The rich history of African American Vernacular English has endured and flourished, undoubtedly leaving an indelible mark on America and how it speaks, but AAVE’s origin, core features, and even very existence continue to be debated by professional linguists and everyday people alike. Despite the debate, and at times controversy, over what exactly AAVE is, there is a very simple definition that almost everyone can agree on: it is the variety of English spoken by many African Americans, and it has unique vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation patterns.
With that simple definition, the clarity ends and the misunderstandings begin, so let’s start with those.
Misconception #1 African American Vernacular English is just slang.
AAVE does in fact include slang words and expressions that are unique to the manner of speaking, but this variety of English is much more than just a list of vocabulary words. The issue is that many of the words that originated in African American culture became so popular and ubiquitous, particularly in the digital age, that people mistakenly believe that is all there is to it. As we’ll discuss below, the linguistic intricacies and features extend far beyond slang into complex yet consistent grammatical structures.
Misconception #2 AAVE is just informal or “bad” English.
Again, wrong, and offensively so in the latter case. A simple analogy to illustrate how inaccurate this is would be to picture someone who speaks the Queen’s English telling a group of Americans, Canadians, and Australians that they speak “bad” English. No dialects, accents, or ways of speaking are wrong, they’re just different.
Misconception # 3 AAVE is the same everywhere.
Like all language, AAVE is continually changing and adapting, and it is not bound by any single location or era. This is evidenced by the wide variety of names AAVE has gone by over the decades, from Black English to Ebonics, and its usage and make-up can vary greatly by geography and generation as well.
That is to say, while a grandfather in Louisiana and a teenage girl in California may both speak AAVE, their forms of speaking would likely sound quite different. In a similar vein, there are African Americans who do not speak AAVE, and non-African Americans who do.
The Debated Origin and Classification of AAVE
So we’ve cleared up some of the misconceptions, but questions remain. Is AAVE a dialect? A language? These questions became a hotbed of controversy in the mid-’90s when the Oakland, California School Board passed a resolution that not only legitimized Ebonics (a somewhat outdated term for AAVE), but stated that it was its own language and as such required specific instruction in that language.
The Board later amended its resolution and walked back some of its statements, but in doing so added another interesting claim, one that linguists continue to debate today, that African American speaking has “origins in West and Niger-Congo languages and are not merely dialects of English.”
While there is still disagreement over whether or not AAVE is in fact a separate language or if its grammatical structures and phonology do indeed come from African languages, there are some fairly consistent features and patterns in regard to its grammar and pronunciation.
Unique Traits of AAVE Grammar
AAVE often uses different verb tenses and aspect markers (parts of words that indicate how things happen over time) compared to standard American English. One of the most noteworthy traits is something known as copula absence.
Copula Absence
A copula is simply a linking word in a language that refers back to the subject, and in English, our most common copula is the verb “to be.” AAVE frequently omits “to be” in certain contexts. This can be used to refer to location as in “They in the back,” or it can also be used before an adjective, as in “She smart.”
Something interesting to note here is that the consistency of this structure can be illustrated by using it incorrectly. While the “is” and “are” forms of “to be” are commonly dropped, this does not happen with the first-person form (“am”), as a phrase like “I tired” would ring incorrect.
Double Negatives
The usage of double negatives is standard in many languages, including Spanish, where the phrase “I didn’t see anything” would correctly be said “Yo no vi nada” (I didn’t see nothing).
This is not the case in English, and generally the use of double negatives becomes a positive again, though with a great deal of nuance. For example, saying “I mean, he’s not unattractive” in fact implies that he may be just a bit unattractive.
In AAVE, however, double negatives are used for emphasis rather than hedging a statement. For example, “You never be doing nothing to help out!” doubles the negatives and in essence doubles the effect.
AAVE Pronunciation
There are many pronunciation variations, such as consonant cluster reduction and vowel shifting, that contribute to the unique sound of AAVE.
One common trait involves the “th” sound. At the end of a word, this can sound more like an “f” sound, where the word “mouth” would sound more like “mouf.” At the beginning of a word, however, the “th” sound has more of a “d” sound, where the word “that” becomes “dat.”
Another common feature is dropping the “s” sound for both verbs and possessives, as in the phrases “He live down the street” and “That his house.” And speaking of possessives, another interesting construction in AAVE is the use of non-possessive pronouns in place of possessives. For example, “They was in they friend car.”
Final Thoughts
AAVE is a rich and complex linguistic variety with roots in African and American cultures, characterized by distinct features and influences. While its usage and construction can vary, there are indeed consistent grammatical structures and phonologies in place that make it much more than slang or “improper” English. Understanding and appreciating AAVE is essential for acknowledging the linguistic diversity within all communities and challenging some of the lingering misconceptions and biases associated with different varieties of English.
