First off, what is AAVE?
AAVE is a term that stands for African American Vernacular English — a dialect of American English spoken primarily by African Americans, as well as many other ethnic groups in the United States. Originating from Black slaves during the slave trade era, specifically in the southern states, this beautifully intricate linguistic variety has evolved into phrases or words that you’ll commonly see everyone use on apps like TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, or pretty much any other social media app you can find. You might even use it with your friends, but perhaps you aren’t aware of how this language came to be. Look no further, because I’ll cover all the basic information you need to understand just how deep the roots are of what many believe is just ‘slang’ today.
How did the language develop?
Well, the exact origins of AAVE are still a point of contention — linguists aren’t completely sure how the language evolved. There are two main hypotheses for this, but let’s start with what’s known as the dialect hypothesis.
The dialect hypothesis proposes that AAVE emerged from enslaved people coming from Africa and into contact with indentured servants. Indentured servitude is a type of labour in which someone is under a contract to work without any pay, typically to repay a loan for a certain period of time (much different from slavery, however). After Africans learned this dialect from the indentured servants, this eventually evolved into African American English.
The second opinion argues that AAVE actually originated from blending various West African languages with English during the slavery era. According to this theory, enslaved Africans had to develop a simplified version of English to communicate with each other and European enslavers. Due to the fact that there were numerous African languages among them, it would’ve been virtually impossible to communicate otherwise. Over time, this pidgin progressed into a creole language as the generations to come made it their native tongue, beginning to interweave features from both African languages and American English.
Of course, I’m not going to just slip in the word “Creole” without an explanation, don’t you worry — creolization is actually a common linguistic process. When speakers of different languages come into contact and need to communicate, a new language emerges with its own grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation patterns. You may have heard about Haitian Creole, a dialect that developed in Haiti through French and African people interacting, as well as other influences during colonial times. Another important thing to note is that Creoles aren’t typically mutually intelligible with any of the languages they are derived from — so don’t be surprised if you hear someone speaking a Creole language and you can’t detect any English in it!
How did AAVE spread across the U.S.?
AAVE expanded throughout the United States as Black communities migrated, particularly during the Great Migration of the early 20th century; millions sought refuge from Jim Crow segregation laws and the Ku Klux Klan to find better opportunities elsewhere. Another notable aspect about the complexity of AAVE is that it diversifies across states; for example, the dialect spoken in Baltimore differs from that in Los Angeles or New York.
This diffusion has also influenced standard English today. Phrases like..
- “Have beef with”
- “Give props”
- “Finna”
- “Throw shade”
- “Lowkey”
- “Jawn”
..Are commonly used without many speakers even realizing their origins in AAVE. Social media has only accelerated this process as slang rapidly spreads throughout music, memes, and other videos.
Stigmatized yet Glorified
Despite its intricate and organized structure, AAVE has and continues to face significant stigma stemming from pervasive racism and classism. Research confirms that AAVE is often perceived as less intelligent, even amongst Black communities, compelling AAVE speakers to adjust the way they speak usually in educational or predominantly white environments. This is known as “code-switching”.
This issue is particularly prevalent in legal settings, where studies have shown that transcriptions of AAVE are inaccurate nearly two-fifths of the time, even distorting the original testimony entirely because non-Black judges and juries frequently misunderstand testimonies delivered in AAVE.
The reality is that AAVE is just as sophisticated as standard English, possessing distinctions and subtleties that even standard English itself may lack. However, misconceptions and preconceived notions about AAVE continue to persist, sometimes leading to significant consequences for its speakers like racially motivated criticism and implicit bias simply for using it. Hopefully, by the end of this article, you’ve learned a thing or two about the language you most likely see all over the internet, and understand that it is so much deeper than just slang or a ‘lazy’ way of speaking.
Now, go on, and happy Black History Month!