African-American Vernacular English

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African-American Vernacular English (AAVE), sometimes controversially known as Ebonics, is the variety of English natively spoken by most working-class and middle-class Black Americans. This variety is also spoken among some Black Canadians. Having its own unique grammatical, vocabulary, and accent features, AAVE is employed by middle-class Black Americans as the more informal and casual end of a sociolinguistic continuum. However, in formal speaking contexts, speakers tend to switch to more standard American English grammar and vocabulary, usually while retaining elements of the vernacular (non-standard) accent. AAVE is widespread throughout the United States, but it is not the native dialect of all Black Americans, and a small number of its speakers are not Black Americans. Like most varieties of African-American English, African-American Vernacular English shares a large portion of its grammar and phonology with the regional dialects of the Southern United States, and especially older...

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