The Linguistics of AAVE

46 thoughts on “The Linguistics of AAVE”

1. “Speak aave”

2. I'm Mexican and I learned English in american public schools. In class I was taught professional English but in social interactions I learned more AAVE. It confused me for a long time not knowing how to reconcile the 2 opposing styles. Until i found myself saying things in AAVE simply because there was no way of saying them in professional English. My favorite aspect is that "he be working" example. I love using that part of AAVE to express consistency.

3. Oonga boonga

4. No, it's still wrong. Well wrong like this. In the US we have a much more popular dialect with rules and people who break those rules would be considered wrong to the other dialect. Just because they have their own dialect doesn't make it wrong to the vast majority of people. Don't butcher my language

5. Black-people-speak is more than a "language", it's a reflection of a culture of Barbarianism. you are really overanalyzing things with this video. developing a language is not rocket science, cave men were literally doing it.

6. I knew a girl who'd say. "We gone catch a case". She would sound so idiotic and annoying. I understood she meant we are going to have a problem. She just sounded so fuckin dumb.

7. Lets not put lipstick on a pig here ok? This isn't some culturally enriched ancient African American language. . . .this isn't a combination of Peruvian meets French meets English meets Africa meets native american etc. . .nonsense. AAVE is incoherent broken English perpetrated by "Ignant ass" "Po-Ass Nig@as" who inspire other ignant ass po-ass nig@as to be even mo po ass ignant nig@as. The only culture AAVE has been enriched by is from rap music and hood rats who pride themselves in seeing JUST how much MORE broken and ignorant they can be. This shit is basically a limited vocabulary using 2nd grade grammar mixed with a speech impediment caused by too much Schlitz malt "licker", metal teeth you got on discount from the corner store, and a grandmother that makes up new words every 5 min because she cant remember how to speak.

8. This was because the Africans who were brought over were forced not to speak their language they end up not teaching their children their native language but learned English from overhearing white people speak English. They weren't allowed to be "Taught " how to read or write English so AAVE has been passed down from generations this is why some parts of AAVE has cut or shortend words

9. "You you?" has 100 different meanings Yall.

10. Selling Wolf Tickets = Picking fights

11. O in place of R

12. AAVE isn’t exactly wrong but it certainly isn’t proper, professional, or formal and if someone spoke with me in AAVE I’m going to think they’re ignorant or impertinent as the dialect was formed from the lack of education as to the grammar and syntax all forms of modern English have, and unfortunately I’ve had too many unpleasant experiences with ignorant people who use AAVE and as a result I associate it with them

13. i dont believe aave is a real dialect, i believe its just poor education in the early childhood of the speaker and it gets compounded as they age. this isnt the fault of the speaker or teacher, but of the system that runs their lives. systematic oppression including educational segregation is at the root of the problem these days while in the past the whites thought that keeping education from blacks would prove them (the whites) superior and let them keep control. once large populations of African-Americans gain the means to educate their kids, and they will in turn educate their own, AAVE will diminish until its relegated to a museum like latin, sumarian or other dead languages. or survive through heritage efforts to conserve cultural history.

14. I've always been curious as to why there is this "divide" in American English. I am Brazilian and here in my country we have a similar history with slavery but our Portuguese doesn't really vary between ethnicities. It varies a lot geographically (more than English does in North America), but the white, mixed, black and indigenous people all speak the same within each region.

15. I primarily speak general american english, but I often adjust my dialect to accommodate the way others speak. Despite this, I have never thought about the complexities of aave. Thanks for teaching me a bit about this, it has whet my appetite.

16. Yaruba. That’s so wrong and I know you don’t know how to say it but like I’m annoyed. It’s not that hard. Yoruba. There. Now say it with me. Yoruba.

17. i also slur my words when im off the henny

18. Barbaros
    Milk drinker?

19. Language is a mechanism for conveying ideas. If you can understand the meaning, most words and manners of speech should be acceptable.

20. As Terry Davis would say, "this is very nigalicious"

21. Nowadays white people (especially the younger generations) keep stealing words from AAVE. It makes me cringe, I wish we'd quit.

22. Hilary Clinton does an amazing job of being bi-dialectical.

23. Stop trying to justify poor english.
    STOP BEING AN ANTI-WHITE
    RACIST !

24. General
    American
    English

    GAE

25. AAVE is just a fancy term for Pidgin

26. 5:56 His Chinese language example is incorrect. I'm hungry is usually said with 了 in the end to indicate it's already happened(past tense). Therefore, it should be 我餓了( I became hungry. ) instead of 我餓( I hungry ) which is incorrect. People don't speak that way(I hungry, or, 我餓).

27. That’s clutch

28. yo yall niggas shall speak old english

29. Hi, liked the video, quick quesiton though. Why wouldn't the contraction of "she is" into "she's" work in general american english? Thanks!

30. Iti s called code switching, a technique done among African Americans since slavery! Boom!

31. I think that not just black people speak aave every person that's not white does and also some white peopl

32. I agree on the AAVE comments, but IMHO 90% of times when people make mistakes in any language, its rather a mistake than a sophisticated expression.

33. So *G*eneral *A*merican *E*nglish shortened is
    GAE

    HAH GAE

34. Not all black Americans speak like that. And in New York they really don't have the Southern dialect like other people in the north

35. Several People are typing

36. oio degenerate wank stain ya bloody it is ya

37. I find it interesting that when people talk about AAVE, nobody talks about white southerners who always speak it, at least halfway. As a white southerner, my relaxed and casual accent contains many of these structures mentioned in this video, and I often can code switch, as you see here. But at the same time; I used to work in a setting in which I spoke with a lot of black people, often from black communities, whose AAVE was thick and they were sometimes unable to code switch. There would be a lot of instances where I would have to think very hard to understand them, or sometimes didn't at all. And sometimes it took a long time for them to understand me as well. While at this job I learned a lot of aspects of AAVE that I had never been exposed to. There seems to be different levels as well. I had many black coworkers who, when I was able to observe, talked fluently with these black clients, their own dialect thickening in response. And as soon as they switched to talking to me, while the AAVE did not entirely leave their speech, it wasn't as thick. So while my speech does contain some elements of AAVE, it's not complete, it more similar to how my black co-workers would speak AAVE when comfortable, but still in a professional setting, or speaking with white people. I wonder what this might be called, or if it can be considered a different dialect entirely?

38. This is why I love being from the south: easy to understand a lot more dialects and s u c h.

39. I'm gonna say the N word

40. Good video and great detail on this subject. Growing up around white people at schools and events as a kid I would always get made fun of how my family speaks and how I would in extension speak like them. I learned to “Code Switch” (the ability to sound more “White American”) in order to fit in in some events. I use code switching at work since I’m commissioned based and no one is going to buy from someone that they think sounds “uneducated” no matter how smart you really are it really is skin deep with eyes and your voice that gives you success over the phone. It sucks but it’s the way of life. I code switch pretty much daily and it’s actually kind of funny doing it to friends of any background they swear you can be an actor (helps that I have a radio voice lol)

41. This is a language?

42. What is the difference between He be working and He works?

43. 6:06 I know you wrote at the bottom right corner you’re pronouncing it wrong but I still chuckled ?. Well done for trying though!

44. There is only one right language.

45. Already mane dis dude on it

46. Language needs to be scientifically efficiensize, to make it incredibly fast to communicate while able to expresses deeper thoughts at the same time, and make it easier to be written or printed.

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