John Cowan wrote: (Re [Vj] for /-@rC-/)
>Well, I admit I haven't heard it among young people lately, but then
>most of the teens I know speak AAVE. Certainly it's common enough
>among their elders.
Likewise even out here in Michigan-- _very_ elderly AA's
>
>> Apparently [Vj] or [@j] was also found in Deep South (New Orleans/Delta
>> area), where it was considered quite upper-class (Tennessee Williams had
>> it-- there's a recording of him reading a story "The Yellow Bird"
[bVjd].)
>
>There are a whole bunch of New York-style features in New Orleans
>speech; I've often wondered why.`
I recall reading somewhere that [Vj] was a "prestige dialect" feature in NYC
at some point, maybe late 19th Cent.
Raven I. McDavid was THE expert on Southern speech; more recently the title
has passed to Charles James Bailey; unfortunately I've only seen bits and
pieces of their work.