**** Labov and creole studies

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UP: <[LINK] -reole studi>

Labov has described his work as residing "just outside of the field of Creole Studies." He has been involved in the debates over whether Vernacular Black English is a decreolized version of an older creole or not. At first he opposed this point of view, but later came around to it. More recently, he has argued that Black English in Philadelphia now seems to be diverging from white dialects rather than decreolizing. Perhaps more important than his direct involvement in debates that border on creole studies has been the indirect but substantial influence that his methodology has had upon the research of creolists.

• - For the use of variation studies by creolists <[LINK]>
• - For support of his argument of divergence of BEV <[LINK]>

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William Labov, The Notion of System in Creole Studies," in Dell Hymes, ed., _Pidginization and Creolization of Languages_, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1971; 447-472; quote on 447.