But it's the difference between recognizing AAVE as its own thing, sociolinguistic warts and all, and labeling it as "broken English."
Linguistics isn't just about grammar (in fact, in linguistics "grammatical" is basically synonymous with "understood by a native speaker"), it's also about the signals we send when we speak a certain way (semantics and sociolinguistics).
Labeling AAVE as "broken English" is just a way of dismissing it and giving ourselves an excuse for not understanding it.
For example, I know plenty of successful people who have poor grammar. But nobody goes around saying they speak "broken English," and if I pointed that out everyone would think I'm an asshole.
Why don't people react the same way when we say someone speaking AAVE has "broken English?" Why is it ok to point out how "poorly" they speak?
Anyhow, all I mean to say is that the proper study of AAVE includes the idea that speaking it signals certain things about the speaker, not just its syntax, morphology, etc.
I recommend reading the research of William Labov, who has ton of work in studying the various dialects of American English.
But it's the difference between recognizing AAVE as its own thing, sociolinguistic warts and all, and labeling it as "broken English."
Linguistics isn't just about grammar (in fact, in linguistics "grammatical" is basically synonymous with "understood by a native speaker"), it's also about the signals we send when we speak a certain way (semantics and sociolinguistics).
Labeling AAVE as "broken English" is just a way of dismissing it and giving ourselves an excuse for not understanding it.
For example, I know plenty of successful people who have poor grammar. But nobody goes around saying they speak "broken English," and if I pointed that out everyone would think I'm an asshole.
Why don't people react the same way when we say someone speaking AAVE has "broken English?" Why is it ok to point out how "poorly" they speak?
Anyhow, all I mean to say is that the proper study of AAVE includes the idea that speaking it signals certain things about the speaker, not just its syntax, morphology, etc.
I recommend reading the research of William Labov, who has ton of work in studying the various dialects of American English.