African American Vernacular
English (AAVE), also called African American
English, Black
English, Black Vernacular, or Black
English Vernacular (
BEV), is a type variety (dialect, ethnolect and sociolect) of the American English language. It is known colloquially as Ebonics (a portmanteau of "ebony" and "phonics"). With pronunciation that in some respects is common to Southern American English, the variety is spoken by many blacks in the United States. AAVE shares many characteristics with various Creole English dialects spoken by blacks in much of the world. AAVE also has pronunciation, grammatical structures, and vocabulary in common with various West African languages. Ebonics is not merely just the use of urban or "slang" words, but rather it is the manipulation and transformation of the English language (ie, In the sentence "I want to have
sex with a chickenhead", a slang word is used, but the speaker is not using ebonics.)
"He workin'."- He is working (right now).
"He been hit dat from last week."- He has already had
sex with that(her), since last week.
"I'm finna go get some
chicken." I am (or possibly I am considering) going to get
chicken.
"I aint doin' nuthin' fo'dat ho."- I am not going to do anything for that whorish woman.
"Don't be tellin' me dat I can't talk good cuz I speak ebonics."- Do not tell me that I am unable to speak well just because I speak ebonics.