English, African-American Vernacular

African-American English (AAE) is a range of ethnically distinctive varieties of North American English, including regional and social dialects, Standard AAE, and Sea Island Creole English (Gullah). The best known variety, African-American vernacular English (AAVE), is associated with urban culture, working-class and younger speakers, and informal contexts, but it has been stigmatized and misrepresented. Characteristic modes of indirect discourse and uncensored speech reflect speaking rules imposed during slavery. Syntactic research on verb phrase, negation, nominal inflection, and pronoun selection demonstrates distinctive grammatical features, linked to Caribbean creoles but also converging with other American English dialects. Many phonological features are shared with Southern White vernacular English, but AAVE speakers do not participate in mainstream American chain shifts. © 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.