why do black people use you in the wrong context? such is “you ugly” instead of “you’re ugly” I know u guys can differentiate, it’s a nuisance

leftclausewitz:

thepeacockangel:

red-dirt-roads:

thepeacockangel:

red-dirt-roads:

ace-pervert:

kingkunta-md:

miniprof:

rsbenedict:

prettyboyshyflizzy:

you a bitch

It’s called copula deletion, or zero copula. Many languages and dialects, including Ancient Greek and Russian, delete the copula (the verb to be) when the context is obvious.

So an utterance like “you a bitch” in AAVE is not an example of a misused you, but an example of a sentence that deletes the copular verb (are), which is a perfectly valid thing to do in that dialect, just as deleting an /r/ after a vowel is a perfectly valid thing to do in an upper-class British dialect.

What’s more, it’s been shown that copula deletion occurs in AAVE exactly in those contexts where copula contraction occurs in so-called “Standard American English.” That is, the basic sentence “You are great” can become “You’re great” in SAE and “You great” in AAVE, but “I know who you are” cannot become “I know who you’re” in SAE, and according to reports, neither can you get “I know who you” in AAVE.

In other words, AAVE is a set of grammatical rules just as complex and systematic as SAE, and the widespread belief that it is not is nothing more than yet another manifestation of deeply internalized racism.

This is the most intellectual drag I’ve ever read.

Isnt this just overanylyzing incorrect english?

It’s just saying, “People break rules of grammar in this manner so commonly that there is a name for it.”

Just because you point out that something is called a “dangling participle” or “unclear antecedent” doesn’t make it correct usage.

Except in dialect it is, like “correct” usage changes based on actual usage. Nice used to mean cowardly. Language evolves. Like “you a bitch” is no less clear than “you are a bitch” making it a perfectly valid linguistic construction and a perfectly workable and practical dialect. It’s correct if it’s clear, and it is clear.

It’s not grammatically correct, it’s slang.  

There’s nothing wrong with saying, “You ain’t know nothing about grammar.” but it isn’t grammatically correct.

Here’s the thing though, slang and dialect are valid, like saying standard English is more correct than dialect is silly. In British English colour is the correct spelling, in American English it’s color. In AAVE “you a bitch” is grammatically correct, it is correct within the context of the dialect. Linguists have been saying this forever. Like the standard didn’t just appear, it was set by a certain group and privileged as “correct” when really it’s just its own dialect too. Like what you’re saying is equivalent to saying “Latin grammar is wrong because it’s not correct English grammar”

If we actually took the prescriptivist ideology to heart it’s wrong to speak in a non-british accent

Specifically wrong not to use received pronunciation