Negation The theory of African American Vernacular English

showed me her artwork for Standard English “Here‟s my own” Rickford, 1999: 9. ii. Phonological features Phonological means it has relation to sound. Every language produces their own phonological identity that means the sound that they produce may have some differences. Therefore, it needs phonology to understand the sound of a language. a. Reduction of word-final consonant clusters i.e., sequences of two or more consonants, especially those ending in t and d, as in han‟ for Standard English “hand”, des‟ for Standard English “desk”, pos‟ for Standard English “post”, and pass‟ for Standard English “passed” the –ed suffix in “passed” is pronounced as [t] Rickford, 1999: 4. b. Deletion of word-final single consonant especially nasals after a vowel, as in ma‟ [mæ] for Standard English “man,” ca‟ [kæ] for Standard English “cat” and ba‟ [bæ:] for Standard English “bad” Rickford, 1999: 4 c. Devoicing of word final voiced stops after a vowel, i.e., realization of [b] as [p], [d] as [t], and [g] as [k], as in [bæt] for Standard English [bad], and [pik] for Standard English “pig”. The devoiced consonant may be followed or replaced by a glottal stop. Rickford, 1999:4. d. Realization of finale ng as n in gerunds, e.g. walkin‟ for Standard English “walking” Rickford, 1999:4 e. Realization of voiceless th [ ɵ ] as t for f, as in tin for Standard English “thin” and baf for Standard English “bath” Rickford, 1999: 4. f. Realization of voiced th [ð] as d or v, as in den for Standard English “then”, and bruvver for Standard English “brother” Rickford, 1999: 4. g. Realization of thr sequences as th, especially before [u] or [o],as in thodown [Өodaun] for Standard English “throwdown.” Rickford, 1999:4. h. Deletion or vocalization pronunciation as s weak neutral vowel of l after a vowel, as in he‟p for Standard English “help”, and toah for Standard English “toll”. May have the grammatical effect of deleting the “ll” of contracted will, as in “He be here tomorrow” for Standard English “He‟ll be here tomorrow,” especially when the following word begins with labial b, m or w. Rickford, 1999:5 i. Deletion or vocalization of r after a vowel as in sistuh for Standard English “‟sister” or fouh for Standard English “four.” This rule applies more often when r comes at the end of a word and is followed by a word beginning with a consonant four posts rather than a word beginning with a vowel four apples, but it also can apply when a vowel follows within the same word, as in Ca‟ol for Standard English “Carol” or sto‟y for Standard English “story”. Grammatical effects may include the use of they for Standard English possessive “their” Rickford, 1999:5 j. Deletion of initial d and g in certain tense aspect auxiliaries, as in “ah „on know” for Standard English “I don‟t know” and “ah‟m „a do it” for Standard English “I‟m gonna do it”, the distinctive African American Vernacular English use of ain‟t for didn‟t probably derives historically from this rule too. Rickford, 1999: 5. k. Deletion of unstressed initial and medial syllables, as in „fraid for Standard English “afraid” and sec‟t‟ry for Standard English “secretary”. Rickford, 1999: 5 l. Metathesis or transposition of adjacent consonants, as in aks for Standard English “ask” Rickford, 1999:5 m. Realization of Standard English v and z voiced fricatives as d and z respectively voiced stops, especially in word-medial position before a nasal, as in seben in Standard English “seven” and idn‟ for Standard English “isn‟t” Rickford, 1999:5 n. Realization of syllable-initial str as skr, especially before high front vowels like “ee” [i], as in skreet for Standard English “street” and deskroy for “destroy” Rickford, 1999:5 o. Monophthongal pronunciation of ay and oy, as in ah for Standard English “I” and boah for Standard English “boy” Rickford, 1999: 5 p. Neutralization merger of [ լ ] and [ε] before nasals, as in [pɩ n] for Standard English “pin” and “pen” Rickford, 1999:5 q. Realization of “ing” as “anf” and “ink” as “ank” in some words, as in thang for Standard English “thing”, sang for Standard English “sing”, and drank for Standard English “drink” Rickford, 1999: 5. r. Stress on first rather than second syllable, as in pόlice instead of Standard English “police”, and hόtel instead of Standard English “hotel” Rickford, 1999:5.