[Ads-l] Amen

[James Landau]

I was at St. James AME Church in Atlantic City today for its annual MLK service, and I noticed that the congregation pronounced "amen" as /ei men/ (although the church choir sang /ah men/).

Is /ei men/ the usual African-American pronunciation?  Do whites use it?  Or is it used, regardless of race creed or religion, when the speaker wishes to use it for emphasis?

James Landau
jjjrlandau at netscape.com

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