English
Hey, fam! What’s up, my people? I dropped my phone on me and couldn’t reach you guys. I just saw all the messages. You're lit! I’m finna cry, no cap. I miss you a ton, and I can’t wait to hug y'all. You must’ve missed me too, but I’ve been working so much on my degree lately. I ain’t got no idea when I’ll be there, but if I was you guys, I’d be ready to meet Alice. She’s my girlfriend. We have some news that might surprise y’all. Hope everything’s lit on your end. I gotta bounce now.
Much love! Catch you later, fam. Peace out.
* To learn more about AAVE (African American Vernacular English), visit:
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Actually, this seems to combine several dialects of English. In addition to African American Vernacular, there seem to be snippets "Valley Girl" English and the some phrases Southern American English that is spoken by whites. To me, it feeling jarring: there are too many idioms in a short space. (Also, there is a question of "ownership" -- some blacks do not like it when whites try to talk like them. Linguistic politics can be complex. )
You've used a mixture of slang, different dialects, and AAVE. I'll leave comments below from a research paper I did about translating AAVE to Spanish (which itself has a variety of dialects and non-standard Spanish). I hope the following will give you and others a better understanding of the features of AAVE, a language (dialect?) that is often disparaged.
AAVE, often called Black English, is mainly used by African Americans in the United States. Not all African Americans speak AAVE, though, and some who speak it are not African American. It is a dialect that has crossed over into the mainstream, especially as it was introduced during the northward migration of African Americans from the South. (LangFocus)
While AAVE is often considered to be a dialect of Standard English (SE), there is still debate about whether it is a language or a dialect. It has a distinct phonology and grammar, which sets it apart from what is SE.
Linguists debate the origins of AAVE, whether it is influenced by West African languages, African creole languages used by captive slaves during the Atlantic slave trade, the Gullah dialect used by coastal South Carolina’s black community, or the earlier Southern dialects in the United States (Winford). What linguists do agree on is that AAVE has a unique grammar. Those who speak AAVE are often considered to be uneducated or low class.
Features of AAVE
Lack of number-person agreement: The ‘s’ at the end of third person verbs is omitted; also, the singular verb is used for plural pronouns and nouns. Example: She cry all the time. / They was here.
Habitual markers – stay and steady (for always): She steady makin’ excuses.
Perfective done: Expresses that the action or state being described has come to an end. It may convey an attitude of surprise or shock on the part of the speaker. Example: I done finished my research project.
Future perfect be done: Future perfect (be/usually /already Verb-ed). Example: She be done finished her homework before it gets dark every day.
Negative concord (double or multiple negation): Phenomenon in which more than one negative element occurs in a sentence, but the sentence is interpreted as only being negated once. Various American dialects, such as Appalachian English, use negative concord, as do other languages. Example: I ain’t got no money.
Null copula: Example: He good to her, She happy)
Invariant be: Example: I be the cook.
As a black person, this bothered me because it verged on making a mockery of AAVE. Many people mistakenly see it as merely 'bad English,' despite AAVE having its own distinct phonology and grammar.
@SEQ77, I'm a white person, but I lived in New Orleans for 20 years and was absolutely fascinated by the actual grammatical features of black vernacular. Few people realize that it's an actual grammar which has features of UG (universal grammar) that don't exist in English. For instance, that habitual be corresponds to an actual separate verb in a lot of world languages, but not in English. In Russian, for instance, you have the verb (copula) быть to be, and a separate verb to be that only refers to habitual or general states of being, бывать. But the overarching point here is that not all black people talk like this.
In Coral's defense, language learning is fun, and the more you explore your target language and discover little niches of expression, the more tempting it is to want to emulate them. It's not in her nature to disparage people, so I'm sure this was purely innocent.
Hi, @T-Newfields My goal is not to speak AAVE. That'd be wishful thinking. I can't even hold a decent conversation in standard English, let alone any of the many English dialects. I'm writing a story with a lot of dialogue where one of the characters speaks AAVE, which I plan to publish on the Internet. I realize this post might sound a bit off because I crammed a lot of expressions into just one paragraph. However, it was never my intention to offend anyone, quite the opposite. My goal in writing this post was to make sure I chose expressions that are actually considered idiomatic and authentic in AAVE. I understand that AAVE is a rich and complex dialect with deep cultural roots, and I want to approach it with the respect and care it deserves. Thanks so much for your comment.
Yikes!
@Coral I have no doubt that you are approaching this with a perspective of repect, but just be aware that this is dangerous territory for anyone, not just for a non-native speaker. In the US there is a long history of mockery of african americans by emulating their coloquial style of speech and as you can imagine it can be very hurtful. It's likely that when an outsider attempts to emulate this style of speech, no matter how well-intended the attempt is, the end result will come across as inauthentic and therefore be interpreted as intentionally derogatory and mocking.
Than you @elAmericanoTranquilo. I understand. I'll change the story. (Zapatero, a tus zapatos) : )