Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Abstract/Artist Statement
Is Done perfect?
African American English (AAE) is a distinct, though frequently stigmatized, variety of American English. Historically described as a “vernacular” (and frequently still is to this day) many of the systematic rules that govern the dialect have been glossed over or sporadically described. One such structure is preverbal done, seen in constructions such as “But then I think they done cremate her.”. Previous authors (Green 1993, Edwards 2001, Terry 2010 and Scott 2016) have described this construction as a present perfect, parallelling standard English’s construction using have. More recently, Harris 2019 describes the construction as a “noncongruence marker” being used by speakers to indicate a disjunction between expectations and reality with available readings of “Moral outrage, disappointment, shock, surprise, and [..] unintentionality/unawareness […] which arise depending on the nature of the ordering source
the speaker takes as their conversational background in a given context.” (Harris 2019 pg. 172). These varying accounts of the interpretations available when using done constructions highlights the need for renewed analysis and investigation of this structure. My work has been centered around identifying and codifying how speakers leverage this construction. By examining the Corpus Of Regional African American Language (CORAAL), examples of preverbal done produced in casual conversation have been gathered and examined. By applying tests for identifying perfects proposed by Comrie and others I have reexamined the discussion concerning how to best classify this construction and its uses in African American English(es). Through this investigation I strive to contribute to the field of linguistics’ understanding of aspect cross linguistically and dialectally, as well as shining much needed light on the structure of African American English(es).
Mentor Name
Leora Bar-El
Personal Statement
As a linguist I have always felt that the most important aspect of my field is to document, preserve and celebrate the diversity of language. Through my studies I have been exposed to the myriad of issues that different speech communities face. From forced language assimilation to widespread denigration of entire dialects, language has long been a tool for social stratification, manipulation and suppression. Many times the field of linguistics itself has been used in this manner as a means to separate and negatively codify specific populations through the misapplication of linguistic knowledge. A very salient example in this country is the usage of boarding schools to force indigenous children to abandon their languages (and cultures as a whole) in favor of western practices including the use of English as their own languages were thought of as “savage”. Linguistics is still a relatively new field of research and as a result a long period of its development has been dominated by schools of thought that centered Indo-European languages as the standard when it came to linguistic structure. This ideology has nice shifted somewhat but there is still more to be done. My specific interests as a linguist are to take the skills that I have acquired in my studies and turn them towards communities that deserve the same care and attention to detail that European languages have enjoyed. This includes emphasizing African American English (AAE) as a structured rule governed dialect with its own identity and properties separate from Mainstream American English. As a bi-dialectal African American man I have experienced the negativity associated with AAE and the societal rejection of it as anything more than “slang” which has in part driven my ambitions in linguistics. Through my studies and research I aim to provide necessary support to all language and dialect communities.
Is Done perfect?
UC 331
Is Done perfect?
African American English (AAE) is a distinct, though frequently stigmatized, variety of American English. Historically described as a “vernacular” (and frequently still is to this day) many of the systematic rules that govern the dialect have been glossed over or sporadically described. One such structure is preverbal done, seen in constructions such as “But then I think they done cremate her.”. Previous authors (Green 1993, Edwards 2001, Terry 2010 and Scott 2016) have described this construction as a present perfect, parallelling standard English’s construction using have. More recently, Harris 2019 describes the construction as a “noncongruence marker” being used by speakers to indicate a disjunction between expectations and reality with available readings of “Moral outrage, disappointment, shock, surprise, and [..] unintentionality/unawareness […] which arise depending on the nature of the ordering source
the speaker takes as their conversational background in a given context.” (Harris 2019 pg. 172). These varying accounts of the interpretations available when using done constructions highlights the need for renewed analysis and investigation of this structure. My work has been centered around identifying and codifying how speakers leverage this construction. By examining the Corpus Of Regional African American Language (CORAAL), examples of preverbal done produced in casual conversation have been gathered and examined. By applying tests for identifying perfects proposed by Comrie and others I have reexamined the discussion concerning how to best classify this construction and its uses in African American English(es). Through this investigation I strive to contribute to the field of linguistics’ understanding of aspect cross linguistically and dialectally, as well as shining much needed light on the structure of African American English(es).