It is typically in aspects of grammar that AAVE and other vernaculars are most stigmatized as being “illogical” or “sloppy.” One frequently criticized element is the double negative construction, as in He don’t know nothin or I ain’t afraid of no ghosts. Because the negative is expressed twice, these structures have been condemned as “illogical” (since one negative supposedly cancels the other). Yet, this feature of AAVE can be found in many other English dialects and in other languages such as French: il ne sait rien (literally, “he not knows nothing”). It was also common in Old English: Ic naht singan ne cuðe (literally, “I not sing not could”). There is nothing inherently illogical about these structures, which can extend to multiple negatives, allowing greater emphasis on the negative aspect of the message, as in He don’t never do nothin.

The “sloppy” criticism focuses on the frequent absence of forms of the verb “to be” (are, is) in AAVE expressions such as You crazy or She workin now. It may be more accurate to say that wherever are and is can be contracted in the casual style of other varieties (You’re, She’s), they are not articulated in AAVE. Formal styles of Standard English require are and is in such expressions, but many regional varieties do not. Nor do many other languages such as Arabic and Russian require forms of “to be” in similar contexts. This feature of AAVE speech can’t be “sloppy” any more than it would be “sloppy” in normal Arabic or Russian speech.

While AAVE speakers don’t include the auxiliary verb is in expressions such as She workin now, to describe what is happening currently, they can use be (not is), as in She be workin downtown now, as a way of expressing habitual action. That is, the presence or absence of be distinguishes between what is a recurring activity or state and what is currently happening. To talk about a habitual action that started or happened in the past, AAVE uses bin (typically stressed), not was, as in She bin workin there. In effect, the use of habitual be or bin, and the absence of forms of “to be” in present state expressions, are all consistent features in the grammar of AAVE. The negative versions of these verbs are formed with don’t (not doesn’t) and the verb is not used with a contracted negative. So, in AAVE, She don’t be workin is grammatical, whereas *She doesn’t be workin and *She ben’t workin would be considered ungrammatical.

In this discussion, we have focused on the linguistic features of social dialects. Yet, the groups who use those dialects are not only distinguished by the language they use, but by more general factors such as beliefs and assumptions about the world and their experience of it. This is usually discussed in terms of “culture,”.

مواضيع ذات صلة

Grammar Overview

A Gaelic sentence

Labeled and bracketed sentences

Constituent analysis

Structural analysis

The descriptive approach

Captain Kirk’s infinitive

The prescriptive approach

Traditional analysis

Grammatical gender

Agreement

The parts of speech