ai monophthongization
Sorry to Bother You Trailer
Play videoArtifact for the 2018 film Sorry to Bother You. In it, the main character, Cassius Green showcases distinct usage of both /aɪ/ monophthongization and diphthongization.
Never Insult a Queer Person on TV, or Else - Bob The Drag Queen - Live from Austin
Play videoThis is a clip of Bob The Drag Queen doing standup comedy in Austin, TX, talking about being queer, as well as winning reality TV shows and family. Artifact 1 of 2 for an analysis of monophthongal vs diphthongal /ai/, following Rahman (2007)'s research on /ai/ variation in African American Language in narrative comedy. This clip was compared with Artifact 2 (The X Change Rate: Bob the Drag Queen https://youtu.be/brFvTNTUtSM?t=1271), which is a talk-show on which Bob is being interviewed by a close friend and fellow drag queen, who is also a speaker of AAL.
Denzel Washington - Dillard commencement speech
Play videoVideo of a commencement address delivered by Denzel Washington at Dillard University in May 2015. Compare to Washington's commencement address given at the University of Pennsylvania in 2011. Washington is an African American actor and director from New York who is a native speaker of AAE. Dillard University is a small, private, historically black university in New Orleans. Over 90% of the Dillard student body is black.
Used for /ai/ monophthongization project for Reed AAE class Spring 2018.
Denzel Washington - Penn commencement speech
Play videoVideo of commencement speech delivered by Denzel Washington at the University of Pennsylvania in May 2011. Compare to commencement speech given at Dillard University in May 2015. Washington is an African American actor and director from New York who is a native speaker of AAE. The University of Pennsylvania is a large Ivy League university located in Philadelphia. White students make up a relative majority of the Penn student body.
Used for /ai/ monophthongization project in Reed College AAE class Spring 2018.
Jesse Williams' Speech (BET Awards 2016)
Play videoPopular speech upon receiving the BET Humanitarian award. Example of black preacher style by biracial speaker.
The Newest 'Grey's Anatomy' Hunk, Jesse Williams
Play videoJesse William's interview with Ellen on the Ellen Show in 2010, marking usage of African American Language.
Ghostbuster 2016-Subway Scene
Play videoThis 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.
Reba tries to say "ice"
Play videoReba tries to say 'chewing ice' in this clip, but because of her Southern dialect (which features aɪ-monopthongization even before voiceless consonants) it comes out as something closer to 'chewing ass'. We briefly came across examples of aɪ-monophthongization in class in the context of Bill Clinton's outburst.
Clinton's drawl, Trump's 'yuuge' N.Y. accent and campaign 'code-switching'
The article discusses several politicians' adressee-based style shifting while speaking to different groups of people. Gives an example of monophthongization from Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama using elements of AAE. The article also talks about differences between the styles of Jeb Bush and George W. Bush. [Published on 03-05-2016]
Assault Swim
Play videoJessica Williams reports on a Texas pool party that ended with police assaulting a group of young black teenagers.
Ultimate Cockblocker
Play videoOne of the videos used for my /ai/ monophthongization study. ~64% /ai/ monophthongization.
Terry Needs Nutrients!
Play videoAll of Terry's food spoils, resulting in a long list of "my ___", and some nice monophthongal /ai/s.
How to be a Grown Ass Woman
Play videoThis is an hour long radio piece from WNYC featuring Jessica Williams (among other accomplished women) where interviewees discuss moments and period in their lives that they believe marked their adulthood as women. Although it is public in the popular culture sector, Jessica Williams is essentially participating in a standard sociolinguistic interview as she tells stories from her past that are close to home for minutes at a time. Due to her telling personal stories, I thought this could be a good opportunity for more casual, natural speech that may include /ai/ monophthongization. [Starts at 33:00].
What linguists say about Kevin Spacey's bizarre Southern accent on House of Cards
Linguists discuss the use (and non-use) of Southern English features by actor Kevin Spacey, who portrays a politician from South Carolina on the TV show House of Cards. [Published on 02-27-2015]
Paula Deen, Y'all!
Play videoThough it tragically does not contain any olive oil (my favorite thing to hear Paula Deen say), this clip is a really good example of a lot of the features of Southern English we talked about in class. Around 1:25, there's a very clear "nice" that is obviously still a diphthong, indicating that Paula is not from the Appalachian region or northern Texas, where speakers monophthongize before voiceless consonants.
American Tongues: Ice Hole
Play videoAn /ai/ monophthongization joke from the documentary American Tongues.
Story of English: Appalachian English
Play videoSegment from the 1986 documentary "The Story of English" on Appalachian English.