African American English
Pidgins/Creoles and African American English
ARTHUR K. SPEARS
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Introduction
This chapter deals with the relationship between African American English (AAE) and Atlantic creoles, including US English-lexifier creoles. AAE is of interest for creole studies, and language contact studies more broadly, becauseit displays some features of grammar and language use associated with creoles,i.e., features that are “creolisms.”
It is also of interest because it has been claimed by some to have had a creole predecessor, by others merely to have been influenced by creoles and West African languages to a significantly greaterextent than other American English dialects.
The term “creolism” refers spe-cifically to an AAE feature that:1is found also in at least one, usually several, Atlantic creoles, though notnecessarily in most or all of those languages;2has a meaning and function (in the case of morphology and syntax)partially or fully mirroring that of a creole counterpart; and either3ais not normally found in other English varieties, or3bis found in other English varieties and also in creoles; however, the AAEform’s grammar is closer to that of creole counterparts.
As one might expect, it cannot always be determined with certainty how wella form meets this set of criteria. The term creolism is used as a matter of convenience. This term does not deny the possibility that such forms may be the result of parallel and inde-pendent development in AAE, as opposed to being the result of a creole source,creole influence, or influence of the West African language substrate of AAE.
Thus, the use of creolism in this chapter indicates form–meaning parallels, not necessarily claims of creole sources specifically.......
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