African American Vernacular English

[ af-ri-kuhn uh-mer-i-kuhn ver-nak-yuh-ler ing-glish ]

noun

1. a dialect of American English characterized by pronunciations, syntactic structures, and vocabulary associated with and used by some North American Black people and exhibiting a wide variety and range of forms varying in the extent to which they differ from Standard American English. : AAVE

African-American Vernacular English

noun

1. a dialect of English typically spoken by working-class African-Americans AAVE Also calledebonics

Word History and Origins

Origin of African American Vernacular English¹

First recorded in 1990–95

Example Sentences

The rapper-turned-actor has long been accused of imitating African American Vernacular English to become famous, but dropping the blaccent when it no longer benefited her.

From Los Angeles Times

But some took offense, leading the aquarium to apologize after many on social media pointed out the terms used in the tweet come from African American Vernacular English.

From Los Angeles Times

And he was one of the first linguists to conduct a systematic study of the American dialect variously called black English, Ebonics, African American Vernacular English, or the “blaccent.”

From Washington Post

“While I highly doubt it was intentional in this meme-filled tweet, African American Vernacular English has been mocked throughout U.S. history for the amusement of white people. It’s the linguistic version of blackface.”

From Los Angeles Times