LIN 1340 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Complementizer, Post-Creole Continuum, African American Vernacular English
8 Apr 2016
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Refers to non-standard varieies of aa speech spoken in north america. Roots from southern-based varieies in the states spoken by lower classes. This form has been scruinized more than any other vernacular variety in english. Aave developed from a creole language (a contact language with a specially adapted, restricted grammaical structure) which is claimed to have been used by descendants of africans in southern plantaions. The roots of aave can be traced back to the same source as anglo-american varieies: the briish. African slaves and their descendants gradually lost their ancestral languages and required social and regional varieies of english. It is claimed that they preserved briish dialect features which were later lost from mainstream. Aave is characterized by a lot of inherent variability which is socially straiied. Aave usually take as their reference point basilectal and mesolectal. Speech with friends may draw mostly from basilectal features whereas speech to (white) strangers may draw on more.
