Black English / African American English (AAE)
These terms are broader than AAVE. Usually when you talk about AAVE you're talking about a dialect defined by words, pronunciation, and grammar. "Black English" or "AAE," on the other hand, might be used to refer even to Standard English being spoken with an AAVE-influenced accent.
↳ These terms are becoming more common, as they're less technical, and their exact meanings are still developing, so don't be surprised if you see someone use one of these a little differently!Ebonics
Ebonics is an older term for AAVE. This term was once very common, but because of various political controversies (learn more here!) it is rarely used today.
Articles
African American Vernacular English: What is it, where does it come from, and why is it important?
By: Isabel McKay Fri Aug 30 2024
African American Vernacular English, or AAVE for short, is a dialectNo definition set for dialectLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. of English that is spoken natively by many Black Americans. You'll find AAVE used not only in everyday speech, but in some of the most famous American music, poetry, and novels.
AAVE is just as legitimate as any other dialect of English. Like all dialects, it follows rules and has its own grammar and pronunciation rules. However, AAVE has a complicated status within the United States. While in some situations it's held up as "cool," "urban," or "creative," in other situations it's unfairly stereotyped as "lazy" or "uneducated." This mixed perception of AAVE has made it the focus of many political and social controversies over the years.
In this post, we'll take you through everything you need to know about African American Vernacular English: what it is, where it comes from, how to speak it, and its cultural significance in the United States.
Table of Contents
What is AAVE?
AAVE (African American Vernacular English) is a dialect of English that is spoken natively by primarily lower- and middle-class Black Americans. Like other dialects of English, AAVE is a way of speaking that has its own words, grammar rules, and characteristic sound.
There are several differences between AAVE and Standard American English, its sound, vocabulary, and grammar rules. For example, while "double negatives" are not generally used in Standard American English (SAE), they're common and accepted in AAVE:
SAE: ✅ I don't want any ketchup.
AAVE: ✅ I don't want no ketchup
AAVE has often been wrongly characterized as "lazy," "uneducated," or "defective" English, largely due to a lack of understanding and to racist or classist beliefs about its speakers. But the differences between Standard English and AAVE are just differences, like you might find between any two languages or any two dialects. Just because a AAVE doesn't follow the same rules, does not make it less logical, rule-based, or legitimate than any other form of English.
However, negative perspectives about AAVE have often meant that its use is discouraged in formal settings, like in school or at work, so most people who grow up speaking AAVE will also learn to speak Standard English. They'll use AAVE at home and the other in more formal settings (work, school, etc.).
Because so many AAVE speakers are "multi-dialectal" (able to speak more than one dialect), AAVE exists a bit on a spectrum. AAVE speakers are able to slip into deeper or lighter versions of the dialect. This fact makes it difficult to measure exactly how many people are actually native speakers of AAVE or use it on a daily basis, though most estimates fall somewhere in the realm of 30 million.
A few related terms...
Is AAVE a language?
AAVE is not generally considered to be an independent language, but is rather defined as a dialect of English.
Sometimes, however, you will hear people talk about AAVE as "a language" in order to emphasize that it follows its own grammar and pronunciation rules, rather than being a defective form of Standard English.
You may also hear people refer to AAVE as "a different language" in educational contexts, as a way to emphasize that students who grow up speaking AAVE at home may face a language barrier in the classroom, where Standard English is the norm. You can read more about AAVE in schools below!
What's the difference between AAVE and slang?
Here is the basic difference between AAVE and slang:
Slang is a term that is used for words and phrases that are considered very informal and sometimes even rude.
AAVE refers not only to words, but also to grammar and pronunciation rules that define a certain way of speaking English.
The confusion comes from the fact that, in Standard English, many words and phrases that are considered "slang" originally come from AAVE. For example: woke, (this) slaps, bae, sus, shook, pressed, and more.
But just like using the words that come from French, like "foyer," "croissant" or "petite," doesn't mean you're speaking French, using words from AAVE doesn't mean that you are speaking AAVE. AAVE is a dialect, not a word list!
Who can speak AAVE?
AAVE is a little different from other dialects of English because it is defined by the race and ethnicity of its speakers. By definition AAVE is the vernacular English that is spoken by Black Americans, so if you aren't a Black American you technically are not speaking AAVE.
However, if we're being less technical, children of any background might grow up speaking AAVE, as long as their native way of speaking is indistinguishable from the way their Black friends and neighbors speak. In America, this is quite common in areas with large Black populations, especially in urban areas. And just like any dialect of English, it is technically possible to learn AAVE as a non-native speaker as well.
That being said, usually when people ask the question "Who can speak AAVE?" they are really asking the question "Who should speak AAVE?" And the answer to that is a bit more complicated.
In the United States it is often considered offensive when someone who is not Black tries to speak AAVE. Why?
Why is it considered offensive when non-Black people use AAVE?
Some Black Americans will find it offensive when non-Black people use AAVE. The reasons for this are complex and tangled up in the history of race relations in the United States. But here is a quick explanation:
We mentioned above that AAVE has a dual perception in broader American culture. On the one hand, it's considered "cool," and "urban," but on the other hand, it's considered "bad" or "lazy" English.
People who grow up speaking AAVE as their native dialect must confront and survive those negative stereotypes, from the time they're young children. From the educational system to the workplace, they'll be told that they don't speak "real English" and that need to completely change the way they speak in order to land a good job and be successful.
For native speakers of AAVE, using this dialect is a mark of a shared cultural identity, survival, and even rebellion, and the right to use it can feel hard-won.
When non-Black people, particularly white people, choose to speak AAVE as adults, they usually haven't gone through these same life experiences. They're most likely to imitate this dialect because of the positive stereotypes about Black English; they want to sound cool or up-to-date. This can make Black Americans feel like they are reaping rewards without having earned them.
But sometimes it's worse. Non-Black performers and comedians have been known to use AAVE as a way to mock or impersonate people who are Black or lower-class. This use of AAVE is more insulting.
It's important to keep in mind that every human language is constantly evolving and changing, and one of the ways that languages change is by passing around words, phrases, and even grammar rules. However, for newcomers to the United States it is also important to understand that the race of the person using AAVE can be a sensitive matter in American culture.
What is the origin of AAVE?
AAVE has its origins in the early American South, as the form of English that was spoken by people enslaved on large southern plantations. However, exactly how this variety of English came to be, and what it sounded like in its earliest stages has been and continues to be a topic of debate among linguists.
Most linguists agree that the earliest versions of AAVE came about because people who spoke a variety of West African languages were enslaved together and so needed to communicate. We know this partly from the historical record, but also because present-day AAVE has a lot of features that mark it as a dialect that was developed by non-native English speakers.
To give one example, in AAVE, the "th" sound is often replaced by another sound (e.g. "this" → "dis" or "mouth" → "mouf").
However, there remains some disagreement in exactly what the earliest versions of AAVE would have looked like.
Some linguists believe that this earliest version of AAVE was an English-based creole, meaning that it was an entirely new language that primarily drew words from English, but had its own grammar rules, likely taken from West African languages. Over time, this language became more and more like Standard English, so that now it is better considered a dialect, rather than a language of its own.
Other linguists believe something a bit less extreme: that AAVE was always a dialect of English, but it developed its own grammar, words, and pronunciation. These linguists hold that AAVE developed because enslaved communities were socially isolated and often multilingual, and so the English they spoke was influenced more by one another and their native languages than by the English spoken by non-Black southerners.
The real story likely falls somewhere between these two ends of the spectrum. It is clearly the case that English-based creoles were being used on early southern plantations. Some of these creole languages, like Gullah, are still spoken today. It's also clear that, not everyone enslaved in the American South was speaking these creole languages. It's likely, therefore, that present-day AAVE emerged from an amalgamation of different Black creoles and dialects, which gradually, over time, gave rise to what we now think of as AAVE.
How has African American Vernacular English developed over time?
The biggest development in African American Vernacular English over the last 100 years has been its spread away from rural areas of the American South and into urban areas across the rest of the country.
Where historically AAVE was a language used in the rural South, the Great Migrations of the 20th century brought huge numbers of southern Black Americans north and west to cities. Today we associate AAVE primarily with urban areas, because this is where the largest populations of AAVE speakers live.
Over the last half century, different sub-dialects of AAVE have begun to develop in different regions. Here are a few examples, taken from Jones (2015):
The word "nothing" is pronounced "nuttin" in New York and New Jersey, but "nuffin" in cities a little further south, like Baltimore and Washigton DC.
The word "yeen" meaning "you ain't" is not used much outside of the southern US
The word "shol" meaning "sure" is mostly used in the central part of the country, rather than on the coasts.
It's likely that over the next 100 years, local dialects of AAVE will diverge even more!
How to speak African American Vernacular English?
Like speaking any language or dialect, speaking AAVE involves using the right grammar, pronunciation rules, and vocabulary. Let's first look at the grammar of AAVE, then we can talk a little more about pronunciation and vocabulary.
Below are listed four of the most important grammatical differences between AAVE and Standard English:
Verbs follow different conjugationNo definition set for conjugationLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. rules in AAVE
The rules for forming tensesNo definition set for tensesLorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. are different in AAVE. Let's look at a side-by-side comparison with Standard English:
Standard EnglishAAVEHe cooks.
He cook.
He cooked.
He cook(ed).
He is cooking.
He (is) cooking.
He was cooking.
He was cooking.
He has cooked.
He done cooked.
He has been cooking.
He been cooking.
He had cooked.
He had done cooked.
In AAVE, the word "be" is usually dropped in the present tense
Let's look at some examples:
Standard EnglishAAVEShe is a teacher
She a teacher
He is running fast.
He running fast!
We are going to win this game
We gonna win this game.
Wow! You're short!
Wow! You short!
Double Negatives are common in AAVE
In AAVE, it is common to use more than one negative word in a sentence. For example:
Standard EnglishAAVEI don't have a pencil.
I ain't got no pencil
We didn't do anything this weekend.
We didn't do nothing this weekend.
I haven't seen him at anybody's house.
I ain't seen him at nobody house.
"Stay" and "BIN" have extra meaning in AAVE
In AAVE, the word "stay" is used to show that something is a habit or that it happens all the time:
She stay driving that van.
She's always driving that van.
She driving that van
She is driving that van.
The word "BIN" (which is a stressed version of the word "been"), shows that something has been happening or has been the case for a long time.
He BIN a teacher.
He has been a teacher for a long time
He been a teacher.
He has been a teacher (at some point)
He a teacher.
He is a teacher.
Want to learn more about the grammatical differences between AAVE and Standard English? Check out some of the free resources we've linked at the bottom of the page!
What sounds are used in AAVE?
One of the most important differences between AAVE and Standard English is the way words and sounds are pronounced. Even when the word is the same, its pronunciation can be different. Here are some sounds that are often pronounced differently in AAVE from in Standard English:
The th sound is often replaced
The voiced th (the "buzzy" sound as in "this" or "brother") becomes d at the beginning of a word and v in the middle of a word:
"that" → "dat"
"brother" → "bruvah"
The voiceless th (the "soft" sound in "thing") often becomes f
"nothing" → "nuffin"
The sounds l and r usually disappear after vowels
"cool" → "coo"
"four" → "foe"
Short i and short e sound the same
(also known as the "pin/pen merger)"pin" → "pin"
"pen" → "pin"
Certain consonants are lost at the end of a word, after another consonant
(This is called "consonant cluster reduction")"test" → "tes"
"cold" → "col"
What are some common words and phrases that come from AAVE?
Here are some common words and phrases that come from AAVE "translated" into Standard English:
AAVE | Standard English |
|---|---|
slay | to do something well |
lit | exciting, energetic, impressive, cool |
gucci | good, cool |
woke | aware of injustices or the real state of the world |
bet | yeah, yep |
gost / ghosted | to suddenly stop talking to someone / to have someone suddenly stop talking to you |
bougie | expensive or expensive looking (in a pretentious way) |
basic | mainstream or boring |
catch feelings | develop a crush |
extra | over-the-top, excessive |
AAVE | Standard English |
|---|---|
lowkey | unobtrusively; secretly; slightly |
(on) fleek | flawless |
(no) cap | (not) a lie |
bae | term of endearment "honey"; significant other |
salty | grumpy or angry, usually because one is a sore loser |
(it's) giving... | (it) is reminding me of... or it looks like... |
(spilling the) tea | (spread) gossip |
here for it | enthusiastic about something |
read (a person) | tell someone off or insult someone's character |
yeet | to throw something away from emphatically (often from a height or in no particular direction) |
The list above contains words and phrases that would generally be considered "slang," but AAVE is also the source of many words that are now considered everyday Standard English, for example:
tote (as in "carry" or "something to carry things in" → used in "tote bag")
banjo
yam (as in the vegetable)
gumbo
jazz
cool (as in "in style" or "interesting")
What is the importance of AAVE?
Ultimately, AAVE is most important because it is the native dialect of millions of Americans. It's therefore used every day in schools, at grocery stores, in concert halls, on busses, in the legal system, in hospitals, and everywhere else. To many people, this is the language of home, safety, community, and affection, and that alone gives it huge significance.
Here are a few other reasons that AAVE is important:
Much of the most important American music has been written in AAVE. From blues to rock-and-roll, to hip-hop and rap, the grammar, vocabulary, and inflection of AAVE has left its imprint on all American music.
AAVE has had a huge influence over the development of Standard English, as the source not only of words that we think of as "slang," but also more accepted words like, "cool," "jazz," or "chill."
Many great American novelists, playwrights, and poets have written partially or entirely in AAVE. Some examples:
Zora Neale Hurston
Alice Walker
Langston Hughes
Margaret Walker
Toni Morrison
Lorraine Hansberry
Maya Angelou
James McBride
James Baldwin
Octavia Butler
Should AAVE be used in the classroom?
AAVE is used every day in classrooms nationwide, as it is the native dialect of millions of students. However, the extent to which the use of AAVE ought to be encouraged in classrooms remains a topic of debate.
Regardless of the fact that AAVE is as legitimate as any other way of speaking English, the reality is that its use is considered very informal in the United States. This means that in the workplace and in other formal environments, most American adults are expected to use Standard American English instead.
It is, therefore, part of the obligation of the educational system to make sure that students leave with some command over Standard American English, regardless of what they speak at home. In general, this is something educators can agree on.
However, where educators have had differing opinions is in how AAVE itself ought to be approached in school.
Historically, educators have believed that the use of AAVE should never be used or discussed in school, to encourage students to only use "proper" English. Most linguists argue, however, that this method is not effective, because the exclusion of kids' home language harms their relationship to education and because it does not help students overcome a language barrier. Evidence suggests that this treatment of AAVE can hugely contribute to achievement gaps between Black and white students in the schools, as Black students simply do not speak the language of instruction as fluently.
On the other end of the spectrum are those who hold that Standard English ought to be explicitly taught as a "second language" in schools with large Black populations. Most linguists would agree that explicit instruction is important. Often, the fact that AAVE and Standard English are mutually comprehensible can conceal their very different structures, so pointing out these differences to students in a classroom can be helpful.
Recently, there has been more discussion on the ways that teachers can help their students to recognize the value in speaking AAVE. Though AAVE may not be used in every workplace, it is often used in art, music, and literature. Encouraging students to use AAVE in their creative writing can be a way to help students see the value in what they already know!
Further Reading
Want to learn more? Here are some great free resources you can check out:
Some great general resources on AAVE and Black Language in America:
ORAAL (Online Resources for African American Language): A resource center created by the University of Oregon
Talking Black in America: A large documentary project producing films and other resources on Black language in America.
Check out this particularly interesting documentary on YouTube: Signing Black in America, a documentary on Black ASL! (Black American Sign Language)!
Articles on some specific grammatical features found in AAVE:
Stressed "BIN" vs. Unstressed "been"
Stressed BIN, by Alysia Harris and Jim Wood (2013)The missing "be"
Null copula, by Kyle Parsard (2016)Habitual "be"
Invariant be, by Raffaella Zanuttini and Katie Martin (2017)Using "done" in perfect tenses
Perfective done, by Katie Martin (2018)Using "finna" for the future
Fixin' to, by Peter Staub and Jason Zentz (2017)Double negatives
Negative concord, by Sabina Matyiku (2011)
Resources on AAVE in education
"So Much Research, So Little Change": Teaching Standard English in African American Classrooms, a thorough overview of the history of AAVE in public school classrooms by Rebecca Wheeler (2016)
What America Got Wrong About Ebonics, a video created to accompany this Huffington Post article by Michael Hobbs about the Oakland Ebonics Controversy in 1996.
Or, if you're really motivated, visit your local library and check out one of these great books on AAVE:
"Talkin and Testifyin: The Language of Black America," by Geneva Smitherman (1986)
"Black Talk: Words and Phrases from the Hood to the Amen Corner," by Geneva Smitherman (1994)
"Spoken Soul: The Story of Black English" by John Rickford and Russel Rickford (2000)
(access the free ebook here)"African American English: A Linguistic Introduction" by Lisa Green (2002)
