Imagine an English lesson in a fifth grade somewhere in the USA. The class consists
of 25 pupils – ten of them are noticeably of African descent. The white teacher gives
instructions to the pupils, wanting them to write an imaginative story about a topic of
their own choice. A black boy in the last row raises his arm, asking: “So there ain’t no
restriction at all?” The teacher – visibly annoyed by the pupil’s interrogation – shouts
in his direction: “I don’t want no double negation in your texts!”
Although this story arose from my imagination, this little anecdote directly leads me to
the topic of this paper: Negation in African American Vernacular English (AAVE).
The situation described above might seem funny – especially because the teacher
uses double negation in his answer himself – but its content appears to be sad reality
for millions of black students all over the United States of America:
White teachers do not accept ‘Black Talk’ as a proper language to be used in official
institutions like schools but tend to call its speech patterns and expressions – that
have been proved by many linguists in the past decades to be part of an own scientifically
accepted language system – orthographically and grammatically wrong.
As
Geneva Smitherman states it in the preface of her book “Talking That Talk” (2000):
It [is] obvious that despite decades of research and scholarly work on Ebonics, there
are still large numbers of people who do not accept the scientific facts about this
language spoken by millions of Americans of African descent.1
Since this is the case I became interested in the specific features that make AAVE so
distinctive from other varieties of English. During my researches I found one grammatical
phenomenon that might not be completely unique to AAVE but which contains
a variety of smaller distinctive features, namely the field of negative construc-tions in AAVE. In this paper I want to investigate the various grammatical phenomena related to ne-gation in the African American vernacular. Since grammar always becomes a more lively and joyful thing to look at when it is explained with the help of examples from real life conversations or other authentic speaking situations I decided to use lyrics of Rap music written and performed by Afro-American Hip Hop artists Eric B., Rakim, Tupac Shakur and his Hip Hop group Thug Life to illustrate the grammatical rules and features discussed in this paper.
[...]
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Negation in Standard English
2.1 Formation of negative clauses in Standard English
2.2 The Scope of Negation
2.3 Semantic confusion with multiple negation
3. Negation in African American Vernacular English
3.1 The negator ain’t
3.2 Multiple negation and negative concord
3.2.1 Negative concord to verbs within the same clause
3.2.2 Negative concord to indefinites in the same clause
3.2.3 Negative concord across clause boundaries
3.2.4 Undefined types of negation
4. Conclusion
5. Sources
Research Objectives and Themes
The primary objective of this paper is to investigate grammatical phenomena related to negation within African American Vernacular English (AAVE). By analyzing linguistic structures through the lens of both academic literature and contemporary Hip Hop lyrics, the study aims to illustrate the nuances of negative concord and the socio-linguistic status of AAVE.
- The role and usage of the negator "ain't" in AAVE.
- Mechanisms of multiple negation and negative concord.
- Structural differences between AAVE and Standard English negation.
- The use of Hip Hop lyrics as authentic linguistic data.
- Historical and social implications of non-standard negative patterns.
Excerpt from the Book
3.2.1 Negative concord to verbs within the same clause
Although both varieties – Standard English and Standard French – differ in the number of necessary negative elements to form a negation they have one thing in common that sets them apart from AAVE: Whilst both first-mentioned varieties content theirselves with marking negation in the verb-phrase only to negate the whole sentence, in AAVE “a single negative proposition may be marked both within the verb phrase and on postverbal indefinites”, like in “We don’t never stop”, which is not completely distinctive from most of the English vernacular varieties.
Wolfram additionally remarks that the lower the social status of a speaker, the more frequently he makes use of multiple negation.
Another possible combination of the positions of negative elements in a sentence lies in transforming the postverbal indefinite into a preverbal one – like in: “Nobody don't care” (which is equivalent to “Nobody cares.”) – but still maintaining the verbal negative.
This negative pattern can also be inverted, shifting the verbal negative into sentence initial position. The negative indefinite therefore becomes the second element in the sentence, like in “Ain't nobody holdin’ you back” or “Don't nobody move when we walk the streets”.
Negative inversion – which might look like the formation of interrogative sentences in SE – is used in Hip Hop lyrics quite often since it is a perfect stylistic device to put emphasis on the actant of a sentence or clause, which is very important in Hip Hop music because it obviously is a genre strongly focussed on self-expression and direct speech to the recipient or a possible enemy in a ‘rap battle’.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: This chapter introduces the topic of negation in AAVE through an anecdotal scenario and contextualizes the research within the debate about the legitimacy of African American English.
2. Negation in Standard English: This section provides a linguistic overview of how negation is formed in Standard English, including the scope of negation and the semantic challenges posed by multiple negation.
3. Negation in African American Vernacular English: This central chapter explores the specific usage of the negator "ain't" and the various forms of negative concord, supported by examples from Hip Hop lyrics.
4. Conclusion: The concluding chapter summarizes the seven identified ways of negation in AAVE and reflects on the persistence of historical linguistic structures within the dialect.
5. Sources: This final section lists the print media, music tracks, and internet sources used for the compilation of the term paper.
Keywords
AAVE, African American Vernacular English, Negation, Negative Concord, Ain't, Hip Hop, Linguistics, Syntax, Negative Inversion, Semantics, Dialect, Language Variation, Standard English, Grammar, Ebonics.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this research paper?
The paper focuses on identifying and analyzing the various grammatical constructions related to negation in African American Vernacular English (AAVE).
What are the primary themes discussed in the text?
Central themes include the use of "ain't", negative concord, the syntactic structure of negative sentences, and the socio-linguistic reception of AAVE compared to Standard English.
What is the main research objective?
The author aims to investigate grammatical phenomena in AAVE, specifically demonstrating these features through authentic linguistic data derived from Hip Hop music.
Which scientific methodology does the author employ?
The methodology combines a comparative linguistic review of established academic literature with an analysis of lyrics from prominent Afro-American Hip Hop artists.
What topics are covered in the main body of the work?
The main body addresses the formation of negation in Standard English, the specific role of the negator "ain't", and detailed structural patterns of negative concord in AAVE.
Which keywords best characterize this work?
Key terms include AAVE, negative concord, syntactic patterns, language variation, and Hip Hop linguistics.
Why does the author use Hip Hop lyrics as examples?
The author believes that grammar is more engaging when explained through authentic, real-life conversational examples, which Hip Hop lyrics provide in the context of AAVE.
How is "negative inversion" used in Hip Hop music?
Negative inversion serves as a stylistic device to place emphasis on the actant of a sentence, which aligns with the genre's focus on self-expression and direct confrontation.
What does the author conclude about the historical origins of AAVE?
The author finds it impressive that modern AAVE still contains structures reminiscent of Middle English, where multiple negation was more prevalent.
- Citation du texte
- Markus Mehlig (Auteur), 2009, “I don’t want no double negation!”, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/126194
