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Jesse Williams' Speech (BET Awards 2016)

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Popular speech upon receiving the BET Humanitarian award. Example of black preacher style by biracial speaker.

Posted by Arthur Garrison on March 8, 2018

Tags:: African American Language;; Race,Ethnicity;; Discourse;; ai monophthongization;; ING;; r vocalization

Ghostbuster 2016-Subway Scene

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This is a clip from the movie Ghostbusters, with actresses Leslie Jones, Melissa McCarthy, Kristin Wiig, and Kate McKinnon. Leslie Jones, an AAE speaker, uses the monophthong version of /ai/ in this clip.

Posted by Caroline Wright on March 7, 2018

Tags:: African American Language;; ai monophthongization;; ING;; Copula Absence

Drunk History Harriet Tubman

The story of Harriet Tubman, as drunkenly told by a speaker of AAE.

Posted by Miriam Gölz on September 27, 2015

Tags:: African American Language;; ING

The Language of Maya Angelou

Sociolinguist Anne H. Charity Hudley discusses the linguistic legacy of Dr. Maya Angelou. Although Angelou spoke out against the legitimacy of African American English during the Ebonics Controversy in the late 1990s, Charity Hudley points out her use of many features of AAE, from morphosyntax to discourse. [Published on 05-29-2014]

Posted by Kara Becker on June 1, 2014

Tags:: Standard Language Ideology;; American English;; African American Language;; Discourse;; ING;; Copula Absence

Wheel of Fortune: Seven swans a swimmin'

A contestant on Wheel of Fortune in 2012 solved a puzzle with "Seven swans a swimmin'," and lost the prize money after judges on the show rejected her alveolar pronunciation.

Posted by Kara Becker on February 12, 2013