African-american english: language or dialect?

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María Del Saz
Universidad de Sevilla
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7435-7964

The standard variety of a language is one of its dialects, which is considered the norm by the prestige derived from policies, education, and the media. Within the English language, there is controversy regarding the classification of African-American English, which has implications serious in the field of education, where speakers of this variety are sometimes compared to those who display language pathologies, especially in primary school. In this study we describe the characteristics of the phonetic-phonological and morphosyntactic systems of African-American English, as well as the vision of the Anglicist, Creole, and Africanist hypotheses regarding the origins of these traits. Although reaching a conclusion about the classification of this variety is not simple, there is no doubt that its characteristics are systematic, governed by internal rules, and represent a consistent communication system among their speakers.

Keywords
African-American English, dialect, phonetics, phonology, morphsyntax

Article Details

How to Cite
Saz, María Del. “African-american english: language or dialect?”. Dialectologia: revista electrònica, 2025, no. 34, pp. 55-76, doi:10.1344/DIALECTOLOGIA.34.3.
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(c) Author(s), 2025


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Dialectologia: revista electrònica està subjecta a una llicència Creative Commons 3.0 de Reconeixement - No Comercial - Sense Obres Derivades.
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