AAVE vs UE

[Drew Danielson]

Salikoko Mufwene wrote:
>
> At 11:54 AM 12/8/2000 -0500, you wrote:
> >Collegues --
> >
> >I have recently heard AAVE called Urban English -- is anyone else
> familiar
> >with this new title?  Has it made it into any publications that
> you've seen?
> >
>     It's hard to react to this out of context. Works such as by Guy
> Bailey and his associates have suggested that there is an urban
> variety (or are there urban varieties?) of AAVE that is (are)
> different from rural varieties. On the other hand, the term "Urban
> variety" could independently be a construct for English varieties in
> the urban environment.

Regarding "urban variety: I am by no means a technical expert in this
area and am not prepared to speak about specifics, but I notice a
certain differences among the word choices & vocalizations of rural
southern, urban southern, urban northeastern, urban midwestern, and
urban West Coast African Americans.  Some of these seem to be related to
similar regionalistic differences among Americans of European
extraction, while others probably evolved independently (e.g., the use
of "jitney" to mean taxicab in Pittsburgh).

Regarding the original question: I wonder if the questioned use of
"urban" is not a euphemistic use of that word to mean "African
American".  Writers such as P.J. O'Rourke have (rather baldly) pointed
out this usage of "urban", and that it is often used in a disparaging
context (e.g., urban crime).