| Over the years, several research studies have been conducted on the emergence of the coal mining industry in Birmingham, Alabama in the 1800's and its impact on the livelihood and growth of the local African American communities. Few studies, however, have been conducted on the degree to which the coal industry has impacted the language of the residents of these communities or the impact on the Black English Vernacular in general.; The specific objectives of this study were the following: (1) to provide a description of the unrecorded and unstudied Black English Vernacular words and phrases developed by African American and White immigrant coal miners working in the Birmingham, Alabama coal fields; (2) to compare the Black English Vernacular words and phrases developed by African American and White immigrant coal miners to the Black English Vernacular words and phrases identified in earlier research studies by Dillard (1972), Labov (1977), Smitherman (1998), and others; and (3) to document the folk history and social relationship between African American and White immigrant coal miners in the broader community.; A critical examination of the relationship between African American (Black American) and White immigrant coal miners which developed in the Birmingham, Alabama area coal fields between 1880 and the late 1890's, revealed that the linguistic factors necessary for linguistically divergent groups to develop a uniquely variant language form (as suggested by Dillard 1972, Hall 1966, Wolfram 1988, Holm 1998, and others) were indeed present, and presumably contributed to the development of variant Black English Vernacular words and phrases that were previously unrecorded and unstudied in the community.; The findings of this study document the unique form of Black English Vernacular which arose in the Birmingham, Alabama area coal mining camp towns including Edgewater, Mulga, Docena, Dolomite, and Westfield. The conclusions of this research study are consistent with an historical account (Trudgill and Hannah, 2002) which indicated that variant Black English Vernacular word and phrases produced in African American speech were probably developed as a direct result of positive associations and interactions with White immigrant coal miners in the Birmingham area coal fields. |
