User:Skakkle/nigga (AAVE)


 *  Here's the deal folks: This page focuses on a descriptive linguistics approach. It observes usage without making cultural judgements— this is its primary task. After usage is described in an accurate and fulsome way, larger societal norms and social phenomena can be explored, as a secondary task, and beyond.


 *  Here's the deal folks #2: Since the topic here centers on Black people & Black culture, this page refers to "non-Black people" collectively. This is not necessarily a helpful category in most other contexts.


 * How to read this page: you must understand what a referent and an addressee are.

In African American Vernacular English (AAVE), the term nigga is most commonly used to refer to, or address, men and boys- singularly or plurally. It is functionally synonymous with "men" or "boys", but its social valence is of course very different. That the social valence of different terminologies can be so different while their grammatical function is equivalent shows us how AAVE is different from Standard English. Highlighting these side-by-side insights (about the social realm + about the communication function) is the purpose of sociolinguistics- or in this case- ethnolinguistics. Both varieties are natural languages. (See high & low linguistic varieties.)

Observing the cultural-language-use shows us these linguistic and social facts with ease. It's as easy as opening your mouth (experimentally, as a natural speaker), or your ears (as an observer/ scientist), without the baggage of being a social participant.


 * ''Important note: this page does not directly cover usage of the closely related term written as "nigger", which is a sometimes-homonym of "nigga".

Social usage and grammatical variables
In any language, functionally- the speakers and addressees of, and referents in a proposition can be almost anything or any person from any group. According to social rules, those variables are more narrowly prescribed.

Different referents and addressees
The term "nigga" is

somewhat common

 * used by
 * Black men and boys
 * Black women and girls
 * non-Black men


 * to refer to or address
 * other black men and boys, singularly or plurally
 * mixed-gender group of approximately 3 or more Black people. Such a group is often composed of 50% males or more. (second most common)
 * non-Black men, and less commonly (second most common)
 * non-Black boys (third most common)

Note: all cases, the singular form is common, and plural is less common but valid.

almost never

 * It can be used for a group of Black women and girls too, but this is far less common. Singular form is rare.
 * It is almost never used, except as a transgression, to refer to white women or girls.

Different speakers
As an ethnolect, African American Vernacular English (AAVE) in general is spoken primarily and natively by Black Americans. The term "nigga" is most commonly used by Black speakers in speech which is heavily or partially AAVE, and not within standard English speech. In fact, use of the word "nigga" is a common signal that delineates which variety is being used.

Non-Black people and AAVE
Many non-Black people have decent comprehension of AAVE, particularly (non-Black) Americans. Many can speak it some, especially by way of exposure to Black people at a young age. (That is, as with any language variety, the closer the native speakers are to the inside of your home, the more native that variety is for you.

Many non-Black people can and do use AAVE, but usage of "nigga" by non-Black individuals is controversial at best, and commonly considered taboo and racist. Such usage is a provocation and often gravely insulting.

The test
Are you unsure about any of this? You may be a non-Black person. You can test the principles described on this page- simply picture a trusted famous user of the term "nigga", or do an impression of them. Someone like Denzel Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Dave Chappelle, or Cardi B.

Try different addressees or referents (see examples listed above). It will quickly become apparent which ones make sense and which don't.

You can also imagine a speaker who is not a trusted speaker of AAVE. This will quickly illustrate the social norms at work here.

The value of the test
Performing this test is an innovative way to peek at how race relations relates to cultural hierarchy. It also lets us observe covert prestige. It helps us understand how cultural appropriation works and how it sometimes relates to gender.