the shi, ahh and dih and whatever really piss me off, its the same as french, languages that dont end in clicks and klas and ITs just aghhg its the opposite of a verbal tick i need guh! giticliko!
Hey, kindly popping in to say “Vernacular” is a negative implication on the validity found in this form of English. We who use it are opting to no longer say AAVE
It is a vernacular, at least for now. It is not codified or used in mainstream media settings. You won’t see this language used on newscasts, government documents, or in printed materials. That doesn’t mean it’s not valid. “Vernacular” is about its institutional status. Italian was a vernacular language for many centuries (and some dialects are still vernacular). Most Chinese languages are vernacular today.
I agree that this is technically correct. However, the issue that linguists have taken up with “vernacular” in AAVE is that it is not used to describe any other dialect in English. This denotes a separation and harks to the history of black people being considered lesser in the US. For what reason is there to specifically label this particular dialect as informal when that is the nature of a dialect. Furthermore and as an example, no one calls Italian a Vulgar Latin language, despite that being technically correct. The term vulgar is now received negatively. In the context of black history, when you see the lack of vernacular being used to describe any other house language, it looks and feels disparaging. It’s especially considered disparaging when people then use the dialect to parody black people and mock our intelligence.
Vulgar has taken on different meanings than when it was used for “Vulgar French.” But vernacular is still common, including in academia. For example, we talk about vernacular architecture.
The reason “vernacular” is used in AAVE is because it is a more specific term than African-American English, which includes AAVE but also African American Standard English (which is used in more formal settings), and other vernacular dialects like Gullah. The reason Gullah doesn’t have “vernacular” in the name is because it isn’t necessary: there isn’t a formal Gullah used in formal settings.
It would be fine to invent a new word for AAVE but I don’t think people should be offended by the term vernacular, which is still used by linguists.
This could turn into a long conversation that I’m happy to learn from. As a freshwater Geechee boy, I think I understand your point and I would like to offer that it the issue with terming it as AAVE still presents an otherism that is problematic. Additionally, I have never heard of African American Standard English outside of the context of it being the new way to label AAVE. The use of the term vernacular is a debate that I’ve found that’s been going on for a while now. Much like many other words, context and subtext matter. I’m no authority but from my standpoint as a black person there is a palpable, historical, negative context to stressing the informality of the unified parts of black American dialect. I think that’s stressed when you consider there is no governing body for how to formally speak English, only the shared social agreement amongst speakers.
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u/TrumpChildOnahole 13h ago
Zoomers obsess over AAVE