Variation in African American English Verbal Morphology Following Ain’t in the Past Tense and Present Perfect
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7627342 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sabriya Fisher (Wellesley College, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 100 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 339-366 |
| Publication date | 2025-08-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Speech (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0003-1283 • E-ISSN: 1527-2133 |
| Publisher | Duke University Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1215/00031283-11014491 |
| OpenAlex | W4413420923 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 39 |
This article investigates variation in verbal morphology following negative auxiliary contractions, most notably ain’t, in past-tense and present-perfect constructions in Philadelphia African American English. Ain’t is of particular interest given its tense-aspect ambiguity, which may not overtly restrict following verbal forms in the same way as other auxiliaries. It examines 774 instances of negative auxiliary contractions (hasn’t/haven’t, didn’t, and ain’t) for whether they were followed by base (e.g., give), preterit (e.g., gave), or participle (e.g., given) verbal forms in a corpus of naturalistic speech from 42 speakers ranging in age (13–81) and social histories. Analysis of 85 present-perfect constructions shows that ain’t is followed by the same verbal forms (preterit, participle) as hasn’t/haven’t except in five rare cases (base forms) where priming by preceding forms of the same lexical verb may play a role. In the 689 past tense constructions, while the majority of verbs following ain’t are found in base form, identical to forms following didn’t, 25% of verbs are preterits. In these cases, speaker age is found to be the most influential conditioning factor. Overall results are examined in light of the structural relationship between negation and the expression of tense-aspect morphology in varieties of English
Astronomy · Linguistics · Past tense · Physics · Variation (astronomy · Verb · History · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Philosophy · Phonetics and Phonology Research · Psychology · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation
The Development of African American English
Core Syntax
African American English
The (Temporal) Semantics and (Modal) Pragmatics of the Perfect
The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language
Syntactic Structures
Black Street Speech
Mass Migration, Social Networks, and Generational Change
A Note on Ain't Vs. Didn't Negation in African American Vernacular
Reflexes of grammar in patterns of language change
The ain't constraint
The role of African Americans in Philadelphia sound change
Speech style and authenticity
The Status of ain't in Philadelphia African American English
Variability in negation in African American Vernacular English
Defaults and indeterminacy in temporal grammaticalization
The Use of the Present Perfect in Australian English
Studies in Caribbean Language
Variation and Change in Alabama English
Tense Marking in Black English
Obsolescence in the English Perfect? Evidence from Samana English
Preterite Had + V-Ed in the Narratives of African-American Preadolescents
Explanation in variable phonology
The dynamics of variation in individuals
My Presiden(t) and Firs(t) Lady Were Black
Movement Operations after Syntax
A Sociolinguistic Description of Detroit Negro Speech
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |