This thesis will address whether regional variation across members of the hip-hop community is measurable in terms of regionally distinct phonological and syntactical properties.
As a starting point, New York City has been selected as it marks the origin of hip-hop. Philadelphia, as part of Labov’s Mid-Atlantic region and Jones’ self-coined "Northeast region", which itself is said to be characterized by “nonhomogeneity” (Jones 2015: 428), serves as a point of reference for the comparison of distinct regional features. Labov (2001: 121) also refers to the “Philadelphia dialect area”, which is clearly separated from New York in the North.
The data for the analysis will be retrieved from randomly chosen songs performed by selected African-American hip-hop artists who are representative of their respective city and who can be considered authentic members of the local hip-hop community. Further information on the selection will be provided later on. First, the theoretical background to the study of this thesis will be provided, mainly refer-ring to the role of regionality in AAVE (as African American Vernacular English) by giving an overview of earlier and current research. Second, after narrowing down the selection of artists and their songs, the relevant phonological and syntactical features will be listed and explained before they are analysed for both Philadelphia and New York City. Finally, the results will be interpreted and discussed with respect to the guiding question of this thesis.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Background to the study
2.1 Regional variation in AAVE
2.2 Regionality in hip-hop
3. Analysis
3.1 Remarks on selected artists and songs
3.2 Remarks on selected variables
3.2.1 Phonological variables
3.2.2 Syntactical variables
3.3 Philadelphia
3.3.1 Phonology
3.3.1.1 Fronting of GOOSE and GOAT vowels
3.3.1.2 Vocalization of /l/
3.3.1.3 Postvocalic /r/
3.3.1.4 Realization of TRAP/BATH/DANCE
3.3.1.5 Raising of THOUGHT
3.3.1.6 Dental fricatives
3.3.1.7 Glide weakening/monophthongization of PRICE
3.3.1.8 hill/heel merger
3.3.1.9 DRESS/KIT merger
3.3.2 Syntax
3.3.2.1 Copula deletion
3.3.2.2 Invariant be
3.3.2.4 Negation
3.3.3 Conclusion
3.4 New York
3.4.1 Phonology
3.4.1.1 Fronting of GOOSE and GOAT vowels
3.4.1.2 Vocalization of /l/
3.4.1.3 Postvocalic /r/
3.4.1.4 Realization of TRAP/BATH/DANCE
3.4.1.5 Raising of THOUGHT
3.4.1.6 Dental fricatives
3.4.1.7 Glide weakening/monophthongization of PRICE
3.4.1.8 hill/heel merger
3.4.1.9 DRESS/KIT merger
3.4.2 Syntax
3.4.2.1 Copula Deletion
3.4.2.2 Invariant be
3.4.2.3 Negation
3.4.3 Conclusion
4. Discussion of the results
5. Conclusion
Research Objectives and Themes
This thesis examines whether regional variation among members of the African-American hip-hop community can be measured through specific phonological and syntactical properties. By comparing artists from Philadelphia and New York City—the latter being the origin of hip-hop—the study investigates the extent to which hip-hop artists align their linguistic choices with local vernaculars versus supraregional African American Vernacular English (AAVE).
- The role of regionality as an explanatory variable within AAVE.
- The performance of "realness" and authentic identity in hip-hop through language.
- Comparative analysis of phonological features like vowel shifts and dental fricatives.
- Quantitative assessment of syntactical features, including copula deletion and negation.
Excerpt from the Book
1. Introduction
In a newspaper article titled “5 ways Wu-Tang Clan changed hip-hop”1, an author of USA Today listed “sticking with their own language” as one way that the New York hip-hop2 group changed the genre, stating that “Wu-Tang painted vivid pictures of urban life using the language of the streets” and that “[r]ather than simplifying their speech for a mass audience, they brought that audience into their own world.” In fact, this article reveals deeper structures of the US hip-hop community than one would expect at first sight. The performance of hip-hop music is strongly associated with the performance of an authentic hip-hop identity, which is often referred to as “keeping it real” by members of the community (cf. Ogbar 2007: 37). This “realness” fundamentally implies “an intimate familiarity with the urban, working-class landscape that gave rise to hip-hop in the 1970s” (Ogbar 2007: 39). The previously stated “language of the streets” therefore appears to refer to a specific linguistic code that prevails among members of the hip-hop community. This code is mainly associated with African-Americans, as hip-hop came out of black urban culture (cf. Ogbar 2007: 40). This confirms the notion that “hip-hop has long predicated its popular understanding of authenticity in highly racialized terms” (Ogbar 2007: 38) as “a generation of young people – mostly black and brown – crafted a rich culture of words and songs, of art and movement” in the South Bronx of the 1970s (Bradley & DuBois 2010: xxix).
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: Introduces the connection between hip-hop identity, authenticity ("keeping it real"), and the use of specific linguistic codes or dialects within the African-American community.
2. Background to the study: Provides a theoretical overview of regional variation in AAVE and the role of language within hip-hop culture, challenging the "homogeneity myth" of AAVE.
3. Analysis: Presents the methodology and detailed results for the Philadelphia and New York data sets, covering various phonological and syntactical variables.
4. Discussion of the results: Synthesizes the findings to evaluate the degree of regional alignment versus supraregional AAVE characteristics in the selected artists' performances.
5. Conclusion: Summarizes the study's conclusions, suggesting that hip-hop artists primarily identify with supraregional AAVE features rather than strongly accommodating to their local regional vernaculars.
Keywords
African American Vernacular English, AAVE, Hip-Hop, Regionality, Phonology, Syntax, Realness, Language Ideology, Philadelphia, New York City, Copula Deletion, Vowel Shift, Dialect, Identity, Sociolinguistics
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research?
The research investigates whether regional variation is measurable among African-American hip-hop artists in Philadelphia and New York, focusing on phonological and syntactical properties.
What are the primary thematic fields covered in this study?
The study covers the intersection of regional identity, African American Vernacular English (AAVE), hip-hop culture, and language ideology.
What is the main research question?
The study asks whether regional variation across hip-hop community members can be objectively measured through distinct phonological and syntactical features.
Which scientific methods are applied?
The author performs a quantitative analysis of lyrics from randomly selected songs by representative hip-hop artists, measuring specific phonological and syntactical variables against established regional dialect standards.
What topics are addressed in the main analysis?
The analysis covers phonological variables (such as vowel fronting, /l/ vocalization, postvocalic /r/, and the short-a split) and syntactical variables (such as copula deletion, invariant be, and negation).
Which keywords characterize this work?
Key terms include AAVE, Hip-Hop, regionality, language ideology, identity, phonology, and syntax.
How does the author define "realness" in the context of hip-hop?
"Realness" is defined as an authentic identity linked to an intimate familiarity with the urban, working-class landscape and African-American cultural roots from which hip-hop emerged.
Does the study find that hip-hop artists accommodate to local white vernaculars?
The study finds that regional alignment is limited; artists seem to identify more strongly with supraregional AAVE features than with the surrounding local white vernacular.
- Quote paper
- Patrick Husfeldt (Author), 2018, Regionality in African-American Hip-Hop Communities. A Case Study of Philadelphia and New York, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/550887
