We interrupt our regularly scheduled programming for an announcement. My colleague and friend Hiram Smith (Bucknell University) has written a book for popular audiences titled "Wassup, My Nigga: The Hidden History of a Controversial Word". As the name may suggest, the book tackles the history and the sociolinguistics of the n-word(s?) within the context AAVE, as well as outside of it. The book is now available for pre-order in all the usual places and will be available in September this year.
The book has already received a glowing recommendation from John R. Rickford, one of the preeminent experts on AAVE. In light of this, y'all probably dgaf as to what I have to say, but since I've read the book (more accurately, a draft of it), I will say it anyway: the book does an excellent job discussing the word, its history and the fine points of its usage in a very entertaining way, using recent examples from media and tapping into current discourse. What I like even more about the book is the metadiscussion Hiram engages in, where he considera not only the role of linguistics can and should play in the discussion of - shall we say - sensitive matters of language, but specifically on the role of native, i.e. African American, linguists in this discussion. As someone who is white as could be and also works on creoles, this is a topic I am quite sensitive to and I very much appreciate Hiram's insights.
With Hiram's permission, I am reposting here an overview and the table of contents.
Oh and in case you were wondering about the title of the post, it comes from this scene from episode 2x11 of the cartoon TV show The Boondocks that perfectly illustrates some of the complexities the book addresses.
