SpecGram—“Pull Over That æ Too Back”—An Examination of Language Attitudes Towards Emulation of the Trap-Bath Split in the American South

I was fortunate to have a fascinating piece of musical linguistic commentary brought to my attention recently. It is a nuanced analysis of language attitudes in the American South towards the trap-bath split. The lyricist, an amateur linguist who wishes to remain nameless, told me that they had written the song in the late 1990’s and were shocked to see a parody of it become a minor rap hit in 2000. At the time, a legal battle would have been prohibitively expensive, particularly due to copyright laws regarding parodies. Recently, however, they decided to come forward and present their original work to the linguistic community in the hopes that it will spark new research into perceptions of fake English accents in the American South, an area they believe to be criminally understudied.

I have presented the original here. See Trina & Daddy, 2000, to observe the obvious plagiarism.

Pull Over That æ Too Back

What you saying [gɹæs] like [gɹɑ:s] for?

Man, pull that speaker over, they gotta get a ticket.

[1 - Male Speaker]

Whoop! Whoop!

Pull over that æ is too back

Whoop! Whoop!

Pull over that æ is too back

[Repeat 1 (8x)]

[Female speaker]

Trap-bath split

I’m like what?

Here we say it [ænt], not [ɑ:nt]

In this dialectal area that’s

Wrong, wr-wrong! Wrong! Wrong!

I’m not really a linguistics pro

But I know

Your f₂’s getting way, way too low

Say [kɑ:f] for [kæf] and meet my elbow

No æ makes even Webster say whoa

I’ve got a good æ, no vowel space gossip

and that’s your vowel too, now fess up,

You trying to sound all classy but you blew it

And everybody who heard you knew it

You’re not English,

Just a bit foolish,

Still got your rhotics, still got your flaps

What? We know what’s up,

And here we say it [ænt], not [ɑ:nt]

[Repeat 1 (8x)]

Who’s got more æ than most speakers?

You know it’s the ideal speaker

Always hits that articulator targets

æ in slashes, æ in the brackets

Hundred percent intelligible

(Whoop! Whoop!)

Trying to be someone you’re not

Fake a dialect, you sound like a clown

You won’t get prestige, you’re not uptown

Don’t try to fake it baby

It just makes you sound crazy

The best way to get my respect

Is to stick with your own dialect.

[Repeat 1 (4x)]

That’s [æ] in bat

That’s [ɑ] in bought

That’s [ɛ] in bet

And that’s [ʌ] in but yeah

And I’mma say what my mama told me

These are my vowels and I say ’em boldly

My æ ain’t back you got to admit that

ɑ for æ? You know I don’t to that!

I ain’t dialect prejudiced

You just use what you grew up with

Cause ain’t nothing wrong with the way you speak

It’s trying to change your vowels that’s weak

(Whoop! Whoop!)

Go back to sayin’ æ again

(Whoop! Whoop!)

Your vowels got you all ashamed

(Whoop! Whoop!)

Front, back, high and low

(Whoop! Whoop!)

Stay with the vowels you know

What’s up other talkers

Fakin’s vowel’s wacked

Representin’ for my girls with the front æ

[Repeat 1 (4x)]

Whoop! Whoop! Whoop! Whoop!

References

Trina (Composer and Performer), & Daddy, T. (Performer). “Da Baddest Bitch.” Da Baddest Bitch. Atlantic/Slip-N-Slide Records, 2000.

“Pull Over That æ Too Back”
An Examination of Language Attitudes Towards Emulation of the Trap-Bath Split in the American South

Rachael Tatman

Pull Over That æ Too Back

References

	Notes on Language and Contingency—Absolon the Epsilon
	The Atishu Tribe—Dr. Gus Huntaight
	SpecGram Vol CLXVI, No 1 Contents

“Pull Over That æ Too Back” An Examination of Language Attitudes Towards Emulation of the Trap-Bath Split in the American South

Rachael Tatman

Pull Over That æ Too Back

References

“Pull Over That æ Too Back”
An Examination of Language Attitudes Towards Emulation of the Trap-Bath Split in the American South