Cover not available

Article published In: Pragmatics
Vol. 1:4 (1991) ► pp.421–451

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF

Indirectness and interpretation in African American women’s discourse

Open Access logo
Available under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 4.0 license.
Published online: 1 December 1991
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/prag.1.4.01mor
References (63)
Abrahams, Roger. (1976) Talking Black. Rowley, Ma.: Newbury.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1970) Deep down in the jungle: Negro narrative folklore from the streets of Philadelphia. Chicago: Aldine Publishing.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Abrahams, Roger and John Szwed. (1983) After Africa: extracts from the British travel accounts and journals of the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries concerning the slaves, their manners and customs in the British West Indies. Connecticut: Yale University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Austin, J.L. (1962) How to do things with words. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1961) Philosophical papers. London: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bailey, Guy, and Natalie Maynor. (1987) Decreolization? Language in society 161: 449-73.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Baugh, John. (1984) Steady: Progressive aspect in Black Vernacular English. American speech 591: 3-12. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1980) A re-examination of the Black English Copula. In W. Labov (ed.). Locating language in time and space. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. 83-106.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1979) Linguistic style shifting in black English. Diss. U of Pennsylvania.
Berger, Peter and Thomas Luckman. (1966) The social construction of reality. London: Penguin Books.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brenneis, Donald. (1986) Shared territory: audience, indirection and meaning. Text 6.3: 339-347.  BoP Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Bryce-LaPorte, Roy Simon. (1971) The slave plantation: background to present conditions of urban blacks. In P. Orleans & W. R. Ellis Jr. (eds.). Race, change and urban society. Beverly Hills, California: Saqe Publication, 257-284.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Butters, Ronald. (1989) The death of black Enalish: diveraence and convergence in black and white vernaculars. Frankfurt: Verlag Peter Lang.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Butters, Ronald R. ed. (1987) Are Black and white vernaculars diverging? Papers from the NWAVE XIV panel discussion. American speech 621: 3-80 Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dillingham, Gerald. (1981) The emerging Black middle class: class conscious or race conscious? Ethnic and racial studies. 4.4: 432-451. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Duranti, Alessandro. 1990. Notes on Intentionality and Truth. Manuscript
. (1988) Intentions, language and social action in a Samoan context. Journal of pragmatics. 121: 13-33.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fisher, Lawrence. (1976) Dropping remarks and the Barbadian audience. American ethnologist 3.2: 227-42. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gates, Henry Louis Jr. (1988) The signifying monkey: a theory of African-American literary criticism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Geertz, Clifford. (1983) Local knowledge: further essays in interpretive anthropology. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1973) The interpretation of cultures. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goffman, Erving. (1974) Frame analvsis. Harper Colophon: New York.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1961) Asylums: essays on the social situation of mental patients and other inmates. New York: Anchor Books.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Graff, Labov and Harris. (1983) Testing listeners’ reactions to phonological markers of ethnic identity: a new method for sociolinguistic research. Manuscript.
Grice, H.P. (1975) Logic and conversation. In P. Cole & J. Morgan (eds.). Syntax and semantics Vol. 3: speech acts. New York: Academic Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1957) Meaning. The philosophical review. 661: 377-388. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gwaltney, John L. (1980) Drylongso. New York: Random House.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Halliday, M.K. (1978) Language as social semiotic: the social interaction of language and meaning. Baltimore, Maryland: University Park Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hernskovitz, Melville. (1966) The new world Negro. Bloomington, Indiana: Minerva Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Holm, John. (1984) Variability of the English copula in Black English and its Creole kin. American speech 59.4: 291-309. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1980) The creole ‘copula’ that highlighted the world In J. L. Dillard (ed.). Perspectives on American English. The Hague: Mouton. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hunter, Linda. (1982) Silence is also language: Hausa attitudes about speech and language. Anthropological linguistics 24.4: 389-95.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Hymes, Dell. (1974) Foundations in sociolinguistics: an ethnographic approach. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Irvine, Judith. (1982) Language and affect: some cross-cultural issues. In H. Byrnes (ed.). Georgetown University roundtable on language and linguistics. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1974) Strategies of status manipulation in the Wolof greeting. In R. Bauman & J. Sherzer (eds.), Explorations in the ethnography of speaking. London: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kochman, Thomas. (1986) Strategic ambiguity in black speech genres: Cross-cultural interference in participant-observation research. Text 6.2: 153-170.  BoP Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1981) Black and white styles in conflict. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.  BoP. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1972) Toward an ethnography of black American speech behavior. In T. Kochman (ed.). Rappin ‘and stvlin’ out: communication in urban black America. Chicago: University of Illinois Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Labov, William (1987) Are Black and white vernaculars diverging? Papers from the NWAVE XIV panel discussion. American speech 62: 5-12. 62-74.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1985) The increasing divergence of Black and white vernaculars: introduction to the research reports. Manuscript.
. (1982) “Objectivity and commitment in linguistic science: the case of the black English trial in Ann Arbor.” Language in society 111: 165-202. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1972) Language in the inner city: studies in the black English vernacular. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Labov, William and Wendell Harris. (1983) DeFacto segregation of black and white vernaculars. Paper presented at 12th Meeting of NWAVE.
Levine, Lawrence. (1977) Black culture and black consciousness. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mitchell-Kernan, Claudia. (1973) Signifying. In A. Dundes (ed.). Mother wit from the laughing barrel. New York: Garland Publishing, 310-328.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1971). Lanquacre behavior in a black urban community. Monographs of the Language-Behavior Laboratory University of California, Berkeley, Number two.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Morgan, Marcyliena. (to appear) The Africanness of counterlanguage among Afro-Americans. In S. Mufwene (ed.). Africanisms in Afro-American language varieties. n.p.
. (1989) From down south to up south: the language behavior of three generations of black women residing in Chicago. Diss. University of Pennsylvania.
Mufwene, Salikoko. (n.d.) Ideology and facts on black English. In A. Spears (ed.). Language, symbolism and ideology, np.
Piersen, William. (1977) Puttin’ down ole massa: African satire in the new world. In D.J. Crowley (ed.), African folklore in the new world. Austin. Texas: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Reisman, Karl. (1974) Contrapuntal conversations in an Antiguan village. In R. Bauman and J. Sherzer (eds.), Explorations in the ethnography of speaking. London: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Rickford, John. (1977) The question of prior creolization of black English. In A. Valdman (ed.), Pidgin and creole linguistics. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 190-221.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1975). Carrying the new wave into syntax: the case of black English bin. In R.W. Fasold & R. W. Shuy (eds.). Analyzing variation in language. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 162-183.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Saah, Kofi. (1984) Language use and attitudes in Ghana. Anthropological linguistics 28.3: 367-77.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schieffelin, Bambi B. and Elinor Ochs eds. (1986) Languaqe socialization across cultures. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Searle, John R. (1983) Intentionality. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1976) The classification of illocutionary acts. Language in society 51: 1-23. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1969) Speech acts: an essay in the philosophy of language. Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Smitherman, Geneva, ed. (1981) Black English and the education of black children and youth – proceedings of the national invitational symposium on the King decision. Detroit: Harpo Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
. (1977) Talkin and testifyin: the language of black America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Volosinov, V.N. (1973) Marxism and the philosophy of language. Translated by Ladislav Mateika & I.R. Titunik. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press.  BoPGoogle Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wilson, Julius, W. (1978). The declining significance of race. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Wolfram, Walter. 1969. A sociolinguistic description of Detroit Neqro speech. Washington. D.C.: Center for Applied Linguistics.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (43)

Cited by 43 other publications

Zimman, Lal
2023. Language, Gender, Race, and Sexuality. In A New Companion to Linguistic Anthropology, ► pp. 523 ff. DOI logo
Hernandez, Erika, Katie Carmichael & Julie C. Dunsmore
2021. Toward integrating research on parent–child emotion talk and linguistic theory: A spotlight on parents’ (in)direct communication. Social Development 30:1 ► pp. 38 ff. DOI logo
Koven, Michele & Isabelle Simões Marques
2021. Multiaddressivity and Collective Addressivity in Vlog‐based Interactions between Diasporic and Nonmigrant Portuguese. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 31:1 ► pp. 97 ff. DOI logo
McGee, Alexis
2021. (Re)reading Sor Juana’s Rhetorics: The Intersectional, Cultural, and Feminist Rhetorician. Rhetoric Review 40:3 ► pp. 270 ff. DOI logo
Sar, Leda, Mark Hasegawa-Johnson & Chang D. Yoo
2021. Counterfactually Fair Automatic Speech Recognition. IEEE/ACM Transactions on Audio, Speech, and Language Processing 29 ► pp. 3515 ff. DOI logo
Washington, Adrienne Ronee
2020. ‘Reclaiming my time’: signifying, reclamation and the activist strategies of Black women’s language. Gender and Language 14:4 ► pp. 358 ff. DOI logo
Washington, Adrienne Ronee
2025. Semantic and semiotic flows: Examining variations and changes of “the N-Words” within an indexical field of dynamic meanings. Atlantic Studies 22:2 ► pp. 189 ff. DOI logo
Catedral, Lydia
2018. ‘That's not the kind of church we are’: Heteroglossic ambiguity and religious identity in contexts of LGB+ exclusion. Language & Communication 60 ► pp. 108 ff. DOI logo
Defibaugh, Staci
2018. Treading Lightly: Indirect Speech in Medical Directives. In Nurse Practitioners and the Performance of Professional Competency, ► pp. 79 ff. DOI logo
Brown, Laura C.
2014. A public backstage: The pleasures and possibilities of roadside shop talk in Tamil Nadu, India. Language & Communication 34 ► pp. 35 ff. DOI logo
Terkourafi, Marina
2014. The importance of being indirect. Belgian Journal of Linguistics 28 ► pp. 45 ff. DOI logo
Eisenchlas, Susana A.
2013. Gender Roles and Expectations. Sage Open 3:4 DOI logo
Haddix, Marcelle M.
2012. Talkin’ in the company of my sistas: The counterlanguages and deliberate silences of Black female students in teacher education. Linguistics and Education 23:2 ► pp. 169 ff. DOI logo
Jacobs-Huey, Lanita
2007. Learning through the breach. Ethnography 8:2 ► pp. 171 ff. DOI logo
DURANTI, ALESSANDRO
2006. Narrating the political self in a campaign for U.S. Congress. Language in Society 35:04 DOI logo
Duranti, Alessandro
2023. Contested Intentions. In A New Companion to Linguistic Anthropology, ► pp. 315 ff. DOI logo
Rex, Lesley A.
2006. Acting ”Cool” and ”Appropriate”: Toward a Framework for considering Literacy Classroom Interactions When Race is a Factor. Journal of Literacy Research 38:3 ► pp. 275 ff. DOI logo
Richland, Justin B.
2006. The multiple calculi of meaning. Discourse & Society 17:1 ► pp. 65 ff. DOI logo
Kasper, Gabriele
2005. Linguistic Etiquette. In Intercultural Discourse and Communication, ► pp. 58 ff. DOI logo
Kendall, Shari & Deborah Tannen
2005. Discourse and Gender. In The Handbook of Discourse Analysis, ► pp. 548 ff. DOI logo
Lemon, Alaina
2004. `Dealing emotional blows': realism and verbal `terror' at the Russian state theatrical academy. Language & Communication 24:4 ► pp. 313 ff. DOI logo
Macaulay, Ronald
2004. Discourse Variation. In The Handbook of Language Variation and Change, ► pp. 283 ff. DOI logo
Macaulay, Ronald
2013. Discourse Variation. In The Handbook of Language Variation and Change, ► pp. 220 ff. DOI logo
ROGERS, REBECCA
2004. Storied selves: A Critical Discourse Analysis of adult learners' literate lives. Reading Research Quarterly 39:3 ► pp. 272 ff. DOI logo
Foster, Michèle, Jeffrey Lewis & Laura Onafowora
2003. Anthropology, Culture, and Research on Teaching and Learning: Applying What We Have Learned to Improve Practice. Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education 105:2 ► pp. 261 ff. DOI logo
Foster, Michèle, Jeffrey Lewis & Laura Onafowora
2003. Anthropology, Culture, and Research on Teaching and Learning: Applying What We Have Learned to Improve Practice. Teachers College Record: The Voice of Scholarship in Education 105:2 ► pp. 261 ff. DOI logo
Smitherman, Geneva & John Baugh
2002. The Shot Heard from Ann Arbor: Language Research and Public Policy in African America. Howard Journal of Communications 13:1 ► pp. 5 ff. DOI logo
John Algeo
2001. The Cambridge History of the English Language, DOI logo
McElhinny, Bonnie
2001. See No Evil, Speak No Evil: White Police Officers' Talk about Race and Affirmative Action. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 11:1 ► pp. 65 ff. DOI logo
McElhinny, Bonnie
2003. Theorizing Gender in Sociolinguistics and Linguistic Anthropology. In The Handbook of Language and Gender, ► pp. 20 ff. DOI logo
Pavlenko, Aneta
2001. Bilingualism, gender, and ideology. International Journal of Bilingualism 5:2 ► pp. 117 ff. DOI logo
Trechter, Sara & Mary Bucholtz
2001. Introduction: White Noise: Bringing Language into Whiteness Studies. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 11:1 ► pp. 3 ff. DOI logo
Bucholtz, Mary
2000. The politics of transcription. Journal of Pragmatics 32:10 ► pp. 1439 ff. DOI logo
Houston, Marsha
2000. Writing for my life: community-cognizant scholarship on African-American women and communication. International Journal of Intercultural Relations 24:5 ► pp. 673 ff. DOI logo
Morgan, Marcyliena
2000. Shout-Outs to the Ancestors: “Here Come the Drum”. The Black Scholar 30:3-4 ► pp. 44 ff. DOI logo
Morgan, Marcyliena
2002. Language, Discourse and Power in African American Culture, DOI logo
SCOTT, KARLA D.
2000. Crossing Cultural Borders: `Girl' and `Look' as Markers of Identity in Black Women's Language Use. Discourse & Society 11:2 ► pp. 237 ff. DOI logo
Rickford, John Russell
1997. Unequal partnership: Sociolinguistics and the African American speech community. Language in Society 26:2 ► pp. 161 ff. DOI logo
Freed, Alice F. & Alice Greenwood
1996. Women, men, and type of talk: What makes the difference?. Language in Society 25:1 ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo
Freed, Alice F.
1995. Language and Gender. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics 15 ► pp. 3 ff. DOI logo
Freed, Alice F.
2003. Epilogue: Reactions on Language and Gender Research. In The Handbook of Language and Gender, ► pp. 699 ff. DOI logo
Foster, Michele
1992. Sociolinguistics and the African‐American community: Implications for literacy. Theory Into Practice 31:4 ► pp. 303 ff. DOI logo
[no author supplied]
2017. Bibliography. In The Handbook of Sociolinguistics, ► pp. 453 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 29 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue