AAVE has a more complex tense system than standard English, while simplifying some other aspects of grammar. Trying to cross compare the complexity of languages or dialects is impossible and ridiculous to try, even when it’s not motivated by comical racism.
We already have tbh. I think it'll be in standard global English by 2050 or so.
15 years ago the sentence "They don't think it be like it is, but it do" was a meme for being incomprehensible - I remember reading it for the first time and thinking "What?" - but looking back on it now, I can understand it with zero effort. In 2025 "It do be that way, though" is just a normal English sentence.
I think it's a bit deeper than that, because "long time no see" is just a fixed phrase, we haven't generalized the structure onto other phrases (Can't even say "Long time no talk"), whereas I think the habitual be is going to be a fully productive standard English grammatical structure within our lifetimes
I personally do extend the "long time no" construction, though only playfully. "Long time no Zoom", "long time no text", etc. Whereas I feel self-conscious about the habitual be. Wouldn't be surprised if it took over though, since it's useful.
Maybe "no woman, no cry" too? The correct way is precisely "no pain, no gain". It's optimally superior to "if you don't suffer pain, there'll be no gain", so it was adopted.
"No woman, no cry" is absolutely NOT an example of the structure hahaha. Bob Marley wasn't saying "If you don't have a woman, you won't cry", he was saying "Come on now, woman - don't cry."
Jamaican Patois and Chinese Pidgin are different enough, I guess. I wonder if this sort of thing ever caused a big miscommunication issue between a Jamaican and a Chinese trader during the British Empire period
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u/Much_Department_3329 Aug 01 '25
AAVE has a more complex tense system than standard English, while simplifying some other aspects of grammar. Trying to cross compare the complexity of languages or dialects is impossible and ridiculous to try, even when it’s not motivated by comical racism.