Ebonics

The heart of AAVE, the part that is shared across most age groups (although they tend to be used most frequently by teenagers) and that link it most strongly to the language's origins in the creole speech of slavery (compare parallels with creole dialects in the Caribbean today or in Hawaii), is its phonology and grammar. These are the parts that tend to be less often diffused to other groups, and that are the most lasting and the most regular. The single biggest mistake people make about AAVE is dismissing it as careless, or lazy speech, where anything goes. As with all spoken languages, AAVE is extremely regular, rule-governed, and systematic.

-John R. Rickford, Stanford University

AAVE/ebonics: "She BIN had dat han'-made dress" (SE: She's had that hand-made dress for a long time, and still does.)

AAVE: "Befo' you know it, he be done aced de tesses." (SE Before you know it, he will have already aced the tests.)

AAVE: "Ah 'on know what homey be doin." (SE: I don't know what my friend is usually doing.)

AAVE: "Can't nobody tink de way he do." (SE: Nobody can think the way he does.)

AAVE: "I ast Ruf could she bring it ovah to Tom crib." (SE: I asked Ruth if/whether she could bring it over to Tom's place.)

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