyses, to our way of thinking, utilized quantitative data
from the speech community.
To say that there is no single relation between NNE
and SE is to assert that NNE is not simply a reduced form
of SE, nor a generalized form, nor a Oreolized form. It
is not simply Southern regional English, nor is it a lan-
guage independent of SE, which no one but native speakers
can understand. In this section we will by-pass such
simple statements, reserving them for direct examination
in our study of overt attitudes towards language in Volume
II. Instead, we will assemble the analyses we have made
under certain broad headings, striving for an accurate
view of the relations between the systems. We will then
consider, under each heading, the ways in which our find
ings may eventually be related to educational programs.
The findings in this first volume are more precise and
can be more easily applied than the results of our studies
of the uses of language in Volume II, and it would seem to
be good strategy to pursue our present knowledge in propor-
tion to its solidity. At the same time, it is apparent to
us That the major obstacles to reading and educational sue
ceus lie in the social and cultural norms that govern lan
guage behavior. At the end of Volume II, we will propose
changes in the social structure of the schoolroom which we
believe will have greater effect than the changes we here
envisage in the ways of tuaehing English grammar and
phonology.

335-
 3,10,1. Lay aLauLAXE.ama_tha...aamg. Under
this heading, we can only suggest a few of the more impor
tant and striking ways in which NNE and SE are identical.
Of the sum total of rules of English grammar and phonology,
whatever that might be, we have no doubt that the overwhel
ming majority will be the same for both dialects. It is
on the basis of such identity that we have launched a num
ber of our analyses and received ample confirmation of our
initial assumptions. A certain number of these points of
identity will not be specific to English, but characteris-
tic of languages in general, yet many of them are peculiar
to the English language alone.
The underlying forms of the lexicon are much more
similar than one would first think in listening to NNE
and SE speakers. In 3.9.5, we heard Boot and Money suc-
cessfully produce the underlying forms laant and ghaata
although their inability to produce the SE plural muld lead
some to think that their base forms were tas. and ghel.
That is not say that there are not individual items that
vary widelyattribute, um_lorff, cadence are examples that
will be dealt with in Chapter IV to show how great such
variation can be. But these are learned words or particular
lexical items which exist only in the vernacular culture,
where they are free to go their own way with all deliberate
speed,

In our study of phonological variables, we found ample

evidencecof identity of the base forms of -Ang(3.1.7) and
the suffix of the past tense (3.2). Mohomorphemic clue
ters in -10 were occasionally simplified? but there was no
doubt about their underlying shapes (3.3), and the form of
the pluralwas never in doubt. In our study of the copula,
it quickly became Emparent (3.4) that the forms IA and Axe
are the same as in SE, though there is some doubt for some
speakers about Am.

One of the most important points of similarity between

SE and NNE is in the evaluation of these phonological vari
ables as shown in their directions of shift. We find no
cases where NNE speakers alter the evaluation of -ing, for
example, and use more [In] forms in formal speech. Thede
subjective attitudes are so universal and deep-seated in
our culture that we do not stop to notice the uniformity
involved, except in the rare oases where some group or
person breaks the norm.
Note that the direction of the nonstraints upon the
phonological processes are the samé over the great majority
of the cases vim have studied. The effect of a following
vowel uniformly acts to retain final consonants for -Ix
(3.1.2), for-i (3.1.5), for -KD (3.2), for the plural (3.3)
and eventually for jaa (3.4.13). Both NNE and SE are gov-
erned by the same tendency to favor CVO over OVVO and OVCO,

336
 The fact that NNE and SE have the Jrlentical contrac
determining
tion rule (3.4.6) was extremely helpful in
Of the sixteen
the nature of NNE's own deletion ru19. 207, eight are
phonological rules of English given on p. stress
marked as identical for NNE and SE. The important
epenthesis
assignment rules for English are the same;universal English
operates in the same way, along with thcl
difference--ghoRes
voicing assimilation rule. One surface which is dif
vs. glumla is actually produced by one rule
ferent and two which are identical (3.9.5).
generate (3.4.7)
We only touched lightly en the rules which but it is
suca complex forms as EllaLLEgatio...saiLszazY, WH-attrac
evident that these are shared by NNE and SE.
tion operates in the same way, except for such slight de
viations as with adverbs of place (3.8.3), and of course
sets of rules.
the relatives are formed by the same
We see no difference in the NNE use of the progressive
we see
and that of SE, nor--granting the oil passive--do
process (3.5.2).
any important differences in this syntactic
relied upon as a
The negative attraction rule, which we (3.6.1) Je funda-
base for our analysis of negative syntax
mentally the same for NNE and SE.

ThR educational implications of this fundamental iden-

oTeachi,ng English
tity are clear in outline. The slogan, it is also a
as a Foreign Language is a bad slogan, but to English.
bad theoretical principle. NNE is not foreign
which is due to
No doubt the major difficulty in learning
differences are so
structural differences is not that the The very fine
great--but rather that they are so small.
adjustments necessary to switch from NNE to SB (see 3.10.2
adjustments to a
below) are much more difficult than gross
language where we have no comparable rules to modify.
rely upon tills
On the positive side, the schools can
identity of NNE and SE at a deeper level, with confidence
that instruction in the fundamentals of English grammar
But in
is as important in the ghetto as in the suburbs. to
particular, it should be possible for school programs in
lay stress upon those rules which will beNNEcritically
and SE--that
volved in structural differences between against which thR
is, the rules which form the background example, is a
differences are seen. Syllabification, for that the
process which needs to be studied overtly, so of his sur
student can make the connection between some The
face phonetic forms and the underlying abstraction.
not taught
rules for contraction, as developed in 3.4, are
negative attrac
in any curriculum, nor are the rules forknowledge of these
tion. It should be clear that an overt where NNE has
rules will help in attacking those areas English.
extended, generalized and advanced the rules of

-337-
 3 10,2. lay.e...IP.Whigh......M.22italadfLar.Ngellarl
1u22s as they_ara,Louna_iLLIE. Most of the particular
findings of Chapter III fall under this heading. If
there was a simple way to characterize NNE differences
from SE, we would prefer the emphasis on the title given
above.

We have seen that the degree of x-lessness in NNE

is several stages advanced over the WNS vernacular (or
tba RP of Southern England). Intervocalic is sometimes
deleted, and word-final before a vowel almost always--
significant extensions of the WNS equivalent (3.1.2).
The merger of (ohr) and (uhr) in 2.119.74 and mix,e, is consid
erably advanced over the opposite merger to the high vowel
found in WNS (3.1.4). The vocalization of (I) is certain
ly generalized beyond the activity of the rule as seen in
the white population (3 1.5).

As we examine the consonant cluster simplification

rule, it is evident that NNE has carried this process fur
ther Than SE; SE speakers drop monomorphemic -1,.04 before
consonants, and almost nowhere else, but NNE speakers show
eonsilerable activity all along the line. In the case of
mil -.Apt -.a clusters, the rule is almost categorical for
NNE speakers (3.44) ,Furthermore, the rule is extended to
cover final single consonants, opening up an area of varia
tion which is closed to SE speakers (3.2.3). We speculated
upon an extension of the epenthesis rule which seems to be
followed by NNE speakers under pressure (3.9.5).
In the (KZ) clusters, we find a typical generaliza-
tion to fill out irregular plurals by one means or another
(3.3.4). The associative pluralaV
'ma seems to us an
extension of the WNS usage (3.3.5) although it is not in
conceivable that it is a heritage Irom a Creole grammar.

The deletion rule itself, removing single 6onsonants,

mey be consilered a kind of extended contraction. It
carries a process of reduction one step furthe: (3.4.6).
We observe that the phonological rules whidh reduce have
to a lone (v) are extended to remove it entirely

Note that tha. rules for reducing mi.gginge.,12 and

uing to carry these processes of reduction in a slightly
different direction from SE and severalsteps beyond, to
a minimal [4 in the first person, or jos] in other per-
sons (3.5.2). Even the reduction of ip n9t, a% pot and
has not to airilt, is carried one step further, in reducing
slid not in the same way.(3.5.3).
The development of the double modals among NNE speakers
ofers an interesting case of extension and generalization.
The original mityt wo lay can, etc., is extended to
must don't and other constructions which takes as a start

4-338-
ing point the double modals. The quasi modals 14,11E4
ulta are carried further along the line, away
from their main verb status in ways that we have dis
cussed (3.5 6-7).

The study of negative attraction and negative con

cord offered the best view, along with contraction and
deletion, of the relations of NNE and SE. We provided
here the only rule which was written for several dialects
(3.6.6) to show how NNE fits in with the negative syntax
of other dialects. There can be no question that nega
tive concord is extended further in NNE than any other
dialect we know of--the diagram on p. 283 is worth re
producing here to make this process clear.

Use of negative concord

with indefinites with tense markers
azna.alamaa Alums:Ls. oRme claim Otter a,
0

"WNS 0

WNS
2
NNE

We can also see the use of free =I in addition to the

incorporation of [-Iineg] as a further extension,expres
sions such as pot Ao_mon_harsily, though, and ..1cAuse
t n n e at.no.tirasuatimIggLagain are plainly
and exuberantly extensions of negative concord to some
kind of limit, and with extensions to the tense marker
in the next clause, we may have reached that limit:

Negative inversion is apparently an extension of the

literary negative foregrounding of Nor d:Ld fulypne seq it.
We have Alin.l.tAglady.arigjit, (3.6.5); and we observe
that the displacement of adverbs like mostjy, 2313111,
is in the same direction (3.8.4).

An educational program which would take such general

izations of SE rules into account would necessarily involve
the student in retracing his steps. The fact that the NNE
speaker uses contraction every time*he deletes ja
may not
help at all--for he needs to obtain skill in contracting
without deleting if he is to master st?ndard English. We

-339-
are not speaking of pronunciation here, but of read ng--
for we find that our NNE subjects have little or no
ability to read the contractions '3124 %awhIch they
actually use in speech.

As far as we know, it was never considered necessary

to teach contraction explicitly in American schools, ex
cept for the spelling rules. But NNE youth needs to have
a new program which goes back to stress assignment, pro
ceeds to contraction, and avoids deletion.
Where linguistic ana ysis can be the most help is in
providing teachers with the most general rule which de
scribes the behavior under consideration. The negative
concord rule is such an exemple--we believe that it can
be used in school, far mare effectively than a piecemeal
attadk on mistakes, and the slogan that "two negatives
make a positive". It seeme that the negative attraction
and negative concord rules offer an excellent opportunity
to introduce the student to the basic distinction between
underlying meaning and superficial form, a distinction
whidh must become overt if certain colulex problems such
as those cited above are to be overcome.
When we consider the problem of reading consonant
clusters, it is plain that it will be helpful to have
astrong_constraint against simplifying grammatical clus
ters. 2ut more important will be emphasis on the differ-
ence between the surface pronunciation and the alphabetic
representation. What we observe in the third, fourth
and fifth grades, and in our readings on tape, is a loss
of confidence in the alphabet. The whole-word approach
can always allow a student to show some vestige of read
ing, but vathout faith in the alphabetic code, and a wtll
ingness to explore it to learn new words, we think that
reading will not advance.
The typical pattern which we observe in reading is
for the student to read the first letter of the word,
perhaps the second, and then jundp to any likely hypo-
thesis about the rest. We will take up reading errors
in greater detail in Volume II, but this disregard for
final col"-,mants should be clearly seen against the mater
ial presented here in 3.1-2-3. An understanding of the
phonological rules involved will make it plain why so many
forms which look different sound alike; and this under
standing is as important for tha teacher as the student.
At various times, it has been suggested that students
receive intensive training in articulation and perception
before they begin learning to read. Although such training
will undoubtedly be helpful, it seems to us not quite rele
vant to the re ding task f the teacher wants to get the
child reading well as quickly as possible, there is no
in sound
reason to dwell on or emphasize the differences
The only thing which
patterns between student and teacher.
to make the funda
is required is for the teacher to beginreading and differ
mntal distinction between mistakes in of the
ences in pronunciation (Labov 1966d discusses some
sets of homonyms which proceed from NNE phonological rules
and their consequences for reading). Vithout direct ob-
what are
servation in the classroom, we cannot be sure
the most important sources of interference with reading,
but it seems logical that any corrections which are made printed
should be concerned with deciphering meaning from the
which the
page, and not with differences in pronunciation
student may be unable to hear. The rules of consonant
cluster simplification may be so extended for many chil
dren that mat, Ramo and pau literally sound identical
to them, no matter how carefully the teacher pronouncesof
the words. An approach which emphasizes the meaning
-0eAl following the lines of our investigation (3,2.7) seems
most appropriate; it may be followed up later with direct
teaching of consonant cluster pronunciation. A review of
3.9.5 should convince any teacher that it will be wry
difficult to teach some of theso clusters, and there is no
reason why reading should wait for such lessons to end suc
cessfully.

3.10.3. AllyzjaLytigLALiNiajniazing.ajjannue
We need only run through a list of the missing elements
of SE that have been discussed in the previous pages:
the third person singular -.a (3.3.5), the possessive VI
(3.3.6), the complementizers 11 and abgthgx, especially
the latter (3,7.3); possibly the .ilha passive (3.5.2).
There is no doubt that haze and the present perfect is
weak, but weakness is quite different from absence.
The educational problems caused by the total absence
of a mechanical feature of agreement in English are con
that
siderable. We have noted above the basic principle
abstract, formal elements are the moot difficult to teach
and the easiest for a non-standard dialect to lose. The
difficulties of teaching third person singular -s hinge
upon the absence of a deeply internalized "location" of
third singular in the NNE speakers' grammars; the redun
dancy of the feature; and its abstractness. Note that
the possessive is firmly in place in absolute position
where it is necessary: .thatIa..ftlielts. But in attributive
position, where 's is redundant wlth word order, there
seems to be no communicative need to hold this inflection,
and it will undoubtedly be difficult to teach. Note that
there is no way in which this -ma, can receive stress or em
phasis in the normal course of speaking- a very different
situation from that which prevails with

-341
 3 10,4. e t g NN. u g,inSE. We
have a relative y small list of such positive features of
NNE which do not exist at all in SE, High on the 3ist,
of course, is the invariant verb ke,c, (3.4.11). This
entry in the dictionary does a great deal of work for NNE
speakers, and we have discussed its deliberative, stative,
and habitual meanings at length.
There are two phonological rules of NNE which do not
exist in SE: the copula deletion rule, which actually
works upon any lone consonant between word boundaries
3.4.6);and the rule for deleting post-vocalic schwa
6 .4.8 and elsewhere). These are of course the obstacles
to be overcome as far as the school program is concerned,
In one sense, they are both extensions of processes al
ready operating in SE--the vocalization of (r) and the
contraction and cluster simplificatian rules. In this
sense, 11:00 remains the only substantial element of the
grammar uhder this heading.
There are a number of features rif Southern English,
such as Lola and 13çç1 (3.5.7). which we might discuss
here. But we do not have enough evidence on white South
ern dialects to speak with anyessurance, and we will
therefore leave this area for development later.
It cannot bo denied that there is a vast range of
lexical items which differentiate NNE speakers from SE,
but here we are considering only the grammatical core of
the languagepand not the lexicon. In Volume II, we will
take up in detail a number of particular features which
differentiate the NNE vernacular community from the white
community, including such lexical items as evidence of
sharp breaks in the lines of communication. Furthermore,
we will consider what adult Negro speakers mean when they
talk about the "language of the street", or their "jargon"
as a matter of pride. It will appear that the marks nec
easary to communicate with an adult audience, and convince
them that one is speaking the vernacular, are of a very
different order from the systematic features we have been
discussing here.

3.10.5, NN
aammulaliy. Throughout this report, we have presented data
on stylistic and social stratification of various linguistia
elements: (r) in 3.1.2, (ing) in 3.1.7, (KD) in*3.2.8,
(KZ) in 33.8, the copula in 3.4.13, and a number of other
smaller studies, The ghetto area is characterized by what
we may call "sharp stratification" [as described for (th)
and (dh) in SSENYO: VII)]. Instead of a broad continuum
of speech forms, there are a number of sharp cleavages in
the population: three such cleavages turn up frequently
in our tables.
-342
 a Middle class vs. working class. The middle class
adults most consistently reflected a grammar different from
that of the bulk of the population. In many ways, they
resembled closely the middle class white population of New
York City, at least in their relation to the working class
group. They used more ,1,5 fewer stops for (th) and (dh),
more third singular less copula deletion, and so on:
these are not statistical tendencies that are difficult to
detect, but major gaps between them and all others.
To a certain extent, the sharpness of the stratification is
due to our methods of sampling, but not entirely. Three
of the residents of Lenox Terrace were classified with the
working olass population on socio-economic grounds, and
these characteristics are indeed better predictors of their
linguistic behavior than residence alone. The sharp stra-
tification of Harlem into middle class vs, working class
has been observed from many viewpoints

b. Adult vs, adolescent. A glance at any of the

charts which compare working class adults with the peer
group members will show an abrupt discontinuity. Whereas
the pre-adolescents, younger adolescents of 12-13, and
older adolescents of 16-17 are all quite similar, we find
that the working class adults do not preserve that uniform
grammar which we have called NNE. The frequencies of con
traction and especially deletion show this, the variabili-
ty of negative concord, the fact that adults do not use
.ajliU for =LW that they do not usela21 and a large
number of other sharp differences. We will see in Chapter
IV that adults acquire a uniform set of subjective reac
tions which adolescents do not have, and at least in
Harlem, we have seen that adolescents have a uniform ver-
nacular that adults do not have. This cleavage may be
accentuated by our difficulty in interviewing young Negro
men 20 to 30 years old, but we find the transition to
the adult pattern beginning with 18-19 year olds, and the
Oscar Brothers are clearly departing from the NNE verna-
cular in several ways.

c. Lames vs. club mombers, In Chapter IV we will

examine in some detail the interior structure of the peer
groups, and see how this structure affects grammar and
phonology. But throughout this chapter we have been ob-
serving a grosser, more abrupt distinction between lames
or isolated boys on the one hand, and members on the other,
It is no accident that the lames deviate from NNE 3rammar
on point after point, leaning in the direction of the
white Inwood group if not towards SE. Though lames are
often young, they are young in an old way as far as NNE
is ooncerned; they resemble adults in their grammar and
phonology, they reflect adult values in what they say,
and they are open to adult influence which is opposed to
the peer group. This is the fundamental cleavage which
the teacher encounters, but only from the outside.

-343-
Teachers do not really know who is who wi hin their classes
since many club members behave in ways that are to their
advantage in gaining teacher approval for limited ends
not all antagonism towards the school system is overtly
expressed.

The existence of these three discontinuities sets off

the existence of an extraordinary uniformity within the
vernacular culture. There is no sharp break between the
Thunderbirds, as pre-adolescent; the Jets and Cobras,
from 12 to 17 years; and the Oscar Brothers. On a number
of our multiple diagrams, we have shown this uniformity
within the peer group culture.
The third cleavage is a trap for the unwary educator,
who may be encouraged by the significant number of improve
ments in reading, speaking, arithmetic, and so on, which he
obtains from a given experimental program. It must be
acknowledged that every class will have a percentage of
isolated boys who are open to such improvements, who will
accept the aims of the educational program, and who have
already incorporated the raw materials for it into their
basic grammars. Success with this minority of the youth
is not success in the ghetto areas: any program should be
aimed at the bulk of the students who do participate in the
NNE linguistic and social milieu. When this group moves,
it moves as a whole: so far, it has resisted any pressures
from the so .00l system to do so. We do not mean, of course,
that the gilup is consciously organized as a focus of re
sistance in school; but rather that the cultural values
internalized by gryup members make such resistance very
probable.

We will return to the relation of this large scale

data to the individual behavior of Jet and Cobra members,
in 4.2 in Volume II. In this half of our work, we have
been focusing upon the uniform object--NNE--and its users
as a group. It must be remembered, then, that this
group of students is divided from their teachers by color,
from the middle class community by their socio-economic
background, from adults by age and an entire set of adult
reactions which they do not possess, and from the isolated,
upwardly mobile boys by a set of values which peer group
members reject and the others accept.
To see the grammar of NNE set in this framework is
helpful in appreciating its uniformity, its viability as
a means of communication, its stability consistent with
inherent and widespread variation. NNE has an internal
logic in its formal structure, as we have tried to show.
It makes its own choice of redundant features, quite in
dependent of the choices made by SE at many points. Mem
bers already show a wide range of style shifting with
some of the variables we have studied. If they can be

-344
persuaded to accept the kind of style shifting which adults
use, it can be used as a bridge to move t'oward SB while
they presumably have the flexibility and adaptability to
do ew. We observed that NNE speakers use the copula dele-
tion rule as a stylistic marker in moving between group and
single sessions, :1,620 Also served as a mark lof careful,
deliberate speech within the MB framework. However, most
of the variables we studied dJd not change very much within
the conversational range. An examination of the phonologi
cal variables in 3.1 shows that Jets and Cobras as well as
Thunderbirds change style only in the most formal contexts
--Styles C and D. This is a fourth discontinuity, which
reflects the isolation of every-day life from the formal
program of the school system. Reading is irrelevant within
the peer group, and reading style never penetrates into the
use of speech in conversation.
There have been several suggestions for short circuit
ing such complex patterns of style shifting. It has been
proposed that children be taught to read within the gram
matical framework of NNE. Our subjective reaction tests
and other observations show that such a program would not
be accepted easily by the adult community: children are
sent to school "to be educated", which implicitly means
learning SE. While some NNE texts may be strongly moti
vating for many children, it is not the case that there is
a great deal of interfereLce from grammatical differences
between SE and NNE. Repetition testslfor example, show
that only a few items actually cause such interference.
It has also been suggested that a program of "bi
dialectalism" would have more success than a straightforward
inculcation of SE forms. The psychological effect of toler
ating or reinforcing the vernacular is no doubt very great.
The possibility of achieving compy4ence in both NNE and SE
is more dubious. We have not observed any individual who
could be considered bi-dialectal in this sense. When one
learns SE, or comes into extensive contact with SE speakers,
there is an inevitable change in the NNE rules. We have
observed such changes in our own staff members: it should
be realized that when two such closely related dialects
are in contact, they cannot be maintained as two separate
entities. Rules for consonant cluster patterns, for the
copula, for question forms, for the negative--all show the
kind of shift which we have documented in our adult speakers,
and which is overwhelming among the middle class speakers.
To say that there is going to be some loss when SE is ac-
quire(, is not to say that SE should not be acquired. Not
everyone who becomes a standard speaker loses contact with
the vernacular: we find that the leaders of the Harlem com
munity use a number of compensating devices to convey the
impression that they are speaking the vernacular, although
their underlying grammar is very different. Such devices
are worthy of study in themselves: the idioms and lexical
items which preserve contact with a grammar which one has
long since left behind.
-.345
 FOOTNOTES
112.491...1..0.211.2Pter

1Some of the sources upon which we have drawn are

The Negx229 in the United States; their Economic and Soc al
Mualion, Bureau of Labor Sta ieties Bulletin No. MIT'
U.S, Dept. of Labor, June 1966 [cited below as BLS 1511];
A Harlem Almanac, edited by William A. G].aser, Bureau of
Applied Social Research, Columbia University, May 1964;
Youth in the Ghetto (New York: HARYOU, 1964; ghtiagro
IiErgr'TETWEITYor National Action, U.S. Department of
]ge6OT196F'rFrgrg16FEF7EEU Moynihan Report3.
2
Median school years for Central Harlem in the 1960
Census was 8.9, as compared to 10.6 for Manhattan [Harlem
Almanac p. 23]
3
In October 1965, unemployment rates were higher for
non-white high school graduates than for white dropouts
[BLS 1511, p. 241.
4
See Labov and Robins 1968, "A Note on the Relation
of Peer Group Status to Reading Failure", and 4.4, Vol. II
of this report,
5
In the 1960 Census, it was reported that among ;Ion
white youth 10 to 13 years old, 17.1 per cent of females
were one or more grades behind, and 25.0 per cent of the
males [Moynihan Report, p. 31J.
6
The charts for.total scores and grade equivalents
on the Gray Oral Reading Tests, Form CI assign a grade
equivalent of 12 .0 to a boy who scores 73; a girl who
scores 73 on the same test will be rated at grade 10#6.
A boy who scores 30 on Form A is rated 3.21 a girl 2.7.
7 We will have oceasion to cite frequently the final
report to "A Preliminary Study of the Structure of English
Used by Negro and Puerto Rican Speakers in New York City"
by William Labov, Paul Cohen and Clarence Robins; this re
port on Cooperative Research Project 3091 will be referred
to as CRP 3091. It is available as ERIC ED 010 688#
8
Walter Loban's reports on his longitudinal studies
of school children in Oakland, California, include com
parisons of "High Caucasian, Low Caucasian, Negro. and Ran
doe for almost all features reported. His report on "Lan
guage Ability, Grades Seven, Eight and Nine" gives most
data as "Number of Deviations per 1000 words of spoken vol
ume" [Cooperative Research Monograph No. 18, OE-300018].

-346
 9Ve are much indebted to Courtney Sice off, director
of the Penn Community Services, Beaufort for his help in
obtaining many of these interviews, and for the general
understanding of the social and educational situation of
the area which he conveyed to us.
10
Information on Negro speech patterns is not pro
vided in any of the major publications of the Linguis
tic Atlas (Kurath 1949, Kurath and MacDavid 1961);
Atlas records in general do not concern most of the
linguistic materials discussed here.
12
For a more detailed discussion of these terms, and
their authors' use, see "The Linguistic Variable as a
Structural Unit" (Labov 1966e).
13
All citations in this report are given as a series
of three items in brackets: age, peer group membership or
geographic origin, and tape number. The tapes cited are
available to those who wish to pursue any of the theoreti
cal or applied problems further with reference to particu
lar citations. Occasionally, sentences will be cited from
WNS without referencesit will be understood that these
represent the intuitions of the authors, and are not attri
buted to any ernirical study. The peer group membership
assigned is somewhat broader than group membership as dis
cussed in Chapter IV: junior members and peripheral figures
in that area (but not lames) are cited with that peer group
name. Por adults, the geographic area in which they spent
years 4-13 is used as a reference.
15
This does indeed to be the case in Phoenix, Arizona,
from exploratory work done by W. Labov. The two-phoneme
system is primarily used by Mexican and Neggo groups, while
Anglos are heavily biased towards the one phoneme system.

alesjaaapter II
1
We wish to thank Mr. Zell Ingram, of the Children's
Aid Society, director of the Stephen Poster Center, for his
assistance and kind cooperation in carrying out this program.
We are also indebted to Mr. Theodore Gross and Mr. Richard
Jordan of the Stephen Poster Center.
2,
An accurate enumeration of this building was extremely
difficult, as for various reasons a number of families did
not wish to report all of the children 1. .ng in their a
partment, and others did not communicate at all with out
siders. The problems were solved by Mr. Robins with the
help of the Thunderbirds, who supplied much information
.which would otherwise not be available to us,

-347-
 3
We were informed by one Youth Board official that
since there were no gang fights in the area, no worker
from the Youth Board was assigned to it. The area re-
ferred to included the "Cobra" and "Jet" territories and
a much larger section besides,
4
The peer groups we worked with almost always had a
junior organization, headed by a younger brother, and/or
had been such a junior group at one time. But there is
nothing of a compelling character about such an institu-
tion.

6Data on the 1960 Census as compiled in the Harlem

Almanac cited in Oh. I, fn. 1.
7
This was the case with the SSENYC study, and several
social surveys carried out in lower class areas. The
methods used here successfully avoided this bias.
1
8
We are indebted to Dr. Samuel McClelland, Director
of the Bureau of Educational Research, and to the many
district superintendents and school principals involved
for their help in obtaining these records.
9
Such tactics inevitably have their effoct upon the
group itself. Yablonsky (1963) showed that street gangs
were strengthened and grew as a result of the attention
paid them by social workers. We found that the Jets were
using their outings with us as a basis for recruitment.
10
See 3.1.4 for the NNE situation here; for the WNS
development of the influence of gravity on height, see
E;SENYC: VIII.

Notes onaapter III

1
See Sivertsen (1960) for a detailed description of
the Cockney situation,
2
The Wepman Test for auditory discrimination, still
widely used for researdh in ghetto areas, includes a min
imal pair of the Ruth, - roof type, and one of the pin -
pen type. Normal Negro children should have difficul
ty with these, as our minimal pair and perception tests
shor.
3
No rule is entered here to produce the palatal up
glide in work, shirt, etc. This feature has been so heavily
stigmatized ihs:rirno longer forms a part of the basic ver-
natJular for most younger speakers (See SSENYC: IX).

-348-
other?" which deserves citing here. "Now you go into a
store and you ask the man for a pen [pin] and he'll reach
and-- and you'll say don't want no [pin]--I want a
safety [pm]: But I want a pin to pin my shirt with.'
You got to explain it to-.him what he want--see?" The
speaker is a 45-year-old Negro man raised in Manhattan,
between 50th and 60th Sts. in the San Juan Hill district.
Many such accounts are volunteered by our informants:
the merger of pin and pen plainly causes communicative
difficulty.
13 We have cited before the case of the leader of the
Thunderbirds, named Boot. For several months, we knew
him as B22, until the number of final glottal stops at
the end of his name made us suspect that there was a final
consonant. Some of the younger Thunderbirds call him
[bu:k]. The issue was resolved when he appeared one day
with a pair of sneakers label id BOOT.
14 We have also noted more than a few cases of the
plural testes [testez]. For a modification of the rule
of inserting epenthetic vowels to include such forms, see
3.9,5.
15
As noted in Chapter II, we are indebted to Dr. Sam
uel McClelland, Director of the Bureau of Educational Re
search, and the superintendents and principals of the
schools involved, for their help in obtaining these records,
16
5ee Labov and Robins, "A Note on the Relation of
Peer Group StEvzus to Reading Failure" (1968).
17
The Gray Oral Reading Test was administered to the
Jets by John Lewls in a series of sessions arranged for
the purpose. We were able to correlate the Gray scores
wfath our own reading index and the school records, the
conclusion is that the members did perform somewhat better
for us than in the school test situation, although their
overall performance was very poor.
18
The better reeders, of course, show a heavy concen
tration of lames. Although there are one or two oer group
members who read well, the over-all performance of the
lames is distinctly better. Furthermore, we find that
some members who read quite well show strong deviations
from the basic vernacular in their grammatical and phono-
logical behavior. For an analysis of many of these indi
vidual cases, see Volume II.
19
The Inwood group frequently expressed strong hos
tility towards Negroes. la various subjective reaction
tests, they unhesitatingly identified Negro forms as Negro
with many negative comments. At the same time, this hos-

-350 the
tility does not preLl4e the Possib lity of Negro in
fluence upon their speech, we have many instanc s of
whites living in continual conflict with Negroes, yet
adopting Negro speech forms unconsciously into their
fundamental vernacular.
20
It is interesting to note, though hardly conclu-
sive, that the one member of the TA Inwood group who did
not read 3/3 on sentences 416,9 also showed the highest
proportion of deletion fo7 (KB413) before consonants
21
A number of other examples of hyper-D are die
cussed in 3.5.5 and 3.5.8, leading to a connection with
a potential "tense transfer rule". The direction of the
evidence is enough to show,that there is no difficulty
with the -ed suffix itself, it is rather a question of
the placement of the tense.marker. Some of the hyper-Z
cases discussed below, such as He can vets hurts, may
s/ ing from the same source, but most arel5TEE1Y based on
faliure to grasp the person-number agreement rule of SE.
22Data on Trinidadian English and French Creole is
from Denls Solomon.
23 The theoretical question posed here has been put
most clearly by Chomsky, who suggests that dialects of the
same language are likely to be more different in their sur
face structure than in their underlying representations.
The general question is argued in the papers of Chomsky
and Rosenbaum in Project Literac .21port No. 2 (Ithaca,
N.Y.: Cornell University, 19 4 ) In general, our results
show that Chomsky's position is borne out, there are only a
fawcases where euperf4cial differences are less than
differencem in./nee rules. Perhaps the outttanding case
is beo (see 3.4.11),where the resemblance to SE be, serves
to maSk the considerable semantic difference involved.
24 It may be helpful,here to summarize the. possible
arguments to show°that.there is no relation between sen
tences of the form (22-39) and the examples of 3.4.2,
and therefore no underlying is or are in NNE. (a) wa_s and
were are past tense markers(70 atift is merely a negative
marker, c) I'm is an allomorph of (d) be in non-
finite positions is related to the habitual beo and not
to be, of the finite copula, (e) tba's ELM wha's
are allomorphs of At that and wha (f) emphatiTTOMs
are imported from 8B, as are (hrwyes no questions which
foreground is and are, (i) elliptical responses and com
paradve ellipsis provide automatic is-suppert, comparable
to do-support. We do not find these arguments convincing,
butlit crin be argued that the existence of explanations
based on the deletion of is and are are only valid from
an SE point of view. For those who do not wish to aceept
arguments based upon simplicity, it is always possible to

351-
claim that the language has the miscellaneous character
of (a-i), as a result of certain historical processes.
fol
It will require further data, to be submitted in the
lowing section, to show that these arguments do not apply
to the present day NNE being studied here,
25 We cite these rules in the form used by Ohomsky in
his 1966 lectures at the Linguistic Institute in Los An
geles, since the Sound Patterns of English has not yet
appeared at this writing. Certain modations of the
rules seem to be required by this data, such as the weak
word rule, but on the whole the contraction rules, and
the deletion rules which follow, give independent confir
mation of Chomsky and Halle's stress assignment rules.
26 8ee below, p, 196, for further comments on this
point.

27While the basic vernacular is tniform up to a

point, see 3.4.13 on ..he development of phonological con-
ditioning of the contraction and deletion rules with age

28In the case of adults, the lower diagram shows

"casual speech" as isolated in the single interviews.
The criteria for determining the shift to casual style
are contrastive changes in "channel cues"--pitch, volume,
tempo, and rate of breathing (which includes laughter);
for Negro speakers, increases in pitch range are taken as
the primary criteria, relatively much more important than
with white speakers.
29
The amount of data presented in these quantitative
studies varies; in the initial variables, the patterns
for six different groups in two styles are shown, so that
the full regularity of the variable relations may appear.
In later variables only limited portions of the data
available are presented. Not all of the speakers in most
of the groups have been studied completely; and though
it is possible that some of the data not yet entered may
lead to changes on points of the analysis, most of the
relations presented are so regular and binding that if
half or a quarter of the data given here is taken, the
relationships remain constant
30Note that the Jets differ from the T Birds and
the Cobras in the relation between following noun phrase
and following adjectives and locatives when a noun phrase
precedes, but that there is no difference when a pronoun
precedes. In general, the nature of the constraint in-
volved here is uncertain--it has no obvious semantic or
functional interpretation--and there is considerable
fluctuation of this nature. In the final statement of
the rule, we will not attempt to incorporate a specific
rule for CNP]--though it is useful in the exposition to

352
this point since it reflects the parallelism of contr
tion and deletion.
Tnaul what, it, lot and one are the chief exceptions
but the first three obey special rules Oscussed below to
yield i's, thals and whals. One and its derivatives are
the onIrprenouns which would7Erlow us to examine the de
letion rule left in this class. Impersonal one does not
occur in colloquial speech, and the other forms are not
frequent enough to yield reliable data at this time.

32This exception, the Cobras, is based upon a rela

tively small number of cases, and it is possible that fur
there data will alter the picture; but in any case, voi
cing is not a major effect.
33 There are individual speakers of NNE who extend
the usual rules of consonant cluster simplification to
extremes, and also carry further the weak tendency to
delete final single consonants, thus arriving at a high
proportion of CV syllables.
34 The literary convention of writing with the
apostrophe before the s indicates that in an unreflec
ting approach the s is seen as a descendant of an orig
is. As we:will seebelow, thip.is true only in the
sense that the 0 reflects the presence of the copula, but
in a non-linear fashion.
35 0ne might think that such schwas would be indis
tinguishable from reduced forms of are; but in NNE the
amount of person-number disagreemenra is and are is
very low, and there is practically no vestige orgre
occurring in singular contexts. See 3.4.94
36 That is, there are no pronouns ending in conson-
ant plus t. However, if the assibilation rule is actual
ly broader than it seems in this formulation, it may then
be ordered with respect to the cluster rules presented
here.
37 It is possible that sentences go
back to underlying structures with jja as the main verb.
There are also many related foregroundings such as Val
ailly....ibing_12,__Ltulumjjag, which also allow, The pay
IlroXA.MY.W. Where such la's can be deleted,
=Loan be too, as in (130, which indicates that wla are
not dealing with a phonological process.
38The WH-attraction we have in mind here is the same
transformation which produces What_a_ozazy.suy.12.Jal In
this ease, it operates only when the WH-that has a rela
clause appended; although this may not be the correct

353
 ure or this sentence, but it may very we1 be for
112eLLItaazaazylagg
30'There are other pieces of evidence on the uneasy
situation of AfIve, which may be noted. One of the diffi
culties in dealing with hayg...04, is that it is sometimes
said to be optional in all cases--that it is impossible
to produce an ungrammatical sentence withouthad
However, Paul Cohen has noted that the following senten e
seems to require hayg but does not have it
Ent...X.QA-SitY.4141.41Y.3.112. [17, Oscar Bros., #35
The speaker still does, and hayg seems oddly missing
here llayg or ga can be deleted as a main verb, as in
?VT 'ETeimpalittb 141.).4.1.2aez 15 I N.Y.C.
iH 4
40There also seems to be a supertative use of Imo
where it has lost its position as a ma n verb and becomt
an adverbial particle or quasi modal similar to Alum,
Note [15, Oscar Br #5843
and
[12, T Birds, #365 ). hese ba seemffurthest removed
along the stative, or Ito be ift the condition off' axis
4 13ee
footnote 39 for other examples of jaug not
occurring where expected.
42 It is very common to find hayg =I as auxiliary
replaced with saminli Prom a 25-year-old man raised in
Florida, we have
saLagin and also Egt,
As a main verb, we a
skotp.m.signLt. 15, NY. ., Y 41, the
same speaker who deleted çpy in fn. 39]. Note that
airot can even represent
Imat=0--a past tense meaning 2, N.Y.C., #416
43m
we are much indebted for this and other data on
double modals to Miss Mary Clayton.
-Jmebecca Moreton of the Center for Applied Linguis
tics furnished us with this information from her personal
knowledge of the speech of Jackson, Mississippi, together
with a great deal of other data on relevant syntactic
forms.
45 Me quasi modal mpposed to, has lost its tense
marker for many speakers, like wed to, and therefore re
quires Ao-support. ..when_hedonft_suppogga_ig.W.gg
T-Birds, #264]. Z22sUall-la..C12nitk13app."12"
balu tliose on [9, T-Birds, #586). VIA expression, ..don t
eposeta is very common among the T-Birds. There is no
impediment, of course, to mapposeta dortft

354--
 46m
whe quasi-modal Rutz also occurs with the simple
preterit wat, as in 1.112.20.2141-51,[10, T-Birds, #4493.
It fiwet became obvious to us that autta and 4upposetl
had lost their tense marker when we realized that we could
never use these forms for (0)--the cluster was permanently
neutralized,

47We find among our strange syntax cards the follow-

ing plainly non-standard sentence: like so many of our
early notations, it was very difficult to say just why and
how it was non-standard. '.9.,U11.1$1...i3altJaisgbaiBIL.Q.ILS.War
n1..,211.,Ihl.a2Rad,..101.t.191.Y23.UP, (15, Lame, #487).
t first it seems like a lack of parallelism: ,ansU3s.t.lit,
yma,..up is standard. The tense marker is on alight in SE,
and here it is repeated with,191. But we cannot overlook
the fact that lat occurs over and over with tense transfer;
here the presence of Id, induces the tense transfer rule,
which would be in a single clause ckagatpdle.4naLsaight.dzilt
irdiaMajapt Now that the connection between the double
modals, the quasi modals, and the tense transfer rule has
been made, one can begin to follow the logic of tnis example
48
See under Memory Tests, 3.9.1, for a remarkable sub
stitution of hay..e for sIgna which shows that native NNE
speakers have the unconscious knowledge that sisma is a
perfective (p. 315).
49-wm
e have recently received a preliminary report by
Garvey and McParlane (1968) of repetition tests carried
out in the Baltimore public schools. The authors utilize
the basic approach and syntactic variables in our first
reports on a much larger population, with excellent con-
trols. As in any testing program in the city schools,
motivation and knowledge of the subjects is limited neces-
sarily to what is already present within the system.
Garvey and McFarlane provide a great deal of valuable de
tail which confirms and enlarges our knowledge of this
type of behavior. The fundamental finding for the authors
is that the Negro schools give relatively uniform responses
to many variables which differentiate them as a whole from
the population of white students: "although the subgroups
do show different transposition scores for certain struc
tures, the degree of similarityr between the two groups is
sufficient to justify some common bases for training" (p.23).
50
The 0(notation used here is the conventional use of
Greek letters to indicate two features with the same value.
When paired variables occur in a rule without parentheses
around the right hand member, this is the automatic inter
pretation. Single Greek letters in such a context have no
automatic interpretation, and are usually tied to a special
condition stated with the rule.

355
 APPENDICES

Appendix A: Interview schedules

Q HAR-Ad-IV
HAR-TA-Hip

Appendix B: Form letter and coupon for

adult sample, Cobra and Jet
territories
 HAR Ad APPENDIX A Form IV
5 1 66

U. S. SURVEY OP REGIONAL CUSTOMS

A. Screening
0.1. Where were you born and raised?
0.2. When were you born?
0 3. Where did you go to school?
[all of the various places]

0.4. Can you give me an idea of the differant places

you've lived, starting about the time you were
five?

0.5.1 a. Where was your father born and raised?

. 2 b. mother
. 3 c. father's father [cortinue until
. 4 L. father's mother 1st generation
. 5 e. mother's father outside NYC]
. 6 L. mother's mother

0,6. What was the first language you learned to speak?

0.7. Have you made any long trips outside NYC?

.71 [Por Afro] Have you ever travelled or visited
down South?
.72 [Por PR] Have you ever visited Puerto Rico?

0.8. Are you married? Any children?

[Names and ages]

I. Children's games
I want to ask you a few questions about the games
and customs kids used to have around here--the kind
of thing you don't learn from books or television.

1.0. How did you play the game like Hide-and-Go-Seek with
teams around here? [ringalevio, ringalicoco, etc.]

1.0. What sort of jump rope games did you play?

1.1. How did the rhymes go?
1.2. What about clapping games?

2.0. How did you decide who was IT in a game?

2.1. What about rhymes? [if not given]
2.2. Do you know "Eeny, meeny..." How does it go?

Peer group and violence

"I want to get a good picture of the customs when you
were growing up. The best way--if it occurs to you--
is to talk about something that happened, right from'
the beginning. Don't cut yourself short."

Is males only
females only 357
Q °It Ad 2

1.0. VIas there a crowd of kids you used to hang around

with when you were [coming up], 10-15 years old?

1 1 Were any of hem [Spanish, White, Negro, Jewish--

appropriate categories]?

1.2. Was your crowd cool? Chip73

1.3 Who was the one kid who decided what to do

most of the time?
1.31. Was he the smartest or the toughest?
1.32, Who was the smartest? Why?
1,33. Was he smart in school?

1.4. Could he be a brain in school and hang out with

your crowd?
2.0. What were the rules for a fair fi ht?

2.1. When someone said, "I give [up]," could you

turn your back and walk away [if Not] why not?

2.2. Did you ever have a fight with a guy bigger

than you? WH?

2.3. What was the best [worst] fight you ever saw?

3.0. What was the most trouble you kids ever got into?
What about?

4.0. Were you ever in a situation where you were in

serious danger of getting killed? WH?

5.0. Did you ever know someone who jumped in and helped
someone who was in trouble?
5.1. What about the Puerto Rican grocer in the
Bronx that helped save a cop's life? and
people wouldn't buy from him? How do you
feel about that^
III. Neighborhood and family.
1.0. When you were growing up, who were all the people
who lived in your house?
1.1* Who was the main person who worked in your
family?
1.20 What did he [she] do?
103. Who else worked?
1.4. What did they do?
2.0. What was the first job you got after leaving school?
2.1. Did your folks ever say what they wanted you
to be in life?
2.2. Are you working now?
for additional speech
WH what happened? -3;8-
 Q-HAR -Ad 3

2.3. What do you do?

2.4. Is there anyone else in the family who works?
2.5. [If not working] are you getting any help from
unemployment or welfare?

3.0. When you were a kid, did you ever get a whuppin' for
something you didn't do? WH?

4.0. Some people say you can raise kids without laying a
hand on them. What do you think?

5.0. Did anyone ever help you with your homework?

6.0. Did your 2ather or your mother take the time to lc"al
you the facts of life?
6.1. Today, would you teach your children the same
way?

7.0. If you had a little boy, five years old, who came to
you and said, "Daddy [Mommy], what does this word
'nigger' mean, what would you say?

IV. Men and Women

1.0. What did you look for in a girl--a girl you would want
to go with--as far as appearance is concerned? [hei ht$
color, hair, nose, lips...]
1.1. Did your ideas ever change?

Some people feel that experience is the best teacher,

and some feel that a woman--or even a man--should be
pure when they get married? Have customs changed around
here in that regard?

3.0. Some people think that it's wrong for a man ever to hit
a woman, no matter what. Do you think that's so?
3.1. If a man did lose his temper and hit a woman,
would he be more or less of a man for doing so?

4.0. If a girl who isn't married turns out to be having a

ch/ld, who's responsible today?

5.0. If a man can't get a job--through no fault of his own--

should he stay with the family and help with the work--
even with the housewor%?
5.1. What if that makes it harder for the family to
get welfare--should he stay just the same? Why?

6.0. Did you ever know anyone who married a woman with more
education than himself? How did it work out?

-359-
Q'H.AR_Adi 4

[7.0. Do you remember the first time you laid a girl?

7.1. How did you know what to do?
7,2. Did you worry about hurting the girl?

V. Jobs, goals, school

1.0. Suppose you had a choice of three jobs

a high paying job with a good chance of losing
it
a medium paying job with a 50-50 chance of losing
losing it
a low paying job with very little chance of
losing it
Which would you go for?

2.0. How much schooling does a young man need these days
to get ahead?

3.0. We heard of a case of a guy who had a real slave

downtown, and he had a chance to earn real money-
and support his family--by hustling? Do you think
he should?
3.1. If his wife comes to him and says, ',Let me
work--you go to school so you can get a better
job,u Should he do it?
3.2. What if ha found out later that phe was
was hustling?

4.0. Did you ever get any real kicks out of learning
something new in school?

5.0. If there was an extra hour of school time to use,

would it be better to spend it in teaching reading,
or teaching karate?

6.0. Did they teach anything about African history when

you were going to school?
6.1. Do they teach it today?
Should they take more time? Would it make
any difference?
Why do you think klds have so much trouble learning
to read today?

VI. Race and Religion

1.0. People used to say that colored folks would never
rise because they are born losers. How do you feel
about that?
1.1. Can you change your luck by praying real hard?
Q-HAR-Ad 5
2.0, When we speak about getting killed a lot of
people say, "Whatever is going to happen is going
to happen." What do you think about that?

3.0. Would there be an occasion where you might go to a

reader and adviser for help?
3.1. Could they help you with a number?
3.2* Do you know of any thing a person can do to
have someone visit him in a dream?

4.0. [Show picture of lynching.] Do you think that it's

possible that the men who did this believe in God?
401. Can any white man really believe in God?

5.0. If you could be born again, what country would you

like to be born in?
5.1. What color would you want 0c) be?
5.20 Is it smart to pass for whlte?

6.0. Is there a difference between an Uncle Tom and a

pork chop?
6.1. Do people around here feel any different
about eating pork than they used to?
6.2. How do you feel about it?

7.0. Can you get your civil rights without getting your
head busted?
7,1. Is it smart to go out on a picket line?
VII. Language
"One of the things we're interested in is the
differences in the way people speak,"

1. Reading
1.0. Nobody Knows Your Name [for text, see
CRP 3091, p. 28]
1.1. Word lists [for text, see CRP 3091, p. 22]

[1.2. Gray's Oral Reading Test]

2. Subjective Tests [fer details, see Vol. II, 4.5]

2.0, Family Background

2.1, SR Tests
2.11. Jobs
2,12. Toughness
2,121. "certain" scale or
2.122. "stone killer° scale
2,13. Friendship
[2.14. Self knowledge]

-361-
Q-HAR A4-6

3. General Questions

3.0. Would it help if Afro people used English

just like white people?

3.1. Is there any difference between colored and

white people when they speak classroom English?
3.11, In the South?
3,12. What do you think about Southern speech?

3.2. Would it help the kids in the Job Corps if they

tried to teach them to speak differently?
 TA H p 1 APPENDIX A 1/4/66

AMERICAN REGIONAL SURVEY

(John Lewis's re-written Version of the
adolescent interview schedule, Q HAR TA I)

We'd like to know how hip you guys are around here We know
folks here in Harlem havc a hipper way of doinl things than
folks in other parts of the country.

I+ Sports
1. Playing or watching.
1.0. What would you rather do, watch a game or play
one?
1.1. Which one? [or, which position?]

2. Boxing
2.0. Did you ever do any boxing?
2.1. Whose style do you like? Why?
2.2. Who's the fastest boxer?
2.3. The strongest?
2.4, 2he best? [Go into who could beat who?]
2.5. Has anybody around here gone into the
Golden Gloves?
2.6. How do you think you could do yourself?
2.7. Is boxing crooked?
218, Who would win if a boxer or a karate
expert--like Mohammed Ali against a
black bel+? Which needs more bkill
boxing o.k. oasketball?

II* Trouble
1. Fighting
1.0. Do rumbles ever start over chicks or dough?
1.1. What are the rules for a fair one?
1.2. What was the best rumble you ever saw?
1.3. Did you ever fight a guy that was bigger
than you? What went down?
1.4. Suppose you drop e dude, and he says
"I giveln could you walk away without
watching your back?
1.5. What would happen if you couldn't fight?
What makes a punk?

2. Girls Fighting
2.0. Do the chicks around here rumble?
2.1. Do they rumble like chicks bitin'
and scmcchint or like dudes?
2.2. Did you ever shine your shoes or
crack a chick's jaw?

-363-
Q HAR-TA Hip-2

III. Per,r group.

L. Group
1.0. Is there a bunch of cats you hang out wit?
la. How many are there?
1.2. Who are some of your boys? Names and ages.
1.3. Do any of your boys speak Spanish?
1.4. Do you hang out with any whiteys?
1.5. Who's your main man?
1.6. Who are some your beet friends?

2. Leadership
2,0. Is one cat the leader? Who?
201. Is he the slickest, the biggest, or
the best with his hands?
2.2. Is there a number two man?
2.3. Is there one cat who sells woof tickets,
but can't cash 'em?
2.4. Is there a cat who cracks a lot of jokes?
2.5. Where's the hangout around here?

IV. Teen age games

1. Card games
1.0. What card game do the cats play most around
here?
1.1. Which do you play most, Whist or poker?
1.2. Gimme an idea of the rules you use.
1.3. Could you name some other card games
the cats play?

Dice
2.0. How do you play Sea Low around here?
2.1. Do rumbles ever start over cards or
dice?
2.2.
V. Background

1. Where born [city, state],

2. When?
3. Where was your father born?
4. And your mother?
5. Now, oan you tell me the hippest places and the
squarest, as far back as you can dig. And how
long you have squatted in each place?
6. Have you ever been out of the city? Where to?
7. What :-qd. of games did you learn from the street
when you were a kid?
7.0. Could you run down the rules for lodee?
7.1. Ring a ring cocola.

364
 HAR-TA Hip 3

VI, Family

1, Home address.
1.0. Where do you live?

Family strucwoure
2.0, Who are the members of your fanily, starting
with your parents? Do they all shack with
you?
2,1. If your father living? [If not mentioned)
2.2. Who gigs in your family?
2.3. Who else gigs? What do they do?
2,4, Does your family get help from welfare?
Unemployment?
2.5. (If father is living), what kind of
things do you do with your father?
2,6. Who does the ass whuppin' in your
family?
Moms
3.0. Does your mom cook pork?
3.1. What do you like best?
3.2. Did she ever get really angry at you?
What about? What did she say?

VII. Hip lexicon

1. I'm going to ask you the meaning of some words that
some people say are hip:
Booze Taste
Chicken Punk
Cool Down
Blow the whistle Drop a dime
Horse Skizzack or skizag
Blankout Burn
Put fire to his ass Sting
Put something on 'em Peedee car
Roller

VIII. Recreation.

1. Drinking
1.0. What kind of taste do you like?
1,1. Which taste gives you the best high?
1.2. Did you ever get blasted? What went
down?

Drugs
2.0. Is a reefer dope?
2.1. What makes some people junkies?

365
 Q HAR A *p 4

IX. Serious conversation

1. Information
1.0. and 1.1. If you had the claim and you wanted
to know what to do, who would you ask?
102. If your girl missed her period, what would
you do?
1 3 Where to get a rubber, a scum bag?

Sex
2.0. Do you remember the first time you laid a girl?
How old were you? Was it a girl who pulled your
coat to sex?
2.1. What happened the first time you fucked a
girl? Did you ever pop a virgin?
2.2. Did you ever worry about bustin' a chick
open?
3.0. Danger of death
3.1. Were you ever in a bag where you were up
tight and almost blew your life?
3.2. What went down?
3.3. How did you feel afterwards?
4.0. Pate,
4.1. A lot of times when cats are rapping
about how they almost blew their life,
they say, "Whatever's gonna happen is
gonna happen." How do you feel about
that?
4.2. Did you ever sense that something was
gonna happen, and then it did happen?
4.3. Did you ever hit the numbers? [if nal]
did you ever know anybody who hit?
5.0. Lynching
5.1. [Show picture of lynching.] I'd like you
to look at this picture a moment.
5.2. Do you think there's any truth in the idea
that he wouldn't have been treated in this
way if hR hadn't done somethin'?
6.0. Death
6.1. What do you think happens to you after you
croak?

School

1. Pair teachers
1.0. A lot of kids tell me they ha e mean teachers.
I had a mean teacher myself.
1.1. Did you ever get hollered at for something you
didn't do, or wasn't your fault?
1.2. Is there a difference in the way that your
mother hollers at you, and the way the teadher
does? What kind of difference?

-366
 TA Hip

Goodn ss of teachers
2.0. What makes a boss teacher?
2,1. What makes a mean one?
2.2. Did you ever have a good teacher?
What was she like?

Smarts
3.0. Who' s the smartest kid in your bunch?
3.1. Why do they think he's the smartest?
3.2, Does he do good in school?
3.21. [If not], why do you think he
doesn't do good?

4. College brothers and

3.0. Do you know any kids who have
sisters in college?
if you
4.1. How would you get to college
had no dough?
4.11. [If athletics mentioned] what if
you got very good marks?
4,21. How good would your marks have to
be to get into college free?
Grade
5.0. What grade are you in now?

6. Homework
6.0. Who helps you with your homework?
Who tells you to do your homework?

XI. Aspirations.
1, Work
1.0. What do you want to be when you grow up?
1.1. And how many years of training after
high school does a person need in
order to become a

2. School.
2.0. How far do you want to go in school?
2.1. What do you think are your chances of
going that far?

Success.
3.0. Who do you think has the best chance to get
ahead for a kid in this neighborhood
a. A cat who'd very slick?
b. A cat who slaves ?
o. A cat that's lucky?
d. A cat who vines good?
3.1. When you say flget
ahead," what are you
thinking of?
3.2. Which one of these would make the most
money?

-367
Q TA-Hip 6
4. Money
4.0. If you had all the dough in the world, and yov,
could spenC it on anything you wanted, what
would you do with it?

Models
5.0. Who would you most want to be like?
5.1 , Why do you want most to be like him
[her]?
[if answer is 'myself']
5.2. What grown-up would you most want to
be like?
[if answer is a parent]
5.3 What grown-up outside the fa ily?
6* Important person
6.0. Who was the most important person in your
life?
6.1. What is [was] she like?

XII Questions of speech

1. What do you thi of your own speech?
2. Did you ever try co learn different ways of
rapping?
3. Which one of you cats can shoot the best
game with a girl?
4 If a cop was gonna bust you and your friends,
which one of you guys would be the best rapper?
If a cop busted you, and you had about four
reefers on you, how would you tell him they
weren't yours?
5. Which one of you cats could do the best in
school if he really wanted to?
6. Find out what the kids read.
 APPEND X B

Form letter sent to all adults drawn in

sample of population in Cobra and Jet areas

[on letterhead of the]

U. ,S S U R V E Y

Of Regional Customs
New York City Columbia University
Division .

Dear Mr I 4.40410400MIIIMPIWM14.410$

If your house was going to be re built, would anyone

ask you about it?

As you may have heard, there is a program for re model

ing older houses in New York City, instead of knocking them
down and moving the tenants out. In the past, city planners
have gone to work without asking the people themselves. But
not everyone wants the same thing. Even inside New York
City, different people have different customs, different
ways of living.
It's our job to find out what the people themselves
think, and get this information to those who are supposed
to be planning for them--whether it's for housing, for
schools, or for playgrounds.

We'd like to spend a few minutes with you, getting

your ideas on these questions. And we would lik%, to pay
you for your time--a small sum, but our best way of show-
ing appreciation for your help.
One of our representatives will call on you in the
near future. Thank you for the help that you can give him.

Sincerely yours,
U. S. SURVEY OF REGIONAL CUSTOMS

William Labov
Director
WL/lv

369-
 APPENDil:B
to adult sample
Coupon included with letter
in Jet and Cobra territories: red on yellow

cla

tolt

IF you are selected for an interview by the

U. S. SUBUY OF REGIONAL CUSTOMS, this coupon is worth

FIVE DOLLAR-S
GIVE this coupon to the Interviewer when the
interview is finished, and he will be glad to give you
si)5.00 for your assistance.

U. S.S U R V E Y
of Regional Customs
William Labovi director

(4-0 VI) Mr (At (0 (0 (A 4") 4.0 (.0 (11 tO it4 tO ta 40 Ot (.4 CA (4 (0(0 (0
tfit
 REFERENCES
Bach, Emmon ( 967). "RaY2 and 14 in English syntax", kw
gRage 43 462-4 5.

Bailey, Beryl (1966). m 0reoeyax. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.

Bloom, Lois (1968). "Language Development: Form and Ft=

tion in Emerging Grammars". Unpublished Columbia Uni-
versity dissertation.
Bloch, Bernard (1948), "A Set of Postulates for Phonemic
Analysis", Ianguagg 24:3-46.

Bloomfield, Leonard (1933). kanguaga New York: Henry Holt

Ohomsky, Noam (1965). Aitimata-a-tliallasai 9f qyaux.. Cam-

bridge, Mass.: M.I.T. Press.

(1964). HComments for Project Literacy Meet

ince yr.au y.22parig.22,,2. Ithaca: Cornell
University. Pp. 8,

Ervin-Tripp, Susan (1967). "Sociolinguistics". Working Paper

No. 3, Language-Behavior Research Laboratory. Berkeley:
University of California. Mimeographed.

Fasold, Ralph (1968). "Tense and the Form IBef in Black

EnglisY. Mimeographed. Washington, D.C.: Center for
Applied linguistics.

Fischer, John L. (1958). "Social Influences on the Choice of

a Linguistic Variant", Wpr4 14: 47-56.
Fraser, C., U. Bellugi and R. Brown (1963). "Control of
grammar in imitation, comprehension, and production",
Jour of Verb n V 2:121-1 5.

Fries, Charles C. and Kenneth Pike (1949. "Co existent Pho

nemic Systems", luau& 25:29-50.
Garvey, Catherine and Paul T. McFarlane (1968). HA Prelimi
nary Study of Standard English Speech Patterns in the
Baltimore City Public Schoolsn. Report Np 2,6, Johns
Hopkins University.

Glaser, William A. (ed.)(1964). A Harlem A;marlac, New York:

Bureauct Applied Social Research. Mimeographed.

-371-
Greene, Mary F, and Orletta Ryan (1965). eSch9o,Chil -
jam. New York: Random House.

Grimshaw, Allen D. (1968). "Sociolinguistics". In Schramm,

Wilbur, et al. (eds.) RanauWcumajltealim New
York: Rand McNally and Co.

Gumperz, John J. (1964). "Linguistic and Social Interaction

in Two Communities". In Gumperz, J. and D. Hymes (eds.)
LialaLiaan....6=21).112-
giail Vol. 66, No. 6, part 2. Pp. 137-153.

(1967). "On the Linguistic Markers of Bi-

lingual Communication". In John Macnamara (ed.) gat212
Lei g Bil,ingualiam. The qiemEnal.9.1.g2aial...Igall
23. Pp. 48-57.
HARYOU-ACT (1964). LoAth...., New York.

Hockett, Charles (1950). "Age-grading and Li4guistic Con-

tinuity", Langlaga 26:449-457.

House, Arthur S. (1961). "On Vowel Duration in EnglisW,

1 agaatisaLgszpjaty of AmericA 33:1174
1178.

Hymes, Dell (1962). "The Ethnography of Speaking", in

ALLUZ21)212gY H v Washington, D.C.:
,

The Anthropological Society of Washington. Pp. 13-53.

(1967). "Models of the Interaction of Language

and Social Setting", in John Macnamara (ed.) Pz932,1012
u tZ So zz. . 23. Pp. 8-28.

Klima, Edward S. (1964). "R latedness betvmpn grammatical

systems". Language 40:1-20.

Labov, William (1963). "The Social Motivation of a Sound

Change,." Ema 19:272-309.
(1964a). "Phonological Co/relates of Social
Stratification:" in J. Gumperz and D. Hymes (eds.)
Ihe EtW32gralty-SISQEM*1.Q.atIan. Asallgan_Anthr2-
11212giat 66, Part 2, 164-176.

(1965a). 00n the Mechanism of Linguistic

Change". aaax er jimura
Languages and Linguistics. Washington, D.C. Pp. 91-114.
(1965b). "Linguistic Research on the Non
Standard English of Negro Children" in A. Dore (ed.)
d P N 0 y Socools.
New York: Society for Experimental Study of Education,
Pp. 110-117.

-372-
 (1966a). V2,9,.....Egaial....azatitim...un.-.91.13b
E
*in New York City. Washington, D.0,: Center for Ap
plied Linguistics.
(1966b). "Hypercorrection by the Lower Middle
Class as a Factor in Linguistic Change,'" In W. Bright,
(ed.), g1=10.211,118111211.u. The Hague: Mouton.

(1966c). "The Effect of Social Mobility on Lin-

guistic Behavior". In Stanley Lieberson (ed.), gl,P12-
Xatiang....LL§ssla=glaiattes.. Sociologiaal.InqUiry 36:
186-203.
(1966d). "Some Sources of Reading Problems for
Negro Speakers of Non-Standard English". In A. Frazier
(ed.) 2192.2immtimaja_ElsamtaryAngliab. Champaign,
Ill.: N.C.T,E, Pp. 140-167.

(1966e). "The Linguistic Variable as a Struc-

tural Unit", lywhingtaaltingeija 3:4 22.
ERIC ED010 871.
"Contraction, Deletion, and Inherent
(1967).
Variability of the English Copula". Paper given before
Linguistic Society of America, Chicago. Mimeographed.
(1968a). "The Non-Standard Vernacular of the
Negro Community: some practical suggestions". Paper
given befoiie Seminar in English and Language Arts,
Philadelphia: Temple University. To appear in Coll, a

"Consonant Cluster Simplification and

(1968b).
the Reading of the Ad Suffix". To appear in H. Levin
(ed.) B g.

and Paul Cohen (1967): "Systematic Relations

of Standard and Non-standard Rules in the Grammars of
Negro Speakers". 2.r.019.:LatIragy2ggportIo. 8.
Ithaca: Cornell University. Pp. 66-84.

, Paul Cohen and Clarence Robins (1965). "A

Preliminary Study of the Structure of English Used by
Negro and Puerto Rican Speakers in New York City".
Final Report, Cooperative Research Project Vo. 3091.
Office of Education. ERIC: ED 010 688.

and Clarence Robins (1968). "A Note on the Re-

lation of Meer Group Status to Reading Failure", to
appear in Teacherp Colaeglaggori.

m
amilmo and Joshua Waletzky (1967). "Narrative Analysis:
Oral Versions of Personal Experience". In Essays on
Seattle: University of
Washington Press.
-373-
Lambert, Wallace (1967). "A Social Psychology of Bilingua
ism". In John Macnamara (ed.) r 1 s of B
21:j....ejsz_.)rnriao1Sce 23:2. Pp. 91-109.
Levine, Lewis and Farry J. Crockett Jr. (1966). 11Si3eech
Variation in a Piedmont Community: Postvocalic r".
Socio3cogiaal.Inquiry 36: 186-203.

Loban. Walter (1966). Grades Seven,

Eigbt and Nine. Washington: Office of Education.
Cooperative Research Monograph No. 18.

Loflin, Marvin (1967). "On the Structure of the Verb in a

Dialect of American Negro English". Washington:
Center for Applied Linguistics. Mimeographed.

McDavid, Raven I. Jr. and William M. Austin (1966). "Com-

munication Barriers to the Culturally Deprived". Coop
erative Research Project Final Report, No. 2107. Wash
ington: Office of Education.

Miller, Walter B. (1958). "Lower Class Culture as a Gener-

ating Milieu of Juvenile Delinquency", naiagumaLsS
AgSlawkiatuag,
Miller, George and S. Isard (1963). "Some perceptual conse
quences of linguistic rules". LurnaL 9.LarlaiLlowa-
V 2:217-228.

Moynihan, Daniel (1965). 2.4.9.2.Q.arly: the case for

National Action. Washington: Office of Policy Planning
and Reseaxch, U.S. Department of Labor.

Rosenbaum, Peter (1967). English Grammar II. Yorktown

Heights: Mimeographed.

Shuy, Roger (1967). "Linguistic Correlates of Social Stra

tification in Detroit Speech". Final Report, Cooperative
Research Project No. 6-1347. East Lansing: Michigan
State University.

Stewart, William A. (1964). "Non Standard Speech and the

Teaching of Englisb.P. Washington D.C.: Center for
Applied Linguistics.
(1966). "Social Dialect", Rese-rch_
Exmaing.gattarml.on Laugage_ayagpment jp. Dispel
.21111111101.1.91.1A.01.1r. New York: Yeshiva Univers1ty.

Sturtevant, Edgar.(1947). ____AAnItgQdgatian..tp.ang4stic

=mg. New Haven: Yale University Press.

Tucker, G. Richard and Wallace E.(1967).. White and Negro Lis-

teners' Reactions to Varioas American-5nglish Dialects".
Mimeographed.
374-
Solomon, Denis (1966). "The 8ytern of Pr (Ilea ion in the
Speech of Trinidad: A Quantitative Study of Deoreolii
zation", Un ublished Columbia University Master's
Essay/

Stewart, William A. (1967). "Sociolingui tic Factors in

The History of American Negro Dialects", eflorid
ZIJAporter Vol. 5, No. 2.
(1968), °Continuity and Change in Ameri
Dial eta°, Val.Elatigajlatgporter, Vol. 6,
No. 2.

Turner, Lorenzo (1949), f n the Gu

Chicago: University o icago

Weinreich, Uriel, Marvin Herzog and William Labov (1968).

"Empirical Foundations for a Theory of Language Change",
In W. Lehmann (ed.) ro n a of be e OonttEXMLE
to

Yablonsky, Lewis (1963). h New York:

MacMillan.