But unlike European countries, America has never finished a map of the United States, only the eastern United States is covered and a few spots here and there.

This African American Vernacular English shares most of its grammar and vocabulary with other dialects of English. But it is distinct in many ways, and it is more different from standard English than any other dialect spoken in continental North America.

Well, American dialects have been studied for a hundred years or so.

But unlike European countries, America has never finished a map of the United States, only the eastern United States is covered and a few spots here and there.

It appears that the present-day form of African American English is not the inheritance of the period of slavery, but the creation of the second half of the 20th century.

We focus upon pairs of words very often which are the same in some areas and different in other areas.

I have resisted the term sociolinguistics for many years, since it implies that there can be a successful linguistic theory or practice which is not social.