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What 'AAVE' Means & Why White People Shouldn't Use It So Flippantly
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WHAT 'AAVE' MEANS & WHY WHITE PEOPLE SHOULDN'T USE IT SO FLIPPANTLY


THE FORM OF SPEECH EVOLVED WITHIN THE BLACK COMMUNITY.

By Isabell Tenorio — Last updated on Feb 04, 2023

Photo: Raul Mellado Ortiz / Shutterstock

For years, people have brought to light that some slang words that are used on
an everyday basis originate from African American Vernacular English, or AAVE.
And when used incorrectly, it can be harmful and disrespectful for the Black
community.



But what exactly is AAVE and how is it harmful for non-Black people to say it?
Here is a look behind the origin, and why white people shouldn’t use these terms
anymore.



RELATED: TikToker Nakia Smith Teaches The World About Black American Sign
Language — And We Love It




WHAT DOES AAVE MEAN?

AAVE stands for African American Vernacular English, and BVE stands for Black
Vernacular English (not all Black people who use AAVE identify as African
American).

AAVE is a form of speech that evolved within the Black community that
distinguishes itself from standard English due to its creative grammatical
structure, pronunciation, and vocabulary.

The language was the origin point of many slang terms, but the language isn't
all slang. It's a combination of dialects across the country that many Black
communities use to communicate with each other.

According to the Urban Dictionary, AAVE is "a uniquely American creation that
has been transformed over the course of many decades. It's a thoroughly
developed muscle of a resilient, disenfranchised people."




POPULAR AAVE PHRASES

 * Lit: Used when something is good or will become good.
 * Woke: A political term of African American origin, and refers to a perceived
   awareness of social justice issues and racial justice. Derives from the AAVE
   expression “stay woke.”
 * Ratchet: Originating as a word used to refer to a woman who was sleeping with
   a married man, it has gained popularity when referring to someone who is
   “ghetto.”
 * Sis: made popular with Black LBGT+ individuals, it derives from the word
   “sister” and is used to show familiarity with the other.
   
 * Basic: Used to describe a woman who likes mainstream trends such as products
   and music.
 * On fleek: Popularized by Vine, "on fleek" refers to something that is
   perfectly styled.
 * Twerk/Nae Nae: Dances that originated with Black culture. Twerking involves
   mostly women squatting while shaking their rear ends. Nae Nae involves
   placing one's arm in the air and swaying from side to side.
 * Yas/Yas Queen: Originating with Black individuals in the LGBT+ community, it
   is used as an exclamation.
 * Bye, Felicia: Originating from the movie “Friday,” it is a phrase to get
   someone out of your face.
   

Grammatically, the language has some rules. For example, there is an optional
tense system that is different from the standard English past tense (i.e., the
-ed at the end of a verb).

For example, let's use the action of buying something.

The past tense in AAVE would consist of "I been bought it," "I done bought it,"
"I did buy it," and "I do buy it." The present tense would be "I be buying it."
The future tenses would consist of "I'ma buy it," "I'ma gonna buy it," and "I
gonna buy it."

RELATED: White People: Cutting Off People Who Aren't 'Woke' Enough For You Only
Creates More Work For BIPOC




ORIGIN OF AAVE

It is said that AAVE shares similar features with Southern American English, but
it was born out of slavery in the United States.

Many believe the language developed in the plantations of the American South,
where African people were enslaved. The language seemed to share phonological
and grammatical features with southern dialects.

According to Language Jones, there are two competing hypotheses about the
linguistic origins of AAVE as the history of the U.S. has obscured the origins.
These two hypotheses are Creole Origin Hypothesis and Dialect Divergence
Hypothesis.


CREOLE ORIGIN HYPOTHESIS

The Creole Origin Hypothesis came from the contact between English speakers and
speakers of other languages.



This “led to the formation of a Creole language with an English superstrate but
strong pan-African grammatical influences — meaning lots and lots of English
words, but still a distinct language from English."


DIALECT DIVERGENCE HYPOTHESIS

The Dialect Divergence Hypothesis comes from the idea that AAVE is a sister
dialect of Southern American English that started diverging in the 1700s and
1800s.

According to Urban Dictionary, the language is "recently related to the
Appalachian English dialect and Cajun Vernacular English, it also contains West
African grammatical structures and pronunciations originating from black African
slaves in the American South."

RELATED: 8 Low-Key Racist Things You Need To Stop Doing Immediately




WHY WHITE PEOPLE USING AAVE IS PROBLEMATIC

When white people use terms that are part of AAVE, it erases the history behind
it. Most of the time, it’s misused or overly emphasized.



When a white person uses AAVE, such as “lit” or “bae,” it’s seen as trendy and
funny. But when those words are said by a Black person, it’s seen as “improper”
and “not smart.”




RELATED STORIES FROM YOURTANGO:

Student Expelled From School For Correcting The Director On The True Meaning Of
Juneteenth
What It Means When People Write 'GRWM' On TikTok & Other Social Media
The Origins & Meaning Of 'Rizz' — Why Using The Slang Term Is More Harmful Than
You Realize

In "Using Black Vernacular English (BVE) as a Non-Black Person Isn’t 'Woke' if
You Don't Understand the History," Anisha Phillips explains, “When white and
other non-Black people use this terminology to gain social relevance, we are
often able to turn it on and off when necessary. We can perform traditionally
Black expressions, without having to face the societal and institutional
oppression Black people often experience because of them.”

Another piece by Tylah Silva explains, “White people aren’t banned from using
AAVE either, but knowing the cultural significance is very important in the
process of not erasing it. Acknowledging that the language is not slang, and
using it in the right context is what it boils down to.

Because when white people only use AAVE to be funny or sound aggressive, they
are inadvertently stereotyping African Americans as a joke or violent people.
The quick evolution, however, that AAVE takes when white people effectively
downgrade the language as slang goes to show how ingenuitive African Americans
are.”



Just like with other forms of cultural appropriation in mainstream media, if you
criticize a Black person for using AAVE but encourage or even find humor in it
when a non-Black person talks in AAVE, that’s when it becomes an issue.

RELATED: It's Not Black People's Job To Solve Racism


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Isabell Tenorio is a writer, former contributor to YourTango, and an opinions
editor for The Pine Log. Her work covers astrology, pop culture, and
relationships.






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