Some sources of reading problems for speakers of the Black English vernacular --
Is the Black English vernacular a separate system? --
Contraction, deletion, and inherent variability of the English copula --
Negative attraction and negative concord --
The logic of nonstandard English --
The relation of reading failure to peer-group status --
The linguistic consequences of being a lame --
Rules for ritual results --
The transformation of experience in narrative syntax

Language in the Inner City firmly establishes African American Vernacular English not simply as slang but as a well-formed set of rules of pronunciation and grammar capable of conveying complex logic and reasoning. Studying not only the normal processes of communication in the inner city but such art forms as the ritual insult and ritualized narrative, Labov confirms the Black vernacular as a separate and independent dialect of English. His analysis goes on to clarify the nature and processes of linguistic change in the context of a changing society"--Jacket