[Ads-l] Antedating of "AAVE"

[Shapiro, Fred]

Excellent, Larry.  The 1991 paper you cite is the earliest known occurrence of the parent term "African American Vernacular English," so it may well be the first appearance in print of the initialism "AAVE."

Fred Shapiro



________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
Sent: Saturday, May 11, 2024 9:53 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: Antedating of "AAVE"

I find it hard to believe this acronym/initialism doesn’t go back farther. Here’s one earlier paper, cited from John Rickford’s web site, but I’m pretty sure they didn’t make up the term for the occasion.

1991    “Rappin on the Copula Coffin: Theoretical and Methodological Issues in the Analysis of Copula Variation in African American Vernacular English." <https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fjohnrickford.com%2Fportals%2F45%2Fdocuments%2Fpapers%2FRickford-1991f-Rappin-on-the-Copula-Coffin.-Theoretical-and-Methodological-issues.pdf&data=05%7C02%7Cfred.shapiro%40YALE.EDU%7Cd96fd219737f49f35aaf08dc72265077%7Cdd8cbebb21394df8b4114e3e87abeb5c%7C0%7C0%7C638510756550863368%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=GafwTc6QWW7cnX9MRHk%2B5mgXxwMZh%2BO7sF6gTcGBS6w%3D&reserved=0<https://johnrickford.com/portals/45/documents/papers/Rickford-1991f-Rappin-on-the-Copula-Coffin.-Theoretical-and-Methodological-issues.pdf>> (With A. Ball, R. Blake, R. Jackson and N. Martin.) Language Variation and Change 3.1:103-132.


The first paragraph reads:

In this article, we reopen the analysis of one of the oldest and most frequently
examined variables in the paradigm of quantitative sociolinguistics: variation
between full, contracted, and zero forms of inflected copula and auxiliary
be (henceforth "the copula") in African-American Vernacular English
(AAVE), as in "Sue is the leader," "She's happy," "He 0 talkin.”

LH


> On May 11, 2024, at 9:43 PM, Shapiro, Fred <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU> wrote:
>
> AAVE (OED 1993)
>
> 1992 _LSA Bulletin_ Oct. 12 (JSTOR)  Negative inversion in African American Vernacular English (AAVE).
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
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