Habitual be
Encyclopedia
Habitual be is the use of an invariant be in African American Vernacular English
and Caribbean English
to mark habitual or extended actions in the present tense, instead of using the Standard English inflected forms of be, such as is and are.
It is a common misconception that AAVE speakers simply replace is with be across the board: "She be singing" for "She is singing." In fact, AAVE speakers use be to mark a habitual grammatical aspect
which is not explicitly distinguished in Standard English. To be singing in this sense means to sing habitually, not to be singing right now. In one experiment, children were shown drawings of Elmo
eating cookies while Cookie Monster
looked on. Both black and white subjects agreed that Elmo is eating cookies, but the black children said that Cookie Monster be eating cookies.
The source of invariant be in AAVE is still disputed because some linguists suggest it represents influence from finite be in the 17th to 19th century English of British settlers. Other linguists feel that Scots-Irish immigrants may have played a larger role since their Ulster Scots dialects mark habitual verb forms with be and do be.
African American Vernacular English
African American Vernacular English —also called African American English; less precisely Black English, Black Vernacular, Black English Vernacular , or Black Vernacular English —is an African American variety of American English...
and Caribbean English
Caribbean English
Caribbean English is a broad term for the dialects of the English language spoken in the Caribbean, most countries on the Caribbean coast of Central America, and Guyana. Caribbean English is influenced by the English-based Creole varieties spoken in the region, but they are not the same. In the...
to mark habitual or extended actions in the present tense, instead of using the Standard English inflected forms of be, such as is and are.
It is a common misconception that AAVE speakers simply replace is with be across the board: "She be singing" for "She is singing." In fact, AAVE speakers use be to mark a habitual grammatical aspect
Grammatical aspect
In linguistics, the grammatical aspect of a verb is a grammatical category that defines the temporal flow in a given action, event, or state, from the point of view of the speaker...
which is not explicitly distinguished in Standard English. To be singing in this sense means to sing habitually, not to be singing right now. In one experiment, children were shown drawings of Elmo
Elmo
Elmo is a Muppet character on the children's television show Sesame Street. He is a furry red monster and currently hosts the last full 15 minute segment on Sesame Street, Elmo's World, which is aimed at toddlers. His puppeteer, Kevin Clash, uses falsetto to produce his voice...
eating cookies while Cookie Monster
Cookie Monster
Cookie Monster is a Muppet on the children's television show Sesame Street. He is best known for his voracious appetite and his famous eating phrases: "Me want cookie!", "Me eat cookie!", and "Om nom nom nom" . He often eats anything and everything, including danishes, donuts, lettuce, apples,...
looked on. Both black and white subjects agreed that Elmo is eating cookies, but the black children said that Cookie Monster be eating cookies.
The source of invariant be in AAVE is still disputed because some linguists suggest it represents influence from finite be in the 17th to 19th century English of British settlers. Other linguists feel that Scots-Irish immigrants may have played a larger role since their Ulster Scots dialects mark habitual verb forms with be and do be.
External links
- The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000 "Be"
- The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000 "Zero Copula"