Conversational signifying: grammar and indirectness among African American women

Abstract

This paper examines conversational signifying, a practice fundamental to African American communication and identity. Though various forms of signifying have been previously investigated, no studies have explored how signifying is conversationally constructed through the systematic use of particular grammatical, prosodic and discursive structures to convey indirect messages. Women's interactions are the focus of this analysis not only because they have been largely ignored, but more importantly because women are often the innovators and connoisseurs of this empowering, artful practice.