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In:Language Contact in Africa and the African Diaspora in the Americas: In honor of John V. Singler
Edited by Cecelia Cutler, Zvjezdana Vrzić and Philipp Angermeyer
[Creole Language Library 53] 2017
► pp. 203–224

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Some observations on the sources of AAVE structure

Re-examining the creole connection

Published online: 12 July 2017
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/cll.53.09win
There now seems to be agreement that the grammar of African American Vernacular English (AAVE) has its primary sources in settler varieties of British English. However, there is still no consensus on the role played by creole varieties in shaping certain aspects of AAVE grammar, or on the time frame for such influence. Drawing on both linguistic and sociohistorical evidence, this paper argues for the role of both British input and creole influence in the evolution of AAVE. In particular, I argue that certain distinctive features of AAVE morphosyntax might best be accounted for in terms of influence from Gullah, as well as possibly Caribbean input that also shaped Gullah itself.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.The debate on 19th century AAVE
  • 3.The present tense paradigms of AAVE
    • 3.1The demographic issue
  • 4.The case for Gullah influence
    • 4.1Linguistic evidence for the role of Gullah in the development of AAVE
      • 4.1.1Verbal -s in earlier AAVE
      • 4.1.2Copula variability in Gullah and AAVE
    • 4.2Other features shared by Gullah and AAVE
  • 5.Gullah-AAVE connections. Sociohistorical evidence
    • 5.1The spread of AAVE to the Gulf States
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
References (68)
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Cited by (2)

Cited by two other publications

Sims, Nandi
2024. Verbal -s Variation in Earlier African American English. Journal of English Linguistics 52:3 ► pp. 213 ff. DOI logo
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2024. West African Pidgin: World Language Against the Grain. Africa Spectrum 59:2 ► pp. 180 ff. DOI logo

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