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A section on pronunciation?

I'm not a linguist, so I'm not certain where this should be placed -- in a separate section called "Pronunciation"? In AAVE, there is no "th" sound -- which is also a carryover from various West African languages. Instead, the "th" is replaced by a "d": e.g., "duh" instead of "the"; a "v" sound, "muvvah" instead of "mother"; or, an "f," as in "birfday," instead of "birthday."

Some mention also may be made of the substitution of "er" at the end of words with an "uh" sound -- which, as far as I know, is simply a shared characteristic of AAVE with rural, southern speech -- e.g., "yonduh," instead of "yonder," or "bruvva" instad of "brother." deeceevoice 21:17, 27 Oct 2004 (UTC)

I certainly agree a section on pronunciation is warranted. However, I believe the assertion that these differences are a carryover from West African languages is disputed. Cockney English, fore example, exhibits many of the same sound changes and has no relation to effects from foreign languages. Nohat 21:50, 27 Oct 2004 (UTC)

To attribute these speech and language patterns is definititely right on target. Any linguist worth his or her salt would certainly do so -- and such has been done repeatedly in several scholarly examinations of this subject. Why is it that lay white folks (certainly, in my experience, white Americans) are so blind to, or obtuse in conceding, our African roots? I've actually had someone go behind me and attempt to edit out references to Africa in sections on jazz, and have had to make a point to insert such references to Africa in other Misplaced Pages articles treating various aspects of African-American culture. The African influence should be obvious. This article itself makes reference to the commonalities among AAVE and pidgin English and patois in different parts of the U.S. and throughout the Caribbean. What is the common, unifying ingredient? West African origins. It should be a no-brainer. Where white southerners got their accents and speech patterns is something else again. deeceevoice 07:05, 1 Nov 2004 (UTC)

I don't think this adequately addresses the issue that nearly all of the phonological differences of AAVE from SAE also occur in other, completely unrelated dialects. I'm not going to argue that there is nothing "African" about AAVE, but it seems facile to ascribe a feature like final consonant cluster simplification to the African roots of AAVE, when plenty of other dialects exhibit the same phenomenon. I don't think there is anything uniquely "West African" about cluster reduction and saying that there is would be disingenuous. The same holds for the /ð/>/d/ merger. Nohat 00:55, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

I'm not anywhere near an expert on AAVE, having only discussed it briefly in a couple of linguistics classes. However, IIRC, there are a few major features commonly associated with AAVE pronunciation. A non-exhaustive listing, not all found in all AAVE variants:

• The change of θ to t/f and δ to d/v.
• Monopthongization of vowels: /a:/ instead of /aj/.
• Deletion of non-prevocalic /r/: or instead of / ("there"); instead of ("cart"), but /rid/ (reed) is the same in both AAVE and SAE.

There are probably others I'm either forgetting or completey ignorant of. All of these exist in other dialects of English, but the consensus among linguists seems to be that the strongest originating influence for these features is West African languages.

pgdudda 01:27, 24 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Phonology (pronunciation)

Now that deeceevoice has created a beautiful summary of the sociological aspects of AAVE, let's see if we can address the phonological differences. We do need to note that not all differences are universal to all variants of AAVE - but that many are common, and considered distinctive to the dialect by SAE speakers. I also think, for consistency's sake, we should use SAMPA transcription, since it's accessible on a US-english keyboard.

Main differences (note that "_" stands for "any vowel" and "#" is "word boundary"):

• SAE /#T_/ --> AAVE ; SAE /_T_/ --> AAVE ; and SAE /_T#/ --> AAVE (sometimes )
• SAE /#D_/ --> AAVE ; SAE /_D_/ --> AAVE ; and SAE /_D#/ --> AAVE
• SAE /r_/ --> AAVE ; SAE /r/ --> deleted elsewhere
• SAE /aj/ --> AAVE and SAE (phonemically /e/) --> AAVE /e:/
• Question : is the /Q/ vs. /A/ distinction preserved, or is it merged as in Midwestern US dialects of English? EG: /nQt/ "naught" vs. /nAt/ "not".

That's a start, at any rate. If I get a chance, I may do some research via google. pgdudda 15:47, 30 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Note to self: investigate this site to see if it's useful for this. pgdudda 19:55, 30 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Simple tenses

How is the simple past and simple future tenses formed? -- Beland 13:12, 29 Oct 2004 (UTC)

be done

the section on be done says

Be done is used as a tense marker to indicate the conditional perfect, a future in the hypothetical past. Example: Soon, he be done fixing the leak (="Soon, he will have fixed the leak")

It seems to me that, rather than being a "future in the hypothetical past", what is really meant is a "past in a predicted/expected future" - however, living in england, I have very little experience of AAVE and so, as far as I know, the example could be wrong instead.

Gingekerr 20:31, 29 Oct 2004 (UTC)

I think you're right. Tuf-Kat 23:44, Oct 29, 2004 (UTC)

---

Yes, the article is correct that the verb "to be" -- as in some West African languages -- is used to indicate something habitual. "He be's there most Tuesdays."

But in this particular instance, Gingekerr, the verb form is simply a swallowed, contracted "will," which through time customarily simply has been left off completely, and is more along the lines of the kind of thing that happens in a lot of southern speech with the ends of words. "I'll be done fixin' this in a minute," becomes, "I be done fixin' this in a minute." The dropping or swallowing of the contracted "will" -- "'ll" -- is facilitated by the typically southern pronunciation of "I." A reminder that the phrase is not, phonetically, "I'll be"/"I be," but "Ah 'll be"/"Ah be." When examined in this light, the ease of simply swallowing/dropping the verb (which is implied) becomes more obvious. This phenomenon is not a distinct grammatical structure, but a pronunciational phenomenon -- no different from a white southerner saying, "Well, ah be damned!" deeceevoice 06:54, 1 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Further, I think it's important to trace many of these language and speech patterns to their common source, West Africa.deeceevoice 06:56, 1 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Removed the business about "future in the hypothetical past" in light of my earlier comments, because this apparent truth is actually pronunciation-based, rather than a different structure grammatically. deeceevoice

Note on necessary additions

A section on pronunciation. Mention of the use of "axe" instead of "ask" (also rooted in W. Africa?). And observation of the subversion of language to redefine negatives; language as weapon/tool. Andd a section on vocabulary -- because there is, indeed, a separate vocabulary in the African-American community for any number of things, that most white folks don't have a clue about. For info on pronunciation and vocabulary, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Talk:African_American_Vernacular_English&action=edit deeceevoice 05:43, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Oops. Dunno how that happened. Will hunt up the link when I have more time.deeceevoice 22:29, 8 Nov 2004 (UTC)

For my money, "ask" > "axe" is more likely to be of anglophone than African origin -- the variation in this word goes back to Anglo-Saxon, when the word (usually ascian) could also be found as axian. --Marnen Laibow-Koser (talk) 20:08, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)

African Origins

Odd that someone obviously ignorant on a sujbect in some position of "authority" on Misplaced Pages would challenge an obviously widely held opinion/common knowledge, calling it NPOV, remove it TWICE -- and then tell the person writing from a knowledge base that they have to prove the obvious. But here ya go. Just a minute or two on the Internet yielded this:

"...West African languages often lack th sounds and final consonant clusters (e.g. past), and that replacing or simplifying these occurs both in US Ebonics and in West African English varieties spoken in Nigeria and Ghana. Moreover, they argue that the distinction made between completed actions ("He done walked") and habitual actions ("We be walkin") in the Ebonics tense-aspect system reflects their prevalence in West African language systems and that this applies to other aspects of Ebonics sentence structure."

"... similarities between Ebonics and Caribbean Creole English varieties, for instance, the fact that both frequently drop is and are , and that both permit dropping word initial d, b, and g in tense-aspect markers (Caribbean examples include habitual/progressive (d)a, past tense (b)en, and future (g)on). These traits suggest that some varieties of American Ebonics might have undergone the kinds of simplification and mixture associated with Creole formation in the Caribbean and elsewhere. They might also suggest that American Ebonics was shaped by the high proportions of Creole-speaking slaves that were imported from the Caribbean in the earliest settlement periods of the thirteen original colonies."

Here's just a partial bibliography of the many, many, MANY scholarly works on the subject. These specifically discuss (in the affirmative) the AFRICAN origins of AAVE:

http://members.tripod.com/ALWT/socio3.html.

Curious how folks will automatically agree that certain language characteristics of Americans who are the progeny of Eastern European Jews -- hooking g's, reversal of verb and subject sequence, questions asked in the form of statements but with an inquisitive inflection -- are Yiddish in origin. No one would question that the cadence and certain characteristics of Italian-Amercan speech are obviously from Italy/Italian -- and on an on. But when it comes to diasporic Africans, all of a sudden, our speech and language patterns are somehow created, out of whole cloth, in the New World. This is really galling. Not only does this NOT make any sense, it reminds me of the old lies and racist assumptions about blacks not having any culture before they came in contact with Europeans. How is it that virtually every OTHER ethnic group in America has speech and language patterns traceable to their homelands BUT black folks? White rejection of and contempt for AAVE is so tied up with white rejection of and contempt for black people that many of them are unable or unwilling to see the truth about either -- in defiance of all logic and proof to the contrary. Someone in the article wrote that slavemasters considered AAVE a mark of inferior intelligence -- like that's not STILL widely the case in this nation today? Such denial and intellectual dishonesty are enough to turn one's stomach. The passage related to African origins is reverted back to the original language. The validity of AAVE as a dialect with clearly West African origins had been established for DECADES -- long before the "Eubonics" debate which began in California became a political football and an opportunity for every reactionary, racist, neocon radio pundit and hack columnist to weigh in on the matter with their usual ill-informed, but highly opinionated, rhetoric to the contrary. deeceevoice 15:02, 7 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Look, I think you're being just a little inflammatory about this. There's no argument that there are African influences on AAVE. However, as you yourself say, there is substantial evidence of creolisation too, and creoles include simplification of phonology as well as grammar. In terms of grammar, Hawaiian Creole, Bislama and Tok Pisin all show the "be"-habitual you refer to,and this sort of construct is almost universal amongst creoles. Too, very few languages have the th sounds, and it wouldn't surprise me if they were dropped first. All we're saying is that some features of AAVE cannot be traced back to African roots, and some of those African roots are indirect, coming through the Caribbean creoles (which also owe a certain amount to the native languages of the region, which you haven't even mentioned yet). To take one of your examples, New York Italians have a distinct way of speaking that only has a small amount to do with direct Italian influence. And the interrogative inflection you refer to in New York Jewish speech is also not limited to that area; it happens a lot in Australia too. On your comments below this one, gesturing and relative distance between people during conversation are also typical of Hispanic and Italian communities - and in no way are they limited to just those three. I just think you're reading far too much into the comments of the others who have commented previously. Not every white person is a black-hating bigot. thefamouseccles 01:02, 4 Feb 2005 (UTC)

And here's one more link about the winner of the Before Columbus Foundation's 2000 American Book Award: http://www.edu-cyberpg.com/Linguistics/JohnBook.html#go deeceevoice 15:15, 7 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Further, beyond the spoken word, there are obvious ties between the "spoken soul" of diasporic Africans and Africans on the continent -- the way sisters suck their teeth when they're ticked off, "reading out loud," gesturing, the relative distance between people enaged in conversation -- that haven't BEGUN to be touched on in this conversation.deeceevoice 15:15, 7 Nov 2004 (UTC)

(See also my comment above). I have no intention of debating that there are African influences on AAVE. I only take issue with the assertion that the phonological characteristics of AAVE are African in origin. Nohat 00:58, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

I can't imagine you've done any serious reading on the subject to come to such a conclusion. And when it comes to professionals in the field who study linguistics, after almost 40 years of research on the subject, I'd say you're in the distinct minority. French, for instance, doesn't have a "th" sound, either. And, no, that does not mean all people who share that characteristic in their spoken language do so because of an association with France or French-speaking people. But when those same clusters of people -- from indigenous Africans to New World Africans -- from the same points of origin, with shared and distinct grammatical patterns and shared source words from the same ethnic groups and who also, (in the case of African Americans) by virtue of historical and social circumstances (slavery, segregation and separation), have maintained distinct cultural characteristics and affectations which are markedly distinct from the majority culture, there's pretty damned good evidence that the shared linguistic characteristics (grammar AND pronunciation) come from a common source. And that common source is WEST AFRICA. deeceevoice 07:59, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

I note with interest that you exclude the portion of the the source you cite that makes it quite plain that there is no agreement among linguists about the origins of AAVE. The quotation is from the Linguistic Society of America FAQ .

"Where did Ebonics come from?

"On this point, linguists are quite divided. Some emphasize its English origins, pointing to the fact that most of the vocabulary of Ebonics is from English and that much of its pronunciation (e.g. pronouncing final th as f) and grammar (e.g. double negatives, "I don't want none") could have come from the nonstandard dialects of English indentured servants and other workers with whom African slaves interacted.

"Others emphasize Ebonics' African origins, noting that West African languages often lack th sounds and final consonant clusters (e.g. past), and that replacing or simplifying these occurs both in US Ebonics and in West African English varieties spoken in Nigeria and Ghana. Moreover, they argue that the distinction made between completed actions ("He done walked") and habitual actions ("We be walkin") in the Ebonics tense-aspect system reflects their prevalence in West African language systems and that this applies to other aspects of Ebonics sentence structure."

Indeed the page goes out of its way to demonstrate that there are two competing theories. Why then do you insist on representing only one of the two theories here on Misplaced Pages? The whole point of NPOV is that where there is disagreement, we don't take a side, but we represent both sides of the issue and not make assertions.

You are correct in the assumtion that I haven't done extensive reading on the topic; however, I have done some reading on the topic, and not just in the "lay press": I have read scholarly articles that were directly about AAVE as well as articles that touched on it in some other linguistic context. I did, however, read enough to know that the topic is not an area of universal agreement or even widespread agreement, particularly with regards to theories about the origins of linguistics features of AAVE, as the quotation above from the Linguistic Society of America makes clear. Personally, I find the argument about most of the syntactic features having origin in West African languages to be convincing—they are unique enough to AAVE that one can convincingly (to me) make claims about the origins being rooted in the distinctive origins of the dialects' speakers, namely west Africans. However, based on my knowledge about how phonological change works, I find similar assertions about the phonology of AAVE to less persuasive. No one knows exactly why sound changes occur—they occur spontaneously and unpredictably. Sound changes occur in every dialect, and I don't see any reason to believe that the sound changes that occurred in AAVE are any different from the sound changes of any other dialect, particularly given the fact that the AAVE-distinct phonological changes aren't in any way unique to AAVE. Final cluster reduction occurs in many dialects of English. Why is it that final cluster reduction in AAVE is necessarily of African origin, when the cluster reduction in the other dialects occurred spontaneously? /θ/ and /ð/ have merged to /f/ and /v/ in Cockney English, not as a result of the influence of any particular language, but simply spontaneously. Why is it that the /ð/ > /d/ merger in AAVE is necessarily of African origin, when a similar change occurred spontaneously in a different dialect? What is the specific evidence that these changes occurred as a result of the African origins of AAVE and not spontaneously, as sound changes have occurred in every other dialect? The fact that completely convicing and satisfactory answers to these questions have not been presented is the crux of the dispute. Certainly AAVE arose under the conditions you describe, but I have yet to see evidence that there is some common set of phonological features of West African languages that clearly explain the phonology of AAVE in any convincing way.

But my personal take on the matter is mostly beside the point. The fact is that linguists do not agree upon the origins of AAVE and this fact should be represented in the article. We violate NPOV if we assert that all these features have African origins when in fact there are plenty of people with perfectly valid reasons to not believe that. That is why I changed the assertion to an assertion about a claim. That is the essence of NPOV. Nohat 09:40, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

My understanding of "NPOV" is "new point of view," meaning it is unique to the writer. The information I presented clearly is not some quirky, half-baked notion that I came up with and is most certainly not "new." But you are correct that there is debate on the pronuciational aspects of the origin of AAVE. I have reworded my earlier contribution to reflect the pronunciational commonalities between West African languages and AAVE and have stated nothing conclusory regarding pronunciational origins. For now, it is enough to reinstate the important info on the West African grammatical origins of AAVE. :-p deeceevoice 10:38, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

See Misplaced Pages:Neutral Point of View Nohat 17:48, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Thanks for the direction/clarification.deeceevoice 20:07, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

No problem at all. Welcome to Misplaced Pages! I hope we are in agreement now at least about the approach we should take. (Also I hope I have made it apparent that my edits were not motivated by racism.) :-) Nohat 21:07, 9 Nov 2004 (UTC)

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt on the racism crap and assume you're trying to be funny. deeceevoice 01:33, 10 Nov 2004 (UTC)

It seemed to me when you said "it reminds me of the old lies and racist assumptions about blacks not having any culture before they came in contact with Europeans" that you were obliquely accusing me of racism. What I meant by the comment above is that I hope that in my more elaborated explanation of the reasoning behind my edits that I made it clear the only motivation behind them was NPOV and my own understanding about linguistic processes, and not a desire to cast AAVE in a negative light. In fact, I think AAVE should be considered just as valid and esteemable a form of English as any other dialect, like Australian, or New England, or South African. My intent was not humor; it was merely an attempt to make a friendly conciliation. However, by your condescending and vaguely threatening tone I can only surmise you have already made your judgments. Nohat 05:32, 10 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Wrong again. If/when I think you're being racist, I'll let you know. And since when did "giving someone the benefit of the doubt" become a threat? Get a grip. Understand that your assumption that I (or any black person, for that matter) am so hypersensitive in matters of race that I am incapable of distinguishing what is and what is not racism is in itself an insult. Quite the contrary. If, in your opinion, you're not being racist, then fine an' dandy. There's no need to tell me when you stopped beating your wife. (Damn.) We're cool. deeceevoice 11:03, 10 Nov 2004 (UTC)

I feel like this conversation is essentially over--there are no more important issues at hand, but I wanted to point out that there is a big difference between "giving someone the benefit of the doubt" and "telling someone you're giving them the benefit of the doubt". Nohat 19:56, 11 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Oh. Like not being racist and actually saying you're not being racist? LOL *slappin' sides* :-D deeceevoice 00:41, 12 Nov 2004 (UTC)

A Section on Slang

Important, I think, because AAVE has contributed so many slang expressions to American English. Also, if one clicks the "slang" link on the AAVE page, one is directed to a "slang" page, but which has nothing terribly specific on African American slang -- just an "African American slang" link at the bottom of the page which -- guess what? -- directs one right back to AAVE. Slang expressions traceable to Africa: cool, hip, hep, hep cat, dig, etc. deeceevoice 22:39, 15 Nov 2004 (UTC)

A Section on Africanisms from AAVE in mainstream usage, a section on AAVE vocabulary

e.g.: banjo, tote, okra, goober, gumbo, hip/hep, dig, cat/hepcat, etc. e.g.: kicks, diss, kitchen, buckra, honky, axe, grip, roach-in-the-corner killers, etc. deeceevoice 14:52, 17 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Question about negation

Is it true that multiple negation (beyond simple double negation) can be (is often?) used for emphasis in AAVE? A la the stereotyped "Don't nobody know nuthin'"... Don't want to insert this into the article if it isn't true. pgdudda 01:29, 24 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Is this emphasis or just ordinary 'negation agreement'? --Marnen Laibow-Koser (talk) 20:12, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)

"I ain't got no money" is a case of simple double negation. "Ain't nobody leavin' this house 'til I say so!" is a case of double negation used for emphasis. In instances where the double negative is included in an emphatic sentence, the verb precedes the subject. So, to my way of thinking, the operational element of the sentence w/regard to emphasis is not the double negative (which is common, regardless of the tone of the sentence), but the repositioning of the subject and verb.deeceevoice 17:47, 4 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Re: "Grammatical features" and "inferiority"

"While it is true that AAVE eschews much of the inflectional morphology of SAE, that in and of itself is insufficient to demonstrate inferiority, as Modern English has a drastically simplified morphology compared with Old English."

"... insufficient to demonstrate inferiority to what?" SAE? "And by what/whose measure?" There's no context for this observation, so this statement of what evidence does not exist to indicate what AAVE is not sheds no real light on the subject. Negatives -- just confounding. Is this some outmoded, ethnocentric linguistic jargon? What? Explain -- or out it goes. deeceevoice 08:14, 27 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Apparently, the answer to the "use of mulitple negation for emphasis" question in the preceding section is "no". I must've been remembering an old textbook chapter incorrectly. *shrug*

I can't speak for the author of the quote above, but I'm going to guess that the author meant that "some speakers of SAE percieve AAVE to be an inferior language because of its grammatical differences". (I.e., some people take AAVE to be proof of its speakers' racial inferiority. Never mind that the differences are dialectal and as systematic as any language change.) It all comes back to the old assumption that "if they don't speak my language/dialect, they must be stupid". Dates back to before the Greeks, who coined the term "barbarian".

Certainly, upon re-reading, the quote is unclear as it stands, and either needs to be re-written or deleted. IMHO, anyway. pgdudda 19:57, 29 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Actually, since writing this I did some checking on the Internet for the use of "inferior(ity)" in connection with linguistics -- and it's the usual ethnocentric/racist bull that apparently long has been a part of linguistic studies. The person who wrote it did not preface the comment with any kind of explanatory text to make it useful, and I've already mentioned about race bias w/regard to AAVE earlier. I think I'm just going to go ahead and delete it. Looks like we're of one accord on this one, Pgd. deeceevoice 20:11, 29 Nov 2004 (UTC)

However, might it be beneficial to be really clear on the concept that AAVE is, from a pure linguistic point of view, just as valid a language/dialect as SAE? And somehow touch on the notion that the association of AAVE with racial inferiority is incorrect; it's like assuming that someone who speaks with a Spanish accent is an idiot just because English (meaning SAE here) isn't their first language... Or perhaps an entire section on the sociolinguistics of AAVE - as an in-group identifier (cultural membership), as an out-group excluder (not readily understood beyond a basic level by those outside the culture), and how it is perceived by various social groups/strata (rich vs. poor; SAE speakers; various ethnic groups)? Just spouting out ideas, since I'm hardly qualified to write any such section. (Besides, I don't want to get stomped on again by dcv. :P ) pgdudda 05:26, 30 Nov 2004 (UTC)

I've borrowed some of my verbiage on the history of AAVE from African American culture; changed the "History" subhead somewhat; and edited ( augmented and reordered) other information to make the points about the integrity of AAVE as a dialect (actually, much of the article as a whole, in its examination of the unique features of AAVE, does that) and about racist attitudes. I think that's sufficient. I took the reference to "controversy" out of the lead paragraph; because the strongest, clearest definition of something is achieved by stating positives (what something is, rather than what it isn't). The lead paragraph shouldn't be reactionary, but assertive. (Besides, the issue was addressed later, anyway). Besides, I'm really weary of the constant need to repeatedly state, "We are not ... (add any negative adjective that comes to mind!" when writing about such matters. Although rampant racism sort of necessitates such an approach, that such issues be addressed head on in some form or fashion, I refuse to dignify such bullshyt presumptions first thing.

Oh, and Pgd, keep in mind you didn't "stomped on" for honestly trying to address a subject. You were "stomped on" for a completely useless and extraneous rant about black youth, immigrants and education in an article on African Americans. Leave it be. deeceevoice 12:17, 30 Nov 2004 (UTC)

hehe -- yeah, but getting stomped is still getting stomped. Even if I deserved it.  :-) pgdudda 15:26, 30 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Moved, Pending Some Documentation

• Some of the distinctive modern aspects of AAVE didn't develop until later in the evolution of the pidgin, giving evidence to the contrary of their "African roots". For instance, the habitual be was not seen recorded until 1800. The precise meaning appears to have emerged at the same time as the grammatical construction; there is little evidence of the use of be in a non-habitual aspect.

The lack of any (white) record of the grammatical form does not mean it did not exist prior to 1800. Every appraisal I've read on the subject traces this characteristic to Africa, where it is in evidence still today in several languages. To my knowledge, a similar use of "be" to indicate some habitual or constant act or state appears in no other known U.S. dialect. deeceevoice 03:21, 11 Dec 2004 (UTC)

You are incorrect. Newfoundland English and Hawai'ian pidgin both exhibit habitual 'be.' Neither was influenced by West African languages. Please do not make broad linguistic claims until you have researched them. It detracts from your argument in unnecessary ways. Selective reading of linguistic papers on the matter does not service the debate--as noted above, it's been illustrated in a source you cited yourself that the issue is far from settled in the linguistics community, despite your repeated assertions that this is all obvious and a given. There is evidence for varying degrees of West African influence and I suspect that the grammatical feature is in fact more attributal to West African origins than to the influence of SAE English, but no firm statement on the matter can yet be made without further evidence.

Additionally, I deleted the garbage about the bullshyt theories based on physical differences and racism. I found it offensively worded and incalculably wearisome. IMO, it is completely unnecessary to refute every, single, idiotic, racist notion ever propounded about black folks -- in essence, having to state, "No. Black people are not inherently inferior; are not dirty, smelly, stupid or depraved." The facts about AAVE have been established by the article, and that is sufficient.

Also deleted a long, pretentiously dense section that essentially repeated a lot of what already had been noted. The problem is the contributor is using Misplaced Pages as a blank slate for a school project -- something for which it is not particularly well suited for. Misplaced Pages is meant to be accessible and informative -- not ponderous. deeceevoice 03:35, 11 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Indeed, my school project. Keep in mind that the agreement with my professor was to finish the Misplaced Pages articles, understanding that it is an encyclopedia. I'm not simply using it as a word processor for a traditional essay. I'm familiar with the values of Misplaced Pages and I respect them, and that includes my work on this page.

While I appreciate your liberal attitude toward refactoring and condensing articles, I'm not sure deleting an entire section, backed up by a well-researched essay by Rickford (1999), was warranted. The section was about diffusion of the dialect, and the various causes for differences between the language of whites and blacks in similar contexts. Your comments are correct about the first paragraph; that was meant to reduce the problem to more serious evidence, to put prejudice aside. Deleting that on the grounds that it is redundant is understandable. Regarding the rest, it's hard to communicate the breadth of this study without linking it to the specific case as Rickford did, but I'm pretty sure your "improvement" doesn't help communicate it.

I'm arguing that what I stated didn't "essentially repeat a lot of what already had been noted", and that it actually introduced a real issue. If you disagree, please back it up. A reminder: Misplaced Pages is not a paper encyclopedia. Luqui 03:59, 2004 Dec 11 (UTC)

Who speaks AAVE and who doesn't

Quill, an apology. I deleted your earlier wording about "tertiary" this and that, promising a relevant entry here -- and then didn't deliver. I see you restored it. I got sidetracked by other changes and didn't realize my oversight. Your wording bothered me because the article already stated that some AA's do and some don't speak AAVE. Your comment, which sought to refine that point, spoke specificially to a generational distinction w/regard to higher education. I felt it was too specific and, as a result, possibly misleading. I think my change/additional clarification is more accurate. Perhaps you'll find it satisfactory. deeceevoice 13:56, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Fair enough. I'm not convinced that the sentence that begins 'Most African Americans, regardless of....' is true, but I'll leave it at this. Quill 21:45, 13 Dec 2004 (UTC)

I wrote it that way, because even the most learned/highly educated, affluent of African Americans I've known, who grew up speaking only SAE (as I did) use AAVE outside the boardroom -- even if intragroup and solely for emphasis. To be AA and not use it at all, you'd have to really have a stick up your butt/be seriously up-tight. (Of course, my experience.) deeceevoice 21:30, 1 Jan 2005 (UTC)

I know one African American girl who grew up in a household where use of AAVE was forbidden, and as a result she was completely incompetent in its use. As a result, she feels very uncomfortable around other African Americans, who expect her to use AAVE, and because she can't, she goes out of her way to avoid their company. I don't know how common this situation is, but since you yourself are African American, it seems likely that your perception of the number of people who are in this situation may be skewed, of course, because they would be avoiding your company under the assumption that you would expect them to talk to you using AAVE. My data point is singular, so I don't think any general conclusions can be made from it, but I think my friend makes for an interesting case, no? Nohat 19:19, 10 Feb 2005 (UTC)

I had an African American friend in college who claimed exactly the same experience. She said her complete inability even to "code-switch" between SAE and AAVE marked her as "whitewashed" to some other African Americans, and this made her feel uncomfortable in their presence. Hence she just avoided their company. Babajobu 10:10, 11 Feb 2005 (UTC)

That's funny. That's sad. Poor dears -- seriously. I hope when they have kids, they take the opportunity to screw up their children the way their parents have traumatized them. :-p (If some parents put as much emphasis on self-knowledge as speaking SAE, then perhaps their children wouldn't be so insecure about who they are. The same folks probably still carry their watermelons home from the supermarket in brown paper bags -- or are so terrified of being caught with one, they never, ever eat them. Bananas, too. And they'd rather die than wear bright red. lol

I grew up speaking SAE, but my playmates through third grade did not, so I picked up certain elements of AAVE -- but still didn't speak it (as a matter of habit). It wasn't forbidden in my household (though my parents -- especially Mom -- probably would have had a fit had I done so.) But I wasn't razzed by my peers about speaking SAE. (But those were different times; it was back in the Dark Ages.) Spent the rest of my youth in the burbs, in a rather affluent, white school system. It wasn't until I went away to an HBCU that I really started using "Black English," and when I came home, my mother (a public school teacher/administrator) was mortified: "I didn't teach you to talk like that!" Yeah, that sort of thing is fairly common in a lot of black households where one or both parents have a college education.

But even so, I'll bet your friends speak AAVE in some form, even if it is extremely limited. Many people mistake current slang for AAVE, and kids are teased for not bein' hip enough. But every black person I know who comes to mind -- including college professors, high-powered attorneys, educators and CEO's -- everyone in a "down" moment will lapse into an AAVE form, in disgust, in jest, for emphasis, as a put-on -- you name it. (Yep, even my proper-talkin' Mom.) It may not be pervasive throughout their vocabulary; it may occcur only rarely -- but every black person I know code switches: a double negative here, an "ain't" there, a "d" used in place of "th" there (Joking: "Now, you know you ain't right!" or, "That's a ba-aad jacket!" or, "I'mma te-ell!") Sometimes it's simply more about mannerisms and gestures, inflection and cadence (things not really examined in the article and difficult, at least for me, to write about) than specific syntax; maybe a black vocabulary word here or there. But the vast majority of black folks do AAVE sometime. And that's all the text says. deeceevoice 20:15, 11 Feb 2005 (UTC)

That's probably true. "Pure" AAVE (with all the grammatical features), from my observation, is mostly only used in lower-class black areas. Elsewhere, it's more of a mix of SAE and AAVE. This stuff must give linguistic folks headaches.

Can't agree. That is not all the text says, and even if it were, I'm still not convinced it's corect. Regardless of their colour, people who use the occasional 'ain't' or say that something is 'baaad' or that they're 'down' with something aren't necessarily speaking AAVE--or, they're speaking AAVE in the same way that the majority culture does--a few words or expressions, sometimes. But that's because that is in the nature of English, particularly American English. If an educated Jew who speaks standard English says 'So, how's by you?' for effect, does that mean they speak Yiddish English? What if an AA New Yorker says the same thing, for the same reason? Does s/he suddenly speak Yiddish English as well? Quill 23:36, 15 Mar 2005 (UTC)

It's not only a matter of degree here, but whether such things are contrivances/affectations or a natural part of one's culture. AAVE is an enduring part of the culture that, having survived for centuries, survives still as an intrinsic part of African-American cultural expression. The majority of African-Americans currently living outside the Deep South are likely only two generations removed from that place. "Cut eye, suck teeth," "reading people out loud," that neck action (:-p), cadence, inflection, gesticulation, that booming aspiration; and then beyond speech, cornrows, polyrhythmic expression, religious expression (including shouts, call and response, full-immersion baptism and river imagery, spiritualism/metaphysics), "anarchy"/familiarity in formal interpersonal contexts, extended families, communalism, blue notes, the cool aesthetic in art and dress and music and dance and on and on and on -- all those things survive from our African past. A few scant generations of higher education and going to school with white folks hasn't stripped us of AAVE. And to the unnamed contributor, I don't know anyone whose speech incorporates all the elements of AAVE mentioned in the article. It's summa this, summa that. deeceevoice 00:01, 16 Mar 2005 (UTC)

That's a completely different set of arguments. This article is about a dialect. I still maintain that a word or an expression here and there does not mean that people can speak a language. Quill 21:34, 17 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Well, that's where you and I differ. I see the cultural affectations of black folks as part of a whole. And as I said before, for me it's not a matter of how much people speak it, but whether they do or not as an integral part of their culture. It is not the same as me or a white Christian using the word "kvetch" or "yenta" from time to time in speech. It's all about whether words, expressions, gestures, cadence, etc., are something intrinsic to their cultural heritage and things that are part of the way they express themselves effortlessly, almost instinctually. And in that sense, yes, in my experience most African-Americans by far, regardless of their socioeconomic status, speak AAVE. deeceevoice 01:40, 18 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Let's assume, for the sake of argument, that AAVE is as tied to African-American (hereafter AA) culture as you say it is. If that's the case, is it even possible (by your definition) for someone who isn't AA to speak AAVE, assuming they wanted to? Your argument seems to say that if I (who am not AA) chose to speak in AAVE constructions, no matter how perfectly I used them, I wouldn't be speaking AAVE because it isn't an "integral part" of my culture, whatever that means -- I'd just be on the "kvetch-yenta" level of usage. Is that an accurate summary of your viewpoint? If not, then please disregard the next paragraph and tell me where I went wrong.

If that summary is accurate, however, I find this view ridiculous and offensive. If AAVE is a well-formed, consistent language on a par with French or Japanese -- which I think you and I both believe it is -- then why should anyone need to belong to a particular culture to speak it? If I wish to learn Japanese, I don't need to become culturally Japanese to do it, and once I achieve a certain level of proficiency, no reasonable person would deny that I'm speaking Japanese and that my cultural baggage is irrelevant. (Yes, Japanese, like AAVE and most other languages, embeds a certain amount of cultural assumption in the language, but I don't have to become part of the culture to know how to deal with that).

So why isn't the same thing true of AAVE? Certainly use of AAVE is part of AA culture, but that's not the same thing as saying that the presence of AA culture is necessary for the "real" presence of AAVE. In fact, I would argue that the presence or absence of an AA cultural context is completely irrelevant in determining who speaks AAVE. Just like French or Japanese: if I understand the rules of the language and can use them to generate and interpret correct constructions, I speak and understand the language. If not, I don't. End of story. --Marnen Laibow-Koser (talk) 16:11, 18 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Day-um. That's not what I said at all. I simply said that the vast majority of African-Americans speak AAVE, and they do so because it is an integral part of their culture. It's not like me borrowing a word here and there from Yiddish and inserting it into my speech. Further, again, AAVE is more than following a set of grammatical rules; it is also oftnetimes a different vocabulary -- one most folks outside the culture would not understand without explanation -- and all the other elements that go along with speech: aspiration and resonance -- particularly noticeable if you're a male -- inflection, cadance, gesticulation and other nonverbal communication, the distance one stands from another while speaking, etc. Jamie Kennedy made an admirable effort in "Malibu's Most Wanted," which is what made the film so hilarious. But if I turned my back to the screen, there still would have been no question that he was a white man trying to sound like a black one. It was still about AAVE as a second language. Such is most certainly not the case with most African Americans -- and with none with whom I am personally acquainted. So, "Don't be hatin'!" :-p deeceevoice 18:01, 18 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I'm an American Jew. Like most American Jews, I insert occasional Yiddish words into my speech, and I can often tell the difference when non-Jews try to do the same. But that doesn't mean that non-Jews can't speak more or less perfect "JAVE", if there is such a thing; in fact, I know a few who do. Similarly, I'm sure that not all non-AA speakers of AAVE would come across as non-AA if you couldn't see the color of their skin. What I'm getting at is that just as it is possible (difficult, but possible) for a non-Frenchman to learn to speak French like a native, the same must certainly be true for AAVE.

I also take some issue with this statement:

Further, again, AAVE is more than following a set of grammatical rules; it is also oftnetimes a different vocabulary -- one most folks outside the culture would not understand without explanation -- and all the other elements that go along with speech: aspiration and resonance -- particularly noticeable if you're a male -- inflection, cadance, gesticulation and other nonverbal communication, the distance one stands from another while speaking, etc.

Let's take these assertions in turn.

• Further, again, AAVE is more than following a set of grammatical rules; it is also oftnetimes a different vocabulary -- one most folks outside the culture would not understand without explanation ---- Certainly. Any language contains unique grammatical and lexical elements. The process of language learning should cover both of these, and that's just as true for an English speaker learning a different dialect of English as it is for (say) a Chinese speaker learning Russian. Nothing unusual here.
• all the other elements that go along with speech: aspiration and resonance -- particularly noticeable if you're a male -- inflection, cadance, ---- Intonation patterns are likewise part of language and should be taught along with grammar and vocabulary if they are semantically significant. Again, true for both the SAE→AAVE and Chinese→Russian cases. Nothing unusual here either.
• gesticulation and other nonverbal communication, the distance one stands from another while speaking, etc. ---- Here we begin to leave the realm of language and enter the realm of cultural knowledge. Although it would be useful for a visitor to Russia to know about Russian customs, those customs are not part of the Russian language and properly belong to a different study. Likewise for a visitor to an AA community -- although it's important to learn the customs, properly speaking these are not part of AAVE at all; rather, they are part of AA culture, which is a different thing. Language and culture are certainly interdependent to a point, but that doesn't mean that they're the same thing.

Finally, I don't hate you or AAVE. I don't know if "Don't be hatin'" has a different meaning than what would be apparent to SAE speakers (because I don't speak AAVE!); if it does, please translate. This is not a personal attack; I'm just trying to explain why I think AAVE is no more or less culturally unique than any other language, and why extralinguistic aspects don't really belong in a linguistic discussion. --Marnen Laibow-Koser (talk) 18:34, 18 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Forgive me, but you've got me crackin' up here in DeeCee! :-D "Don't be hatin'" is an expression -- one used a lot by the white actor in the movie "Malibu's Most Wanted." (You had to be there, I guess....) Anyway, people generally don't "teach" AAVE. And white folks generally (because of certain physical limitations) don't have the equipment to sound like black folks when they speak -- especially men. (It's a function of resonance.) But all this is getting into stuff that really is an aside. My central point was that most black folks speak AAVE as an integral part of our culture, which is what I wanted to make clear to Quill. Under discussion was whether or not it could correctly be said that most African-Americans speak AAVE. And my point is that it most definitely could be. And the only nonblacks I've ever heard to speak AAVE and actually sound authentic (even if not necessarily "black," ethnically) were those who grew up around black folks; they grew up speaking AAVE. Cadence and inflection seem difficult for others to mimic -- though, as I said, Jamie Kennedy did a passable job -- passable enough to be funny as hell. Comedian Robin Williams, on the other hand, does a truly miserable job. Every time he tries to mimic a black person, I wanna just haul off and slap 'im. It's the worst. deeceevoice 19:13, 18 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Excuse me, but you've got to direct me to some legitimate sources here. A lot of them. Deecee, if anyone had the temerity, stupidity-- what can I say--the unmitigated gall to state in my presence that an African-American could not, e.g. recite Shakespeare, dance ballet, sing opera, comprehend higher mathematics or speak ancient Greek because black "folks generally (because of certain physical limitations) don't have the equipment to ... like folks when they ... -- especially men. (It's a function of ....)" my ire would know no bounds. Unless you've got some serious scientific backup, please do not make such statements--at all--ever. We've got enough racists ready to pounce without giving them such obvious openings.

In my opinion Marnen Laibow-Koser is quite right on all counts.

Quill 22:14, 18 Mar 2005 (UTC)

You completely misconstrue (twist?) my comments. What I said was that white people generally cannot/do not sound like black folks when they speak because they have certain physical limitations. This is not related to the grammar and syntax of AAVE -- nor is it related to the other, more subtle aspects of AAVE that are cultural in nature. I simply happened to mention that most black folks can quite accurately discern who is and who is not black by hearing them speak or sing -- affectations of speech aside, vocal techniques/song stylings aside -- which can be misleading. I certainly can, and the same is true of my black friends, particularly when the speaker is male. Ask any of your black friends if they can, and they'll tell you, yes, in most cases they certainly can. It's simply a matter of resonance. Ask anyone who teaches voice, anyone who knows about what makes violins sound different. What gives a violin resonance? Its structure -- the sound board and the aperture. Same thing with the human voice: the nasal cavity and sinuses. In blacks, generally, the structures are different; they are broader and wider. The result is what music coaches call "head-voice resonance." And, yes, as I've already stated by using qualifications such as "generally," there are exceptions in sound quality. Michael McDonald does a far better job mimicking black vocal styles than, say, Michael Bolton or Janice Joplin (whose voice I despise; she croaks and screams like a cat with its tail caught in a door). No one white I've ever heard has had a voice with the particular combination or quality of resonance and power of, say, Gladys Knight, or Etta James, or Big Maybelle, or Bobby Bland, or Howlin' Wolf, or -- you name 'em. And with all the singers out here mimicking/adapting/adopting black vocal stylings, from Mick Jagger to Joe Cocker to Celine Dione to Christina Aguilera (who has an impressive set of pipes and does a more than decent job with what she's got -- and, no, I'm not a fan), did you ever ask yourself why? The simple answer is head-voice resonance. Now, I hesitated when I used the word "limitations," because it is in some way value-laden and I knew could be construed to mean "less than" or "inferior to," when such is not the case -- unless one applies a subjective standard of particular personal taste. (White folks get extremely touchy when it comes to stuff like this!) But the word simply fits in this context.

But all this has gotten too far off the point. I've said what I had to say about AAVE and culture. Yes, most African-Americans can rightly be said to speak AAVE in some form. deeceevoice 06:50, 19 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Sorry, but the idea that blacks and whites have substantially different vocal apparatus was debunked years ago, AFAIK. I don't deny that black and white speakers, at least in America, tend to sound different. But this is not a matter of vocal apparatus. Rather, it's a question of accent -- they have simply learned to use their voices differently thanks to growing up in different subcultures, just as a white New Yorker learns to use his voice differently than a white Georgian does. No physical explanation is necessary (or possible, I think). --Marnen Laibow-Koser (talk) 07:27, 19 Mar 2005 (UTC) -- P.S. Quill, I'm glad to know we agree. I thought we were more or less on the same side of this issue, but I wasn't certain.

No, I don't need to 'ask my black friends' about this, Deecee, because with only one exception each of them has at some point related a story about having been mistaken for a caucasian by an AA who only heard them speak.

I'm not misconstruing your words--certainly not intentionally twisting them--I just don't agree with them. An AA who has never learned AAVE doesn't speak it, simple.

Marnen--I don't know if there's such a thing as 'JAVE', either ;) but if there is, my mother, who isn't Jewish, speaks it very well. She grew up in NY with all Jewish teachers and many Jewish schoolmates and friends. Quill 09:05, 19 Mar 2005 (UTC)

You really should ask your black friends; they will surprise you. That phenomenon you're speaking of is all about some black folks making assumptions based on the speaking of SAE -- what some (ignorant) folks call "sounding white." People often assume I'm white, too, when I speak SAE. Just as some people might assume, based on musical style, that Aguilera was black. Assumptions color perceptions. All the time.

A simple example of what I'm talking about regarding head-voice resonance: I'm in a back room, and the TV is on in another. I hear a voice speaking SAE (he's got the inflection and everything down), and it sounds like a black man, so I'm drawn to the television. Yep. It's a brother. Happens all the time. Another: The TV is on, and there's this commercial for some car. The music is "Key Largo." I'm listenin', diggin' the music, but I don't recognize the voice or the song. I'm thinking it's a sister, but then I'd probably know who it is; it's too good. Is she or isn't she? Maybe a new singer? I listen carefully. There's that resonance, that depth of tone. It's gotta be a sister, I conclude. So, I start thinkin'. Only then do I come to the conclusion it's the voice of Carmen McRae. Of course, in retrospect, that music is classic Carmen -- I just didn't think/realize it at the time. Another example: I live a few floors above the street, but sound bounces off the apartment buildings on the block and deflect it upward -- the canyon effect. I hear voices below all the time. I can always tell if it's a black man or a white man, based simply on the quality of the tone. If you've heard Nigerians speak, there is a free, audible aspiration with vowel sounds that clears the throat and the nostrils, that is actually forceful, almost explosive. That is the quality I hear in the African-American voice, particularly in males, during spirited conversational exchanges. It's that same head-voice resonance again. Virtually every African-American knows precisely what I'm talking about. (The more I engage in exchanges with white folks on Misplaced Pages, the more I am reminded of why so many black people just don't bother. Everything is an effort, everything requires some explanation.) And that's not meant to be a complaint or a putdown. No wonder American society is so polarized; the gap of understanding (and misunderstanding) is so wide, communication about even simple things comes on like work. deeceevoice 10:55, 19 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Please don't think that us whitefolx don't know what you're talking about on the vocal quality issue -- I know exactly what you're talking about. Heard it myself many a time. I just don't agree with your explanation of the cause. There's no "gap of understanding" here, unless it be that you're apparently trying to convince yourself that others' disagreement with you is racially flavored. I can't speak for Quill or anyone else, but at least in my own case, race plays no part in what I'm writing; I'm just trying for accuracy. So stop with the "racial gulf" thing already; it really doesn't help us get any closer to the accuracy we all want. Or should I just say "don't be hatin'"? :) --Marnen Laibow-Koser (talk) 16:08, 19 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Disagree if you want, but what I've stated is simple fact -- about head-voice resonance and the gap. deeceevoice 18:42, 19 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Repeating your assertions doesn't make them any more or less true. Obviously what you've stated is not "simple fact", or no one would have questioned it in the first place. You've got a lot of interesting stuff to say, but I wish you'd back it up -- most people here will take you more seriously if you do. --Marnen Laibow-Koser (talk) 06:20, 20 Mar 2005 (UTC)

I'm not going to spend my time searching the Internet for sources -- particularly for stuff that isn't germane to the article in question and that is perfectly obvious to just about every black person on the street. I have neither the time nor the patience. But that's just me. After a while, this kind of stuff gets really old really fast; it's just wearisome. I've already spent too much time discussing this. What some white folks stubbornly want to believe is what they want to believe -- that they can sound just like Otis, or Aretha, or Bobby Bland, or Etta James, or Mavis Staples if they just learn the words and how to bend the notes. Yeah, right. I don't know if it's that seemingly omnipresent sense of white entitlement, or some misplaced sense of egalitarianism or what, but I'm certainly not gonna waste any more time trying to tell them otherwise. If what I have to say is so "interesting," then they'll use their search engines, ask their "black friends," speak to a voice coach -- whatever. Fine 'n' dandy. I'm done. So, returning back to the subject at hand, yes, most African-Americans speak AAVE. deeceevoice 10:20, 20 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Deeceevoice, I'm disappointed in you. I think a lot of what you have to say is extremely valuable, but this refusal to back up what you claim is really shooting yourself in the foot. Your assertions may be "perfectly obvious to just about every black person on the street", but they're not obvious to me (or Quill, or probably a lot of other nonblack Wikipedians). It appears that you complain about not being understood by nonblacks, but then you refuse to explain yourself when asked by people who genuinely want to understand what you're saying. That's not fair, either to yourself or to anyone else.

If what I have to say is so "interesting," then they'll use their search engines, ask their "black friends," speak to a voice coach -- whatever.

Sorry, but it doesn't quite work that way. You made the claim; it's your responsibility to back it up. Right now, it looks as if you can't be bothered to take responsibility for what you've said (I hope that's not so, but that's certainly how it comes across).

I'm spending more time responding to this than I normally would because I believe that you have a lot to contribute to the Misplaced Pages community, and I'd like to see you presenting your contributions in the best light possible. If the "gap of understanding" that you talk about truly exists, you have here a perfect chance to bridge it with additional information; I think most folks here would meet you halfway, but you've gotta build your half of the bridge. Please don't squander this opportunity. --Marnen Laibow-Koser (talk) 16:03, 20 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Deleted (tentatively) reference to Saramaccan and added a sentence about a AAVE separate vocabulary to "Lexicon"

• " African-American creoles that have undergone the least interference over the last few centuries (e.g., Saramaccan) show evidence of Portuguese features and vocabulary."

I'm certainly no authority on this, but it was always my understanding that Saramaccan was spoken in the Caribbean and South America (which is why I added "portions of the New World"). If my understanding is correct (and it very well may not be), then I think it's misleading to characterize it as an "African-American creole." deeceevoice 21:30, 1 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Also, there is a very specific vocabulary to AAVE. We do not just stick to the SAE lexicon, with a smattering of words with African origins. No time now, but will add specific examples -- if people think it's necessary. deeceevoice 21:35, 1 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Later returned and removed precursor sentences to mention of Saramaccan (for same reason as above):

• "As the African pidgin that would become AAVE was beginning to spread, two more dialects were developing and diffusing: Pidgin Portuguese and Pidgin French. The Portuguese variety in particular was becoming very popular in Europe and portions of the New World."

Now that I think about it, though, the reference to pidgin French likely has relevance w/regard to Louisiana (New Orleans, in particular). Comments?deeceevoice 08:14, 3 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Question about phonology

The current phonology section says:

• AAVE is non-rhotic, so the alveolar approximant is usually dropped if not followed by a vowel. However, the may also be dropped in other cases, e.g. "story" realized as "sto'y". This is perhaps due to the use of 'y' as a semi-vowel.

This description seems to be lacking something in the description of cases where intervocalic R is dropped. Just how is story pronounced without an R? What forms the hiatus between the and the ? In SAE, it's pronounced . If the is deleted, you have a strange monosyllabic word with a diphthong. Is the word pronounced (as though it were written "stoy"), or is some other hiatus inserted, like , , or glottal stop? The spelling "sto'y" doesn't really make this clear. Nohat 19:24, 10 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Never thought about this one. But upon reflection, I'd say it was more of a diphthong -- and not a stop. One question: has anyone come up with an explanation of the use of "scree" for "street"? I understand the unpronounced "t" -- but the substitution of "scr" for "str"? Never got that one. deeceevoice 20:18, 11 Feb 2005 (UTC)

The link I added yesterday has a very long laundry list of phonological characteristics of AAVE, some of which are probably restricted by locale, social group, or age group. This one is listed as "Backing in /str/ Clusters (BK-str)" but it doesn't provide any other information other than identifying it. No theory about origin or distribution. It references "Bailey & Thomas, 1998; Rickford, 1999".

On the matter of all the features in that document, I think we should consider making a similar page here. We should just keep the major features (like non-rhotacism, cluster reduction, etc.) on this page, but then link to a much longer page of changes. Comments? Nohat 22:11, 11 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Emphasized perfective

The "Standard English" gloss given for "he done did it" is "he already did it". If I understand perfective correctly, would "he's already done it" be a less American phrasing? cf American_and_British_English_differences#Grammar Joestynes 09:37, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC)