Initial and Medial Unstressed Syllable Deletion (IM-USD)

Description	Internal Constraints	Examples
Deletion of unstressed syllables; initial and medial word position only	unstressed syll = V only > unstressed syll = CV closed grammatical class > open grammatical class
Scope and Direction	Geographical or Rural/Urban	References
Occurs in most varieties of English, most frequent in AAVE, possibly more common in older speakers	Rural: + Urban: +	General: Bailey & Thomas, 1998; Cukor-Avila, 1989; Rickford, 1999; Vaughn-Cooke, 1987 Children: Vaughn-Cooke, 1976, 1986

Haplology (HAP)

Description	Internal Constraints	Examples
Deletion of reduplicated syllable.
Scope and Direction	Geographical or Rural/Urban	References
Occurs in most varieties of English, more frequent in AAVE		Bailey & Thomas, 1998; Wolfram, 1994

Prevocalic Voicing of /p/ Initial Unstressed Syllables (PV-IUP)

Description	Internal Constraints	Examples
Voicing of initial singleton /p/ in initial unstressed syllables.
Scope and Direction	Geographical or Rural/Urban	References
Also occurs in SWVE	Reported in Memphis data	Pollock & Berni, 1996, 1997a, 1997b

Final Cluster Reduction (F-CR)

Description	Internal Constraints	Examples
Deletion of second consonant in final consonant cluster; both consonants must share voicing	single morpheme > double morpheme unstressed > stressed following consonant > following vowel alveolar plosive > other consonant
Scope and Direction	Geographical or Rural/Urban	References
Occurs in all varieties of English, more frequent in AAVE	Rural: + Urban: +	Bailey & Thomas, 1998; Rickford, 1999

Metathesis (FsC-MET)

Description	Internal Constraints	Examples
Metathesis of final /s/ + stop  clusters	may be lexically determined - primarily "ask"
Scope and Direction	Geographical or Rural/Urban	References
Also occured in earlier forms of SWVE		Bailey & Thomas, 1998; Rickford, 1999

Backing in /str/ Clusters (BK-str)

Description	Internal Constraints	Examples
Substitution of /k/ for /t/ in  initial /str/clusters
Scope and Direction	Geographical or Rural/Urban	References
Apparently unique to AAVE		Bailey & Thomas, 1998; Rickford, 1999

Description	Internal Constraints	Examples
	most often with unstressed "thr" or in unstressed syllables
Scope and Direction	Geographical or Rural/Urban	References
Occurs in other non-standard varieties of English, esp. in the South		Hinton & Pollock, 2000; Wolfram, 1994

Description	Internal Constraints	Examples
Deletion of /j/ in /Cj/ sequences	usually followed by /u/ vowel
Scope and Direction	Geographical or Rural/Urban	References
Apparently unique to AAVE		Bailey & Thomas, 1998

Description	Internal Constraints	Examples
Rhotacization of /j/ in /Cj/ sequences	usually followed by /u/ vowel possibly a regional variant of ICR-J
Scope and Direction	Geographical or Rural/Urban	References
Apparently unique to AAVE (may be limited to Southern AAVE)	Reported in Memphis data

Final Consonant Deletion (FCD)

Description	Internal Constraints	Examples
Deletion of singleton consonants in syllable-final position Note: When final nasals deleted, nasality maintained on preceding vowel. When voiced obstruents deleted, length of preceding vowel maintained. Consonants remaining from reduced final clusters may be eligible for deletion.	Nasal>non-nasal coronal>non-coronal voiced>voiceless may be lexically determined
Scope and Direction	Geographical or Rural/Urban	References
Apparently unique to AAVE		Bailey & Thomas, 1998; Rickford, 1999; Wolfram, 1994

Description	Internal Constraints	Examples
Syllable-final obstruents are devoiced; length of preceding vowel maintained
Scope and Direction	Geographical or Rural/Urban	References
Apparently unique to AAVE Note: Fasold (1981) points out that although devoicing of final /d/ also occurs in Southern white vernaculars, the devoiced /d/ in AAVE is different because it is also glottalized (see F-Glot-d).		Bailey & Thomas, 1998; Fasold, 1981; Fasold & William, 1970; Wolfram, 1994

Final /d/ Glottalization (F-Glot-d)

Description	Internal Constraints	Examples
Final devoiced /d/ becomes a glottal stop or a glottalized /t/. (an extension of FDV-Ob)
Scope and Direction	Geographical or Rural/Urban	References
Apparently unique to AAVE		Bailey & Thomas, 1998; Fasold, 1981

Labialization of Interdental Fricatives (LAB-th)

Description	Internal Constraints	Examples
Interdental fricatives replaced with labiodental fricatives	Syllable-final and intervocalic>syllable intial voiceless>voiced
Scope and Direction	Geographical or Rural/Urban	References
Also occured in earlier forms of SWVE		Bailey & Thomas, 1998; Rickford, 1999

Stopping of Interdental Fricatives (ST-th)

Description	Internal Constraints	Examples
Interdental fricatives replaced with stops	voiced>voiceless; initial > final
Scope and Direction	Geographical or Rural/Urban	References
Also occurs in Northern non-standard varieties		Bailey & Thomas, 1998; Rickford, 1999

Stopping of Interdental Voiceless Fricatives Near Nasals (ST-th-N)

Description	Internal Constraints	Examples
Scope and Direction	Geographical or Rural/Urban	References
Also occurs in Northern non-standard varieties		Bailey & Thomas, 1998

Alveolarization of Voiceless Interdental Fricatives (ALV-th)

Description	Internal Constraints	Examples
Scope and Direction	Geographical or Rural/Urban	References
	Reported in Memphis data

Stopping of Voiced Fricatives Before Syllabic Nasals (ST-Vd-N)

Description	Internal Constraints	Examples
Voiced fricatives preceding syllabic nasals may be stopped. Note: /d/ may actually go to a glottal stop through FDV-Ob and American English allophonic rule of /t/ realized as a glottal stop before syllabic nasals
Scope and Direction	Geographical or Rural/Urban	References
Also occurs in SWVE		Bailey & Thomas, 1998; Wolfram, 1994

Vocalization of /l/ (VOC-l)

Description	Internal Constraints	Examples
Note:  After mid back vowels, vocalized /l/ may coalesce with  vowel, as in "ball" becomes "ba" or "bowl" becomes "bo"
Scope and Direction	Geographical or Rural/Urban	References
Occurs in many varieties of English, frequent in AAVE		Bailey & Thomas, 1998; Fasold & Wolfram, 1970

Deletion of /l/ Before Labials(DEL-l)

Description	Internal Constraints	Examples
When /l/ comes after a vowel and before a labial consonant in the same syllable, /l/ may be deleted
Scope and Direction	Geographical or Rural/Urban	References
		Fasold & Wolfram, 1970; Rickford, 1999

Derhotacization or Deletion of Vocalic and Postvocalic /r/ (DeRhot)

Description	Internal Constraints	Examples
Vocalic /r/ (also known as syllabic /r/ or a rhotic vowel) produced as a non-rhotic vowel.  Postvocalic /r/ (also known as a rhotic diphthong) produced as non-rhotic vowel or deleted.  Following front vowels, most often replaced by non-rhotic vowel.  Following back vowels, most often deleted.  Intervocalic /r/ may also be affected, esp. when following mid back vowel.
Scope and Direction	Geographical or Rural/Urban	References
Historically well-recognized feature of SWVE, but now rapidly disappearing from this dialect; now may occur primarily in older speakers in rural areas		Bailey & Thomas, 1998; Pollock & Berni, 1996, 1997a, 1997b; Rickford, 1999

Schwa Offglide (Schwa-off)

Description	Internal Constraints	Examples
A schwa offglide may follow vocalic or  postvocalic /r/.
Scope and Direction	Geographical or Rural/Urban	References
Unique to AAVE	Reported in Memphis data	Pollock & Berni, 1996, 1997a, 1997b

Vowel Centralization Before /r/ (VC-r)

Description	Internal Constraints	Examples
Front vowels preceding /r/ may be centralized, deleted, or rhotacized	VC-r and Schwa-off frequently co-occur
Scope and Direction	Geographical or Rural/Urban	References
Unique to AAVE	Reported in Memphis data	Pollock & Berni, 1996, 1997a, 1997b

Raised Onglide to Stressed Syllabic /r/ (RO-3^)

Description	Internal Constraints	Examples
Addition of -like quality as onglide to stressed syllabic /r/
Scope and Direction	Geographical or Rural/Urban	References
Unique to AAVE	Reported in Memphis data	Pollock & Berni, 1996, 1997a, 1997b

Description	Internal Constraints	Examples
Second element of diphthong / aI/ deleted; first element typically lengthened	Only in open syllables or before nasals or voiced obstruents
Scope and Direction	Geographical or Rural/Urban	References
Found in SWVE		Bailey & Thomas, 1998; Rickford, 1999; Wolfram, 1994

Description	Internal Constraints	Examples
Second element of diphthong deleted	typically in multisyllablic words before voiced obstruents
Scope and Direction	Geographical or Rural/Urban	References
	Reported in Memphis data

Description	Internal Constraints	Examples
Second element of diphthong  deleted or centralized	Mostly in open syllables or multisyllablic words before voiced obstruents
Scope and Direction	Geographical or Rural/Urban	References
		Rickford, 1999; Wolfram, 1994

Monophthongization & Syllable Reduction Before Liquid (MSR-L)

Description	Internal Constraints	Examples
Scope and Direction	Geographical or Rural/Urban	References
Found in SWVE		Bailey & Thomas, 1998

Tensing of Lax Vowels (Tns)

Description	Internal Constraints	Examples
Lax vowels are produced as tense vowels	esp. before liquids & velars
Scope and Direction	Geographical or Rural/Urban	References
Found in SWVE	Reported in Memphis data

Description	Internal Constraints	Examples
	Coronal > Non-Coronal (pin/pen > him/hem)	The words "pin" and "pen" become homonymous.
Scope and Direction	Geographical or Rural/Urban	References
Widespread in AAVE and SWVE after 1875		Bailey & Thomas, 1998; Brown, 1991; Labov, 1968; Wolfram, 1994

Tense/Lax Merger Before /l/ (MRG-T/L)

Description	Internal Constraints	Examples
Before tautosyllablic /l/, tense front vowels  are laxed (e.g., the words "wheel" and "will" are homonymous)
Scope and Direction	Geographical or Rural/Urban	References
Widespread in SWVE and AAVE after 1875		Bailey & Thomas, 1998; Wolfram, 1994

Raised /ae/ (Rs-ae)

Description	Internal Constraints	Examples
Scope and Direction	Geographical or Rural/Urban	References
Also occurs in many Northern cities dialects, but probably unrelated to AAVE; does not occur in SWVE; widespread in AAVE after 1875		Bailey & Thomas, 1998

Rhotacization of /I/ (Rhot-I)

Description	Internal Constraints	Examples
Rhotacization of /I/ in words with following postvocalic or syllabic /l/
Scope and Direction	Geographical or Rural/Urban	References
Unique to AAVE	Reported in Memphis data	Pollock & Berni, 1996, 1997a, 1997b

Long Offglides of /ae/ (Off-ae)

Description	Internal Constraints	Examples
/ae/ produced with long offglide towards [i]	Most common before voiceless fricatives
Scope and Direction	Geographical or Rural/Urban	References
Only used by older persons in rural areas	Southern: + Rural: + Urban: -	Schremp, 1996

Monophthongal /e/ and /o/ (Mono-e,o)

Description	Internal Constraints	Examples
/e/ and /o/ produced as monophthongs
Scope and Direction	Geographical or Rural/Urban	References
Reported in Gullah and Caribbean Creoles.  In English dialects, does not occur in speakers born after 1900; in 1800s, occurred only in AAVE		Bailey & Thomas, 1998

Front Stressing (FrStress)

Description	Internal Constraints	Examples
Stress moved to first syllable of words	Lexically determined
Scope and Direction	Geographical or Rural/Urban	References
Also in SWVE		Rickford, 1999; Wolfram, 1994

Bailey, G., & Thomas, E. (1998). Some aspects of African-American Vernacular English phonology.  In S. Mufwene, J. Rickford, G. Bailey, & J. Baugh (Eds.), African American English: Structure, History, and Use.  London: Routledge, pp. 85-109.

Bleile, K., & Wallach, H. (1992).  A sociolinguistic investigation of the speech of African American preschoolers.  American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology, 1, 54-62.

Brown, V. (1991). Evolution of the merger of  /E/ and /I/ before nasals in Tennessee.  American Speech, 66, 303-315.

Fasold, R. (1981). The relationship between black and white English in the South.  American Speech, 56, 163-189.

Fasold, R. & Wolfram, W.  (1970).  Some linguistic features of Negro dialect.  In R. Fasold & R. Shuy (Eds.), Teaching Standard English in the Inner City. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics, pp. 41-86.

Haynes, W., & Moran, M. (1989).  A cross-sectional developmental study of final consonant production in southern black children from preschool through third grade.  Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 20, 400-406.

Hinton, L.N. & Pollock, K.E. (2000).  Regional variations in the phonological characteristics of African American Vernacular English. World Englishes, 19(1), 39-58.

Labov, W.  (1972).  Language in the Inner City.  Philadelphia:  University of Pennsylvania Press.

Luelsdorff, P.A. (1975).  A Segmental Phonology of Black English.  The Hague: Mouton.

Moran, M. (1993) Final consonant deletion in African American children speaking Black English: A closer look.  Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in the Schools, 24, 161-166.

Pollock, K., & Berni, M.C. (1996).  Vocalic and postvocalic /r/ in African American Memphians.  Paper presented at the New Ways of Analyzing Variation in English (NWAVE) meeting, Las Vegas, NV.

Pollock, K., & Berni, M. (1997a).  Variation in vocalic and postvocalic /r/ in AAVE.  Paper presented at the annual convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Boston, MA.

Pollock, K., & Berni, M. (1997b).  Acquisition of /r/ by African American and European American children.  Paper presented at the annual convention of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Boston, MA.

Rickford, J. (1999).  African American English: Features, Evolution, Educational Implications.  Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Seymour, H., & Rablate, P. (1985).  The acquisition of a phonologic feature of Black English.  Journal of Communication Disorders, 18, 139-148.

Schremp, M.B. (1996). The distribution of [ QI] in the American South.  Unpublished thesis, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN.

Seymour, H., & Seymour, C. (1991).  Black English and Standard American English contrasts in consonantal development for four- and five- year olds.  Journal of Speech and Hearing Disorders, 46, 276-280.

Stockman, I. (1996).  Phonological development and disorders in African American children.  In A. Kamhi, K. Pollock, & J. Harris (Eds.), Communication Development and Disorders in African American children: research, Assessment and Intervention.  Baltimore: Paul Brookes, pp. 117-153.

Vaughn-Cooke, F. (1976). The implementation of phonological change: The case for resyllabification in Black English.  Dissertation Abstracts International, 38(01), 234a (University Microfilms No. AAC7714537).

Vaughn-Cooke, F. (1987).  Are Black and White vernaculars diverging? Papers from the NWAVE-XVI panel discussion.  American Speech, 62, 12-32.

Wolfram, W. (1969).  A Sociolinguistic Description of Detroit Negro Speech.  Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics.

Wolfram, W. (1989). Structural variability in phonological development: Final nasals in vernacular Black English.  In R. Fasold & D. Schiffren (Eds.), Current Issues in Linguistic Theory: Language Change and Variation.  Amsterdam: John Benjamins, pp. 301-332.

Wolfram, W. (1994).  The phonology of a sociocultural variety: The case of African American Vernacular English.  In J. Bernthal & N. Bankson (Eds.), Child Phonology: Characteristics, Assessment, and Intervention with Special Populations.  New York: Thieme, pp. 227-244.

Wolfram, W., & Schilling-Estes, N.  (1998).  American English:  Dialects and Variation.  Oxford:  Blackwell.