JULAEHA
106026000965
ENGLISH LETTERS DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF ADAB AND HUMANITIES
STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY
SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH
Submitted to Letters and Humanities Faculty
In Partial of the Requirements for the Degree of Strata One
JULAEHA 106026000965
ENGLISH LETTERS DEPARTMENT
FACULTY OF ADAB AND HUMANITIES
STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY
SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH
i A Thesis
Submitted to Letters and Humanities Faculty
In Partial of the Requirements for the Degree of Strata One
JULAEHA NIM.106026000965
Approved by:
Drs. Abdul Hamid, M.Ed NIP. 150 181 922
ENGLISH LETTERS DEPARTMENT ADAB AND HUMANITIES FACULTY
STATE ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY “SYARIF HIDAYATULLAH” JAKARTA
ii NIM : 106026000965
Thesis : A Grammatical Analysis of African American Vernacular English
(AAVE) in Precious Movie
The thesis has been defended before the Letter and Humanities Faculty’s Examination Committee on October 19, 2010. The thesis has already been accepted as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of strata 1.
Jakarta, October 19, 2010
Examination Committee
Signature Date
1. Dr. Muhammad Farkhan, M.Pd (Chair Person) __________ _________ 19650919 200003 1 002
2. Drs. Asep Saefuddin, M.Pd (Secretary) __________ _________ 19640710 199303 1 006
3. Drs. Abdul Hamid, M.Ed (Advisor) __________ _________ 150 181 922
4. Dr. Muhammad Farkhan, M.Pd (Examiner I) _________ _________ 19700310 200003 1 002
iii
knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously published or written by another person nor material which to a substantial extent has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma of the university or other institute of higher learning, except where due acknowledgement has been made in the text.
Jakarta, September 2010
iv
Letters and Humanities Faculty, State Islamic University (UIN) Syarif Hidayatullah, 2010.
African American Vernacular English, AAVE, is a variant of English spoken mostly by lower-class black citizens in the US. Because of the usage of AAVE in media, particularly movie, this research will describe the grammatical characteristics of AAVE, and compare them with Standard English usage. AAVE is different from Standard English in several respects; grammatically, phonologically and lexically. Examples of grammatical features in AAVE are invariant be, double negations and the remote phase marker been.
This research concerns about grammatical characteristics of AAVE in movie script. The writer takes the data from Precious movie script. In collecting the data, the writer reads the movie script of Precious. In writing this research, the writer employs the descriptive qualitative method. By using this method, the writer describes the data by referring to the existence of linguistic elements without counting them statistically. After explaining the theoretical framework, the writer tabulated data of grammatical features of AAVE. Then, she analyzed the data by comparing with Standard English.
v
and Lord of universe. Peace and salutation be upon the greatest prophet
Muhammad SAW, his family, companions and adherents.
The writer would like to give her sincere gratitude her beloved family. Her
mother, Emy (alm), and her father Tamri Sosili (alm), who became motivator in
her life. Her brother, Supriyatna, and and her sister, Rosmiati, who give love,
advice and financial support, and always pray for her.
The writer also wants to thank some persons, who have contributed much
while this thesis is in the process of writing until it becomes a complete work,
they are:
1. Dr. Abd. Wahid Hasyim, M.Ag, the Dean of Letters and Humanities Faculty.
2. Dr. H. M. Farkhan, M.Pd, the Head of English Department.
3. Drs. A. Saefuddin, M.Pd, the Secretary of English Letters Department.
4. Drs. Abdul Hamid, M.Ed, the writer’s advisor, her thanks for his time,
guidance, kindness, advice, and contribution in correcting and helping her in
finishing the paper.
5. To all the lecturers of English Letters Department for teaching a lot of
valuable knowledge and sharing a lot of experiences.
6. Zahril Anasy, S.Pd, her favorite lecturer, her thanks for his time and idea in
guiding her doing the research of AAVE.
7. Her kindly family, her uncles, her aunts, her cousins and her nephews, her
vi
10. Her ex-room mate, Ulfa Warhamni. Thanks for your kindness and also for
your magazine which inspired her to use Precious movie as the object of the
research.
May Allah SWT, the Almighty and Merciful, bless them all, Amien. The
writer would like to accept any constructive suggestions to make this paper
better.
Jakarta, September 2010
vii
LEGALIZATION ……… ii
DECLARATION ……… iii
ABSTRACT ………. iv
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ………..……… v
TABLE OF CONTENTS .……….. vii
CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTION A. Background of the Study ……… 1
B. Focus of the Study ……….. 6
C. Research Question ……….. 6
D. Significance of the Research ……… 7
E. Research Methodology ..……… 7
1. Objective of the Research ….………. 7
2. Method of the Research …..……….. 7
3. Data Analysis ..………. 8
4. Instrument of the Research …………..………. 8
5. Time and Place of the Research ………. 8
CHAPTER II. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK A. African American Vernacular English (AAVE) 1. Definition of AAVE …...………... 9
viii
2. Grammar of Standard English ……… 19
CHAPTER III. RESEARCH FINDINGS A. Data Description ..………. 24
B. Data Analysis ..……….. 29
CHAPTER IV. CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS A. Conclusions .……… 41
B. Suggestions ………. 43
BIBLIOGRAPHY ….………..…… 44
ABSTRACT ………..……… ii
A. Background of the Study ……….……… 1
B. Research Question ……….. 3
C. Research Methodology ..……….……… 3
1. Objective of the Research ….………. 3
2. Method of the Research …..…………..……….. 3
3. Data Analysis ..………..………. 3
4. Instrument of the Research ………..………. 4
5. Time and Place of the Research ………..…..………. 4
D. African American Vernacular English (AAVE) ……….. 5
E. Grammatical Characteristics of AAVE …………..……….. 5
F. Data Analysis ..………..……….……….. 10
1. Absence of copula ………. 10
2. Invariant b ……….…… 11
3. Regular and Irregular past verbs ………. 12
4. Subject-verb agreement ……….. 14
5. No signaling of the third-person singular in the present tense of the verb ……… 14
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Human, as the social creature use language for communication. To
communicate means to transfer ideas from one person to the others. Language is a
wonderfully rich vehicle for communication. According to Yule, the function of
language are as interactional function, which is commonly used to convey the
expressions like greetings, regrets, fear, etc., and transactional function, language
as the linguistic competence that is used to share knowledge, ability, and
information.1 It is used to convey wishes and commands, to tell truths and lies, to
influence our hearer, to vent our emotion, and to formulate ideas which could
probably never arise if we had no language.
Language is a style of speaking and a social phenomenon that becomes the
most important of all the forms of human communication. Using language, there
are variations which exist in the society. Today, in sociolinguistics, variation is
central.2 The variations commonly occur based on the uses, the users, the
participant, and the situation. As explained by Holmes, “Language varies
according to its uses as well as its users, according to where it used and to whom,
as well as according to who is using it.”3
1George Yule,
The Study of Language (Melbourne: Cambridge University Press, 1985), p.5.
2Margareth Maclagan, “Regional and Social Variation”,
Clinical Sociolinguistics, ed. Martin J. Ball (USA: Blackwell Publishing, 2005), p.15.
3Janet Holmes,
It’s also explained by Halliday, et all. As quote by Maclagan, that language
variation is divided into two categories: variation according to the user and
according to use. Variation according to the users contains aspects of language
which reveals the speaker’s place of origin, gender, age, social class, ethnicity,
education. Meanwhile, language variation according to use is related to the
changing of speech situation or event.4 One of the interesting variations for
discuss is about language and ethnicity.
There are some varieties of English which associated with ethnic group,
such as Navajo English, Appalachian English, Puerto Rican English, and African
American English or African American Vernacular English. However, African
American Vernacular English is the most interesting subject for linguists for a
number of years.5
African American Vernacular English (AAVE) encompasses several labels
including Ebonics, Black English, African American English, Black Vernacular,
Black English Vernacular and Black Vernacular English, all of which describe the
English that is primarily, but not exclusively, associated with the speech of
African Americans.6 Many linguists use the label “African American English”
(AAE), but the addition of the term ‘Vernacular’ (meaning “common everyday
language”) is gaining favor, since the word distinguishes it from the formal
4Margareth Maclagan (2005), loc. cit.
5
Thomas W. Stewart and Nathan Vaillette, Language Files: Materials for an Introduction to Language & Linguistics (Columbus: The Ohio University Press, 2001), p. 318.
6Labov, W. Cohen, P., Robbins, C., & Lewis, J.
English spoken by many African Americans.7 According to Green, African
American English is a system with specific rules for combining sounds to form
words to form phrases and sentences.8 It has a number of features which is
different with Standard American English. This linguistics differences act as a
symbol of ethnicity. It expresses the sense of cultural distinctiveness of many
African Americans. This dialect usually used in the Northern cities of the United
States.9
The mental dictionary of AAE speakers includes the information needed to use words and expressions grammatically: their pronunciation, part of speech, possible positions in a sentence, and meaning. The vocabulary of AAE can be viewed in three parts: words and phrases used by speakers in a range of age groups that cross generation boundaries; special verbal markers; and slang.10
Furthermore, the characteristics of AAVE include phonological,
grammatical, and semantic features. Phonological features of AAVE refer to the
AAVE pronunciation system which is restriction on the occurrence of
combination of consonant sounds, especially at the end of words.11 For instance,
transposed sk and sp. Likes aks in ‘ask’, or stopping of word-initial voiced th,
likes dese for ‘these’. In phonological features of AAVE there is also
7Redd, T. & Webb, K.
A Teacher's Introduction to AfricanAmericanEnglish: What a Writing Teacher Should Know (Washington D.C.: National Council of Teachers of English, 2005), p.17.
8Lisa Green, “African American English”, Language in the USA, eds. Edward Finegan and John R. Rickford (United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2004), p. 76.
9Holmes,
An Introduction to Sociolinguistics Second Edition (New York :Longman, 2001), p.177
10Lisa Green (2004),
op cit, p.79.
11
monophtongization. It means by which diphthongs get reduced to monophtong,
for instance, now is pronounced [na], sad is sounded [sad], etc.12
Some grammatical features of AAVE, which involve morphologic and
syntactic features, can be seen in the following examples: Sometimes my ears be
itching. (Habitual be for intermittent activity), She nice. (Absence of copula for
contracted form), She walk_ ‘she walks’ (present tense, third person –s absence),
or using double negation likes Didn’t nobody like it ‘No body liked it’.
One of the most distinctive features of AAVE is the complete absence of the
copula verb be in some social and linguistics context. Holmes gives the example
of African American speakers’ speech. They usually omit the verb be, like in the
sentence: She very nice (American Standard English: She’s very nice), He a
teacher, that my book, etc.13 According to Green, many characteristic features of
AAE are from the part of the linguistic system that put together to form sentence.
She gives an example of AAE speakers’ sentence: Didn’t nobody ask me do I be
late for class. From this sentence, we can analyze that it has three AAE features:
inversion/multiple negation; embedded yes/no question; and habitual be.
Moreover, semantic features of AAVE, refer to words which have two levels
of meaning, “one black; one white”, like “He is a bad dude.” It has negative
meaning: “a person of undesirable character”, or positive meaning: “a person of
highly desirable character.”
12Thomas W. Stewart and Nathan Vaillette (2001),
op.cit. p. 322.
13Holmes (2001)
Sentence patterns can be used as markers of black images in film. In the
1994 film Flesh used the verbal marker be that indicates habitual recurrences. In
that film, African American characters of all age groups use features associated
with AAE.14 Now, there are some American movie which the characters use
AAVE. One of them is in Precious movie.
Precious, an adaptation by Geoffrey S. Fletcher of the 1996 novel Push by
Sapphire, is a 2009 American drama film directed by Lee Daniels. Clareece
"Precious" Jones, the main character, is an overweight, illiterate
African-American teen in Harlem. Just as she's about to give birth to her second child,
Jones is accepted into an alternative school where a teacher helps her find a new
path in her life. Precious has received dozens of nominations in award categories
ranging from the performance of the cast to the direction to the cinematography to
the adaptation of the book into the screenplay to the film itself including six
Academy Award nominations.15
Black Americans usually use their language, which is different from
Standard American English (SAE). It’s known as African American Vernacular
English (AAVE). It will be interesting to study the characteristics of AAVE,
especially in the grammatical features, because the actors used more grammatical
features of AAVE than the other features of AAVE in this movie.
For example, in one of her dialogs she said, “This the alternative?” its
sentence can be analyzed as having grammatical feature of AAVE: zero copula. In
14Lisa Green (2004),
op cit, p.88-89.
American Standard English, it should be ‘Is this the alternative?’ Besides, in this
sentence: “He ain’t got no voice.” We can identify it by checking the grammatical
characteristics of AAVE. This sentence can be analyzed as having AAVE feature:
double negation. It should be ‘He didn’t get any voice’. We can input the
sentences into the table to compare the grammatical characteristics of AAVE with
Standard English.
AAVE sentences General Description Standard American English
This the alternative The copula be is dropped (zero copula).
Is this the alternative?
He ain’t got no voice. Use of ain’t as a general negative indicator and Double negation.
He didn’t get any voice.
Accordingly, in this research, the writer is interested in studying
grammatical features of AAVE which are used in Precious movie.
B. Focus of the Research
The scope of this research is on the grammatical analysis of African
American Vernacular English (AAVE) used in Precious movie.
C. Research Question
In this research, the writer will propose the research question as below:
To what extent is the difference of grammatical features of African
American Vernacular English (AAVE) in Precious movie from Standard
D. Significance of the Research
The significances of this research are as follows:
A. Practically, this research is expected of giving valuable knowledge
in the development of linguistics in sociolinguistics field in general
and especially in the study of grammatical characteristics for
African American Vernacular English (AAVE), comparing to
Standard English.
B. Theoretically, this research can be a reference of sociolinguistics
field for the language researcher and the readers. For the writer,
this research can enlarge her knowledge about sociolinguistics
especially African American Vernacular English (AAVE).
E. Research Methodology
A. Objective of the Research
The objective of the research is to know the grammatical features of African
American Vernacular English which are used by the main character, Precious, a
black American actress, in Precious movie.
B. Method of the Research
In this research, the writer uses a descriptive qualitative method. The writer
describes the data which are collected from the script of Precious movie by
referring to the existence of linguistic elements without counting them
C. Data Analysis
In this research, the writer uses the descriptive analysis technique. In this
analysis, the writer uses the grammatical characteristics of AAVE which are
proposed by Fasold&Wolfram (1970); Owen (1995), and other AAVE
grammarians.
D. Instrument of the Research
The instrument in this research is the writer herself as the instrument to get
the data. The process of the collecting data in this research is divided into three
steps. First, the writer watched Precious movie and read the script. Secondly, the
writer chose the grammatical features of AAVE which are used in the dialogs.
Then, the writer analyzed the collecting data from sociolinguistics theory, which
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
E. African American Vernacular English (AAVE)
1. Definition of AAVE
The simple definition of African American Vernacular English (AAVE) is
that AAVE is a variety spoken by many African-Americans in the USA which
shares a set of grammatical and other linguistics features that distinguish it from
various other American dialects.16
African American Vernacular English (AAVE) is the variety formerly
known as Black English Vernacular or Vernacular Black English among
sociolinguists, and commonly called Ebonics outside the academic community.17
As explained by Green:
Among the many labels used to refer to this variety over the past forty years are “Negro dialect,” ‘American Negro Speech”, “Black communication,” “Black dialect,” “Black street speech,” “Black English,” and “African American Vernacular English”….
Some researchers have chosen to use “African American English,” others agree on “African American Vernacular English.” “Vernacular” is often used to underscore the point that what is being referred to is a spoken language with socially stigmatized linguistic patterns.18
16
Carmen Fought, Language and Ethnicity (USA: Cambridge University Press, 2006), p. 46.
17Jack Sidnell
, African American Vernacular English (Ebonics).Accessed on April, 29, 2010, 10:15. http://www.une.edu.au/langnet/index.html.
18Lisa Green (2004),
According to Rickford, as quoted by Fought, AAVE refers to a system that
contains distinct (non-standard) grammatical elements, reserving the broader
“African American English” for all varieties used by African Americans, even if
they are completely standard ones.19
2. The Origin of African American Vernacular English (AAVE)
There are two main theories about the origin of African American
Vernacular English:20
a. Dialectologist view
Dialects are defined as “variations of a language that are mutually
intelligible, but include some grammatical and/or pronunciation patterns that are
unique to speakers in certain regions, social classes, or ethnic groups”.21 Some
linguists point to the similarities between AAVE pronunciation patterns and those
of Southern American English, to make the argument that AAVE, like Southern
American English, is simply a dialectical variation of American English, which is
spoken by many African Americans and non-African Americans in the United
States. As described in Figure 1.22
Earlier English African Languages
Pidjin
Creol
19Fought, Carmen (2006), loc cit.
20Thomas W. Stewart and Nathan Vaillette (2001),
op.cit, p.320.
21Redd & Webb (2005),
op.cit, p.8.
22Thomas W. Stewart and Nathan Vaillette (2001),
Modern Standard African American
American English English Gullah Jamaican
FIGURE 1. The Dialectical Hypothesis
b. Creolist View, AAVE as a Distinct Language.
Other linguists have noted the grammatical structures AAVE shares with
West African languages to support their argument that AAVE might most
accurately be classified as “an African based language with English words”.23 Still
others argue that AAVE’s similarities with many of the world’s Creole languages
suggest that AAVE was itself a Creole, or a related, but separate language that has
recently decreolized as it has begun to more closely resemble SAE. As described
in Figure 2.24
Earlier English African Languages
Pidjin
Creol
Modern Standard African American
American English English Gullah Jamaican
FIGURE 2. The Creolist Hypothesis
23Anonymous,
African American Vernacular English. Accessed on April 29, 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_American_Vernacular_English.
24Thomas W. Stewart and Nathan Vaillette (2001),
3. Grammatical Characteristics of African American Vernacular
English (AAVE)
Wolfram outlines some of the major structures of urban AAVE grammar.
1. Verb phrase
The most noteworthy traits of AAVE have typically been associated with the
verb phrase, including the use of tense, mood, and aspect. Although there are a
number of distinguishing traits, the most prominent features are a distinct set of
preverbal particles or auxiliaries.
a. Copula/auxiliary absence
The absence of copula and auxiliary for contractible forms of is and are (e.g.
She nice for ‘She’s nice’ or They acting silly for ‘They’re acting silly’) has been
one of the most often described structures of AAVE. Although there are a number
of descriptive and explanatory dimensions of copula absence that remain in
dispute, including whether it is derived through a grammatical or phonological
process, there is general agreement about its ethno linguistic status.
b. Invariant be
Invariant be in sentences such as Sometimes they be playing games, also
referred to as non-finite be, habitual be, and be2, is probably the most salient
grammatical trait of AAVE, to the point of becoming a stereotype. However, most
analyses agree that be marks a unique aspect referring to an intermittent activity,
hence the reference to ‘habitual be.’
The use of done with the past tense of the verb, as in They done used all the
good ones, is a persistent structural trait of AAVE that is shared with Southern
European American vernacular varieties of English. In AAVE, done occurs only
in preverbal auxiliary position with past tense forms whereas it occurs with a bare
verb stem (e.g. They done go) and can occur in clause-final position in some
creoles.25 In many respects, it functions in AAVE like a perfect, referring to an
action completed in the recent past, but it can also be used to highlight the change
of state or to intensify an activity, as in a sentence like I done told you not to mess
up. It is a stable feature, but it is more frequently used in Southern rural versions
of AAVE than in urban AAVE.
d. Sequential be done
AAVE may also show a combination of be and done together in sentences
such as My ice cream be done melted by the time we get there, marking a
resultative or a future conditional state.
e.Remote béen
The stressed use of béen with a past tense form of the verb may denote a
special aspectual function that marks an activity that took place in the distant past.
In sentences such as I béen had it for about three years or I béen known him, it
refers to an event that took place, literally or figuratively, in a distant time frame.
f.Simple past had + verb
One of the newer features of AAVE is the narrative use of the auxiliary had
with a past or perfect form of the verb to indicate a simple past tense action, as in
25Janet Holmes (1992),
They had went outside and then they had messed up the yard… . This use is
equivalent to the use of the simple past (e.g. They went outside and then they
messed up the yard) in Standard English.
g. Specialized auxiliaries
Several auxiliaries fill specialized semantic-pragmatic roles that subtly set
apart AAVE from other vernacular varieties of English. Among these auxiliary-
like constructions are the use of come to indicate a state of indignation, the use of
steady to mark a continuative intensifying activity, and the use of finna to indicate
an immediate future or planned event. The use of come with v-ing in the sentence
He come walkin’ in here like he owned the damn place indicates a speaker’s
annoyance about the action or event.
h. Irregular verbs
The irregular verbs of urban AAVE follow those found in other vernacular
varieties of English, in particular, rural Southern white varieties. These include the
extension of past as participle (e.g. I had went down there), the participle as past
(e.g. They seen it), the bare root as past (e.g. They run there yesterday), and
regularization of past tense (e.g. Everybody knowed him).
i.Subject-verb agreement
Two aspects of subject-verb concord are prominent in urban AAVE, one
relating to the attachment of the verbal suffix -s and the other relating to the
rural AAVE have documented the current-day pattern of 3rd sg. -s absence in
sentences such as She walk for She walks and She have money for She has money.
The second concord pattern affecting urban AAVE is the regularization of
present and past forms of conjugated be. AAVE is much like the vast majority of
other vernacular varieties of English in its use of be leveling; in the present tense,
are and am level to is, as in The folks is home or Y’all is here, while past tense be
levels to was, as in The folks was there or Y’all was here. Past tense be leveling is
much more common than present tense leveling in AAVE, as it is in virtually all
varieties of vernacular English having be regularization.
2. Negation
The formation of negation in AAVE is not particularly distinct from other
vernacular varieties of English in the US and beyond. It participates in negative
concord, or multiple negation, in which a single negative proposition may be
marked both within the verb phrase and on post verbal indefinites, as in It wasn’t
nothing or They didn’t do nothing about nobody having no money or nothing like
that. AAVE also participates in a type of negative concord that involves a
preverbal indefinite and verbal negative as in Nobody don’t like him, which is
equivalent to the standard sentence Nobody likes him.
Related to the preverbal negative pattern is a type of inversion of the
negative auxiliary and indefinite subject, as in Don’t nobody like him, meaning
‘Nobody likes him’ or Ain’t nobody home for ‘Nobody is home’. Constructions
like these are often used for emphasis, especially if the indefinite is stressed, as in
general preverbal negative for present tense be (am not, isn’t, aren’t) and for the
perfect auxiliary haven’t/ hasn’t as in She ain’t here or She ain’t been there lately.
Finally, ain’t and don’t may be used with but to indicate ‘only’ or ‘no more than’
as in She ain’t but three years old or He didn’t take but three dollars.
3. Nominal
Although many of the characteristics of the noun phrase in AAVE are shared
with a wide range of English vernacular varieties, there are also a few traits that
set it apart from European American vernaculars in the US. Perhaps the most
noteworthy of these is the absence of inflectional -s on possessives and plurals.
The absence of possessive -s in sentences like The dog_ tail was wagging or The
man_ hat was old are rare among other American English vernaculars. AAVE
shares a number of pronominal traits with other vernacular varieties of English,
including the regularization of the reflexive hisself as in He washed hisself, the
extension of the objective form them for attributive demonstratives such as She
likes them apples, and the use of objective forms in coordinate subjects as in Me
and him got style. Urban AAVE also shares null subjective relative pronoun in
embedded sentences such as It’s a man come over here talking trash.
4. Question formation
There are two aspects of question formation that distinguish AAVE syntax,
both involving subject auxiliary inversion. First, questions may be formed without
inverted forms tend to occur with wh- questions and syntactically simple
sentences.
While the productive use of simple non-inverted question order may be
receding, it is still quite common in some fixed phrases such as What it is? or
Who that is? At the same time, embedded questions may retain subject-auxiliary
inversion, as in I asked her could I go with her, contrasting with the standard
pattern in which if or whether is used with non-inverted order, as in I asked him if
I could go with him.26
In addition, based on Fasold & Wolfram; Owens; William & Wolfram can
be summarized the grammatical characteristics of AAVE into the following
table:27
26Walt Wolfram,
The grammar of urban African American Vernacular English. Accessed on April 29, 2010, 10:10. http://www.ncsu.edu/linguistics/docs/pdfs/walt/PDF-Urban_AAE.pdf.
27Anonymous, “African American Vernacular English (AAVE)”,
Standard English (SE)
1. Definition of Standard English
Standard English is the customary use of a community when it is recognized
and accepted as the customary use of the community.28 The standard dialect in the
United States is called Standard American English (SAE). It is a dialect of
English that many Americans almost speak.29
According to Fromkin and Rodman:
A standard dialect (or prestige dialect) of a particular language may have social functions-to bind people together or to provide a common written form for multidialectal speakers. It is, however, neither more expressive, more logical, more complex, nor more regular than any other dialect or language.30
Furthermore, Stewart and Vaillette explain:
As with any standard dialect, SAE is not a well-defined variety but rather than an idealization, which even now defies definition because agreement on what exactly constitutes this variety is lacking. SAE is not a single, unitary, homogenous dialect but instead comprises a number of varieties. When we speak of SAE, we usually have in mind features of grammar more than pronunciation.31
2. Grammar of Standard English
It is commonly said that American English (AmE) has few distinctive
grammatical features, however, some are noteworthy.32
28
Victoria Fromkin and Robert Rodman. An Introduction to Language, sixth edition (Fort Worth:Harcout Brace Collage Publisher, 1998), p. 408.
29 Ibid.
30
Ibid, p. 409.
31
Thomas W. Stewart and Nathan Vaillette (2001), op. cit. p. 308.
32Edward Finegan. “American English and its distinctiveness”,
1. Agreement rules
Frank explains the rules for agreement and gives some examples as describe
below:
a.The verb must agree with the subject in number.
For examples: The girl is resting.
The girls are resting.
If the subject includes modifiers, the verb agrees with the noun head in the
subject, like in these sentences:
His technique for solving crimes is very simple.
The advertisements in the front part of a newspaper are usually the most
expensive.
A noncountable noun used as a subject requires a singular verb.
His baggage was lost yesterday. (vs. His bags were lost yesterday.)
This information is correct. (vs. This facts are correct.)
A collective noun used as a subject generally occurs with a singular verb in
American English, unless emphasis is to be placed on the individual members of
the collective unit,
The committee has been preparing a new proposal. But,
The committee have disagreed among themselves about the terms of the
proposal.33
In addition, Finegan explains that in American English, agreement rules
between verb and subjects that are collective nouns (family, staff, team,
33Marcella Frank,
committee) or the names of sports team (Clevelan, Manchaster), or companies,
organization, and institution (Lipton, Ford, CNN, the government).
b. Some nouns ending in s may cause problems in agreement.
1. Some are singular noncountable noun-news, measles (name of a
disease), economics (name of a field of study). For example:
The news about the war is not good; physics is a difficult subject.
However, the name used for a field of study may be plural if it refers
to a practical matter.
The acoustics in this room are not good.
2. Some nouns have the same form for singular or plural-series,
means, species.
3. Some nouns are plural only and require plural verbs-brains, riches,
goods, clothes.
4. Nouns representing quantities and amounts that are considered as
one unit are singular-five dollars, three quarts. For example, Five
dollars is too much pay for that pen.
c.Adjectives used as nouns often refer to a group of persons and require a
plural verb. Such adjective forms are usually preceded by the. For
example, The rich get richer, while the poor get poorer.34
2. The Verb Be
Azar summaries rules of the verb be.35
34
Ibid, p. 15-16.
35
(a) John is a student.
verb has three basic patterns:
In (a): be + a noun
In (a): be + an adjective
In (a): be + a prepositional phrase
(d) Mary is writing a letter.
(e) They were listening to some music.
(f) That letter was written by Alice.
Be is also used as an auxiliary verb
in progressive verb tenses and in
the passive.
TENSE FORM OF BE
SIMPLE PRESENT SIMPLE PAST PRESENT PERFECT
SINGULAR I am
Using Not and Other Negative Words36
(a) AFFIRMATIVE: The earth is round.
(b) NEGATIVE: The earth is not flat.
Not expresses a negative idea.
36
AUX + NOT + MAIN VERB
Not immediately follows an auxiliary
verb or be. (Note: if there is more
than one auxiliary, not comes
immediately after the first auxiliary: I
will not going there.)
Do or does is used with not to make a
simple present verb (except be)
negative.
Did is used with not to make a
simple past verb (except be) negative.
CONSTRACTIONS OF AUXILIARY VERBS WITH NOT
Are not = aren’t
(e) There’s no chalk in the drawer.
In addition to not, the following are
negative adverbs:
never, rarely, seldom
hardly (ever), barely (ever)
COMPARE: NOT vs. NO
(f) I donot have any money.
(g) I have no money.
Not is used to make a verb negative, as in
(f).
No is used as an adjective in front of a
noun (e.g., money), as in (g). Note: (f) and
(g) have the same meaning.
According to LG, as quote by Finegan, American English conversation shows a
strong preference for do not have the (don’t have the time, do not have the
information) and have no (has no plans, have no doubt, has none of your
character, has nothing to fear) as compared with British English.37
4. AVOIDING “DOUBLE NEGATIVES”38
(a) INCORRECT: I don’t have no money.
(b) CORRECT: I don’t have any money.
CORRECT: I have no money.
(a) is an example of a “double
negative,” i.e., a confusing and
grammatically incorrect sentence
that contains two negatives in the
same clause. One clause should
contain only one negative.
37Edward Finegan (2004),
op.cit. p. 30
38Betty Schampher Azar (1989),
CHAPTER III
RESEARCH FINDINGS
A. Data Description
In the data description, the writer tabulates the selected data which are taken
from the script of Precious below:
you, mama!
movie by comparing with Standard English. The writer analyses the grammatical
features of AAVE as follows:
1. Absence of copula
Copula is a technical term for the auxiliary verb that takes the forms be, being,
am, are, is, was and were.39 Copula absence refers to sentences in AAVE that do
not have a form of the copula be, especially the singular, whose absence
distinguishes AAVE from other American dialects, standard and vernacular.40
There is a myth about AAVE that it is popular, copula is carelessly omitted or is
used in incorrect forms.41
In AAVE, the copula (the verb to be) is absent in situations where SAE would
use it, particularly when it can be contracted in SAE, it can’t be deleted in
AAVE,42 as shown in the following sentences:
AAVE SAE
He nice. He is nice. / He’s nice.
They mine. They are mine. / They’re mine.
However, AAVE doesn’t delete the copula where it cannot be reduced in SE in
sentence-final position like I ain’ the one did it, he is (SE: I am not the one did it,
he is) for emphasis as Allah is God, and Questions, for instance He ain’ home, is
he? (SE: he is not at home, is he?). 43
Precious uses structures that lack the copula. In all of the movie script
investigated by the writer, many examples of copula deletion were found, as in
these dialogs:
(1) PRECIOUS (V.O.): This bitch crazy. 'Sides, my muver don't want to get cut off welfare and that's what Mrs. Lichenstein comin' to visit result in. It's hard to believe a hoe dis retarded sposed to educate somebody.
40Arthur K. Spears.
On Shallow Grammar: African American English and the Critique of Exceptionalism. Accessed on July 11, 2010. http://www.arthurkspears.com/papers/shallow-grammar.pdf. P.5.
41Geoffrey K. Pullum, loc.cit.
42Victoria Fromkin and Robert Rodman (1998)
op.cit. p. 415.
43Rosemary Beam de Azcona.
Comparing with Standard English, it becomes:
This bitch is crazy. Besides, my mother doesn't want to get cut off
welfare and that's what Mrs. Lichenstein coming to visit result in. It's hard
to believe a hoe this retarded supposed to educate somebody.
(2) PRECIOUS: You gonna be okay Mr. Wicher?
MR. WICHER: (forcing a smile) Of course Precious. Thank you.
Translating into Standard English:
PRECIOUS: Are you going to be okay Mr. Wicher?
From the dialogs, the writer discovers that the speaker leave out the verbs is
and are indicating present states and actions.
Absence of copula is also found in the question form as in this dialog:
(3) PRECIOUS: I need to see Nurse John. Where Nurse John at? NURSE: He's on break. He’ll be back soon. Have a seat.
In Standard English it means:
PRECIOUS: I need to see Nurse John. Where is Nurse John?
Absences of auxiliary are also found in the movie.
(4) PRECIOUS: What you want?
MRS. LICHENSTEIN (O.S.): I want to talk to you about your education.
Standard English uses auxiliary do or does in the sentence. So, in Standard
English, it sentence means What do you want?
2. Invariant be
The most distinguishing feature of AAVE is the use of forms of be to mark
aspect in verb phrases. The use or lack of a form of be can indicate whether the
expressed only using adverbs such as usually.44 Invariant habitual be is an
auxiliary verb form occurring in AAVE that is never conjugated; it signals
habitual aspect—the occurrence of an event or state over a significantly long
period of time (length depending on the social context).45
The aspectual marker ‘be’ can occur in front of ‘ing’-forms, adjectives, nouns
or prepositional phrases. It most frequent with –ing forms. This feature does not
appear as often as the zero copula in the movie. The writer only found Precious
uses the invariant be twice.
(5) PRECIOUS: I always be fallin like that when my mind be wanderin. Mama say I gonna fall to my death one day. Wonder what that be like?
SE: I always fall like that when my mind is wandering. Mama says I
am going to fall to my death one day. Wonder what that is like?
It is found in the script that habitual be is used. It occurs in front of ‘ing’-forms,
be falling, and adjectives, be wandering. In Standard English, it is used adverb
always to state habitual action.
(6) PRECIOUS (V.O): I am happy to be writing. I am happy to be in school. I am happy to know my baby coming soon. Don’t see the pretending I am not pregnant anymore. I am also thinking about lil Mongo a lot. Miz Rain say we gonna write everyday, that mean home too.
Similar sentences in the Standard English will be written:
I am always happy to write. I am happy to be in school. I am happy
to know my baby is coming soon. Don’t see the pretending I am not
44Anonymous,
African American Vernacular English. Accessed on April 29, 2010. http://www.experiencefestival.com/african_american_vernacular_english.
pregnant anymore. I am also thinking about little Mongo a lot. Miz
Rain say we gonna write everyday, that mean home too.
Using be in front of –ing form in AAVE to indicate habitual action is different
with Standard English that uses adverb like always and usually. The sentence I
always be fallin like that when my mind be wanderin means the speaker do it
repeteadly.
To conclude, habitual be, used in the dialogs, is used to indicate repeated,
habitual action. It means that something is done usually, repeatedly or in a
habitual manner, which is in contradiction with the Standard that uses be as either
auxiliary or copulative verb it functions either as a helper or a link between
subject and complement.
3. Regular and Irregular past verbs
In AAVE, regular past is not obligatory. It frequently omitted. Green, as quote
by Oetting and Pruitt, states that internal markers of tense are often required in
AAE. However, for irregular past tense, Green states that internal markers of tense
are often required in AAE. However, over-regularized forms (e.g., falled) and
forms a typical of Standard American English (e.g., drunk, brung, had fell, had
walked) may be produced within these contexts.46
As observe in the dialogs:
(7) PRECIOUS: ...Sometimes I see vampires too. They come for me sometimes and they say that I am one of them. They say, "Precious, you belong wif us." (SE: “Precious, you belong with us”).
46Janna Oetting and Sonja Pruitt,
MS. WEISS: How do you respond to them?
PRECIOUS: I say, "Check wif my muver." After that, they just look at me and go down through the floor. The family downstairs is vampires so that's where they should go. (SE: "Check with my mother."
PRECIOUS: I'm going to the doctor now too. It's nice. Miz Rain, she
fall out when she finded out that I ain' been to no doctor. Whole
class scream 'preenatal' at me. They don't know I had my first baby on the kitchen floor wif my muver kicking me upside my head. I mean, who would believe?
Grammatically in Standard English becomes:
PRECIOUS: I'm going to the doctor now too. It's nice. Miss Rain, she
fell out when she found out that I haven’t gone to any doctor.
Whole class screams 'prenatal' at me. They don't know I had my first
baby on the kitchen floor with my mother kicking me upside my head.
I mean, who would believe?
(8) PRECIOUS (O.S.): My grandmuver Toosie, brangs Little Mongo
over on days social worker come so it look like Mongo live wif us.
Then my mama get the check 'n food stamps for me 'n Little Mongo. But it's my baby. Little Mongo is money for me, not her!
SE: My grandmother Toosie, brought Little Mongo over on days
social worker come so it look like Mongo live with us. Then my mama
got the check 'n food stamps for me 'n Little Mongo. But it's my baby.
Little Mongo is money for me, not her!
The dialog shows the regularization of past tense, the verb finded, uses in the
dialog, indicates past activity. Grammatically, Standard English differentiates
regular and irregular verb. Regular verb is formed by adding –ed to the verb as
becomes wrote. The verb finded in this dialog translated into Standard English
becomes found. In addition, brangs means brought in Standard English.
4. Subject-verb agreement
Based on the theory of the grammar of Standard English, verb must agree with
the subject. It sometimes doesn’t happen in AAVE. In the script the writer found
there are some sentence that the verb is not agree with the subject, as in the dialog:
(9) PRECIOUS (V.O.): Plus she say who wanna see me dancing anyway. I
goes to I.S. 111. In Harlem. New York. Today I was almost late.
That'd a been a problem.
Comparing with Standard English, it will be written:
PRECIOUS (V.O.): Plus she said who want to see me dancing
anyway. I go to I.S. 111. In Harlem. New York. Today I was almost
late. That'd a usually been a problem.
It also occur these dialogs:
(10) PRECIOUS: Nobody love me. Thas a lie. (SE: Nobody loves me. Tht’s a lie)
MS. RAIN: People do love you Precious.
PRECIOUS: Please don't lie Miz Rain! Love?! Me?! Love rape me, beat me, call me animal, get me sick and make me feel wurfless. I had enough love. (SE: Please don't be lying Miss Rain! Love?! Me?! Love raped me, beat me, called me animal, got me sick and made me feel wordless. I had enough love.)
MS. RAIN: That wasn't love. There are people child loves you too. Is that clear Precious? Now if Rita decided to just give up? Would you let her?
Nobody is identified as singular form in Standard English. So it must adding
suffix –s in the verb following it. No signaling of the third-person singular in the
5. No signaling of the third-person singular in the present tense of the verb
Another characteristic of AAVE is absence of signaling of the third-person
singular in the present tense of verb. The standard prescribes that when the subject
is occupied by a third-person singular noun, the verb must be inflected with -s/-es.
For instance, he turns down that offer. In contrast, grammatical system of AAVE
ignores such that. As indicated in the dialogs:
(12) PRECIOUS (V.O.): Off da bat sumthin' different wif dis lady. She
like to sing. I wish I could sing. Go to church. Sing on a choir. Mama
say ain’t no God. Dis lady remind me Mr. Wicher but more a man and like Miss Lichenstein 'cept not a cuckoo. Dress like she ride in out the village too.
SE: Off the bad something different with this lady. She likes to sing. I
wish I could sing. Go to church. Sing on a choir. Mama said we didn’t
have any God. this lady reminds me to Mr. Wicher but more a man and
like Miss Lichenstein except not a cuckoo. Dress like she rides in out
the village too.
(13) PRECIOUS (V.O.): His name Abdul Jamal Louis Jones. He healthy.
His muver love him.
SE: His name is Abdul Jamal Louis Jones. He is healthy. His mother
loves him.
“She” as a third-person singular must be followed by an inflected auxiliary
“likes”, and “His mother” must be followed by an inflected auxiliary “loves”.
6. Aspectual Marker been
The aspect marked by stressed 'been' has been given many names, including
Perfect Phase, Remote Past, Remote Phase. With non-stative verbs, the role of
completion of the action. A Standard English equivalent is to add "a long time
ago". For example, She been tell me that translates as, "She told me that a long
time ago".
However, when been is used with stative verbs or gerund forms, been shows
that the action began in the distant past and that it is continuing now. A better
translation when used with stative verbs is "for a long time". For instance, in
response to "I like your new dress", one might hear Oh, I been had this dress,
meaning that the speaker has had the dress for a long time and that it isn't new.
From the dialog in the script, the writer found the using of been:
(14)PRECIOUS (V.O.): Today is first day. I been tessed. I been incomed
eligible. I got my medicaid card, proof of address, self, pencil,
notebook -alla dat shit.
Been in that sentence functions as perfect phase marker. It is similar with the
using of perfect tense in Standard English.
SE: Today is the first day. I have been tested. I have been income
eligible. I got my Medicaid card, proof of address, self, pencil,
notebook –all of that shit.
Besides, it also shown in this voice over:
(15)PRECIOUS (V.O.): Abdul nine months old and walking! Smart too. I
been reading to him since the day he was born almost. Barely
talkin' and he countin' .
SE: Abdul is nine months old and walking! He is smart too. I have
been reading to him since the day he was born almost. I am barely
Been is also indicates the activity took place in the distant past and that it is
continuing now.
7. Use Ain’t for negation
In these varieties ain’t is used in those places where Standard English uses
be+not or have+not. In these varieties ain’t is restricted to present tense contexts.
In these non-standard White varieties of English, ain’t never appears where
Standard English has past tense forms of be+not or have+not or do + not
(was+not, were+not, had+not, did+not). However in AAVE, ain’t can appear in
past tense contexts.47 Furthermore, it said by Howe that the using of this negative
form in the environment of have + not, be + not, and do + not, in both present and
past temporal contexts.48
Wolfram, as quote by Howe , states, “the correspondence of standard English
didn’t [with ain’t] has only been found in Vernacular Black English varieties. The
regular use of ain’t for didn’t in modern AAVE appears to be a recent
development.49
Ain’t was found in the following dialogs:
(16) CORNROWS: You still need formal discharge papers or we can't let you in. It's the law.
PRECIOUS: Mrs. Lichenstein ain' say all that.
SE: Mrs. Lichenstein didn't say all that.
47
Jack sidnell, African American Vernacular English (AAVE) Grammar. Accessed on July 11, 2010. http://individual.utoronto.ca/jsidnell/SidnellAAVEGrammar.pdf.
48Darin Howe,
Negation in African American Vernacular English. Accessed on April 29, 2010. http: www.uni-giessen.de/anglistik/.../HOsEnglishDialects/HO%20Holder.doc, p. 174.
As mentioned earlier, ain’t is used in AAVE where be not, do not, and have not
would be used in Standard English. In that sentence ain’t is similar with didn’t to
mark negative form in the past in Standard English.
Using of ain’t is also found in the question form like this:
(17) RUBY: Precious when we gon' play? (SE: when we are going to play?)
PRECIOUS: (without turning around) Ain' you s'posed to be in school? (SE: Don’t you supposed to be in school?)
RUBY: You said we was gon' play. (SE: you said we were going to play)
PRECIOUS: See, thas jus exackly why we ain' gon' be playin'. I never said nuffin like it. (SE: See, that’s just exactly why we are not going
to play. I never said anything like it.)
The using of ain’t in that sentence similar with the using of to be + not, in this
case are not.
8. Negative concord (Double or Multiple negation)
In AAVE, speakers can produce as many negations as they like. It is to be
noted that multiple negation is used in white non-standard English, and was used
in Old and Middle English as well. The feature is thus not something peculiar in
AAVE, yet widely used among AAVE speakers, and therefore included in this
investigation.
There are a few cases of multiple negation in Precious dialogs. In fact, all
sentences in which there is negation are formed according to AAVE standards:
Double negations were used instead of the terms anyone/anybody and anymore, as
in the following dialogs:
(18) MR. WICHER: Class, would you please turn to page 122 ...Class! 122!
SE: I like math but I don't say anything-don't open my book even.
Just sit there.
(19) MARY: FIRST YOU STEAL MY HUSBAND, AND THEN YOU GET ME CUT OFF THE WELFARE YOU STUPID-MOUTH BITCH!
PRECIOUS: I AIN'T STEAL NUFFIN FROM YOU MAMA! YOUR HUSBAND RAPED ME AND I NOT STUPID! (SE: I
DIDN’T STEAL ANYTHING FROM YOU MAMA! YOUR
HUSBAND RAPED ME AND I NOT STUPID!
MARY: YOU ARE! YOU ARE TOO! YOU IS AND YOU ALWAYS GON BE NUTHIN BUT STUPID TIL THE DAY YOU DIE! YOU HEAR ME?!! STUPID!!!
Both sentences, I don't say nuffin' and I AIN'T STEAL NUFFIN FROM YOU
MAMA! are using double negatives. In Standard English, if using double
negatives in one clause, the meaning is positive, not negative. However, AAVE
permit the using of double or even multiple negations in one clause, and he
CHAPTER IV
CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS
A. Conclusions
After analyzing research findings, the writer wants to describe some
conclusions about grammatical characteristics of AAVE used in Precious movie,
adapted by Geoffrey Fletcher from Push, the bestselling 1996 novel by Ramona
Lofton, was produced by Anthony Lapaglia, and directed by Lee Daniels.
Based on the research findings, the writer concludes that the grammatical
characteristics of AAVE are used in the Precious movie including eight features.
The first is absence of copula and auxiliary. AAVE does not have a form of the
copula be, especially the singular. Absence of copula is also found in the question
form like Where Nurse John at? Precious sometimes deletes auxiliary do or does
as What you want?
Secondly, it is also found the using of habitual be. Be in AAVE is used to
indicate repeated, habitual action. For example I am happy to be writing. Then, it
uses regularization of past verbs as she fall out when she finded out that I ain'
been to no doctor. In addition, the writer found some sentences that the verb is not
agree with the subject. Moreover, there is also no signaling of the third-person
singular in present tense of verb like His muver love him. Besides, aspectual
marker been is also found. It functions as either remote phase marker or perfect
phase marker. In negative cases, AAVE using ain’t for negation and double
Grammatical characteristics of AAVE have been written in the text such as
This bitch crazy, I am happy to be writing. she fall out when she finded out that I
ain' been to no doctor, Nobody love me, His muver love him, I been reading to
him since the day he was born almost, Mrs. Lichenstein ain' say all that, I don't
say nuffin', and soon.
The comparisons of grammatical characteristics of AAVE in Precious movie
with Standard English diverge in some matters. Firstly, the usage of to be and
auxiliary that in Standard English is a must, it can be omitted in AAVE in the case
of present tense, except verb am. Then, verb be is used as habitual marker in
AAVE contrast with Standard English that uses adverb of frequently such as
always, usually, often, etc. for habitual action. In addition, subject verb agreement
is obligatory in Standard English while it can be found some cases that verb is not
agree with the subject in AAVE.
Contrast with Standard English that differentiates regular and irregular past
verb, in AAVE, it sometimes regularizes the irregular past verb form like found
becomes finded. Moreover, regular present third person singular is not obligatory,
frequently omitted. It is different from Standard English that verb following the
third person singular in present form must be inflected with -s/-es. Furthermore,
AAVE uses ain’t for negation replacing negative form in Standard English such
as isn’t or aren’t. Then, using double or multiple negations is usual. However, in
Standard English, using double negations change the meaning of the sentence into
B. Suggestions
Through this thesis, the writer suggests for those who are interested in
analyzing or comprehending the African American Vernacular English,
particularly in its grammatical characteristics, should enlarge knowledge about
AAVE from various experts and their concept for comparing them. Because of the
writer’s relatively-limited knowledge on West African language, this research
only concerns about the grammatical characteristics. There are phonological,
syntactic, and semantic characteristics of AAVE that are interesting and need to
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