AAVE

American  

abbreviation

1. African American Vernacular English.

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AAVE British  

abbreviation

1. African-American Vernacular English

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Usage

African American Vernacular English is a designation used by linguists to describe a North American dialect of English used by some Black people. Like older names for this dialect, the full term is usually used only once or twice to introduce it in writing or speech; thereafter the abbreviation (AAVE) is used, with the result that the abbreviation is far more common than the expanded form, especially in the fields of linguistics, sociolinguistics, and sociology.

Example Sentences

Monroe said she’s also been bothered by celebrities who try to speak AAVE.

From Washington Post • Aug. 17, 2022

A few weeks ago, Celsius owed nearly $650 million to the platforms Maker, AAVE, Notional Finance and Compound, collateralized by about $1.6 billion in crypto.

From New York Times • Jul. 15, 2022

For example, in AAVE, the word been is often placed before a verb in order to convey a past event: for example, “He been married” rather than the General American English “He was married.”

From Textbooks • Dec. 21, 2021

“She chonk” becomes problematic when the word “is” is removed because such phrasing also is used in AAVE.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 20, 2018

In predominantly black areas like east Palo Alto and Oakland, California, Baugh made slightly more viewing appointments when he used AAVE, compared to standard English or Chicano English.

From Slate • Jul. 20, 2018