ai diphthongization
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.
Chrish - Indie girl introduces us to her kitchen (Vine)
Play videoThis vine parodies a female indie pop singer's voice.
Diphthongal Terry
Play videoHere, Terry is talking to his boss, and therefore produces more diphthongal /ai/s than his more casual speech.
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.
African American English: The Wren
Play audioAn audio file of an African American man reading the poem The Wren.