Home Linguistics & Semiotics 15. Bare nouns in African American English (AAE)
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15. Bare nouns in African American English (AAE)

  • Arthur K. Spears
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Noun Phrases in Creole Languages
This chapter is in the book Noun Phrases in Creole Languages

Abstract

Bare count (and mass) nouns, defined as nouns with no determiner or number suffix, occur in African American English, a partially restructured, noncreole language. It is noteworthy that bare nouns in AAE may take definite and generic interpretations. Bare nouns with defi nite interpretations were previously believed to occur in creoles outside the Americas only. However, these bare nouns occur in Palenquero, a creole spoken in Columbia. Bare nouns with generic interpretations are common across creoles but, interestingly, do not occur in non-African American dialects of English in the U.S. Bare count nouns with a definite interpretation are limited to subject position in fi nite sentences. This suggests that the bare noun may in fact contain a null determiner bound by a possibly null sentence topic, as might be the case in some creole languages. However, this analysis does not hold for a bare singular in the scope of negation. In such cases, we could assume that the null determiner is bound by a NEG/existential operator.

Abstract

Bare count (and mass) nouns, defined as nouns with no determiner or number suffix, occur in African American English, a partially restructured, noncreole language. It is noteworthy that bare nouns in AAE may take definite and generic interpretations. Bare nouns with defi nite interpretations were previously believed to occur in creoles outside the Americas only. However, these bare nouns occur in Palenquero, a creole spoken in Columbia. Bare nouns with generic interpretations are common across creoles but, interestingly, do not occur in non-African American dialects of English in the U.S. Bare count nouns with a definite interpretation are limited to subject position in fi nite sentences. This suggests that the bare noun may in fact contain a null determiner bound by a possibly null sentence topic, as might be the case in some creole languages. However, this analysis does not hold for a bare singular in the scope of negation. In such cases, we could assume that the null determiner is bound by a NEG/existential operator.

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgment ix
  4. Part I: An introduction
  5. 1. Noun phrases in creole languages 3
  6. Part II: Portuguese-lexified Creoles
  7. 2. Bare nouns and the nominal domain in Santome 37
  8. 3. On the syntax and semantics of DP in Cape Verdean Creole 61
  9. 4. Papiamentu and Brazilian Portuguese 107
  10. 5. On the interpretation of bare noun phrases in Guinea-Bissau Portuguese Creole (Kriyol) 145
  11. Part III: Spanish-lexified Creoles
  12. 6. Some aspects of NPs in Mindanao Chabacano 173
  13. 7. Bare nouns in Palenquero 205
  14. Part IV: French-lexified Creoles
  15. 8. Bare nouns in Réunionnais Creole 225
  16. 9. The bare NP in Lesser Antillean 243
  17. 10. Bare NPs and deficient DPs in Haitian Creole and French 265
  18. Part V: A comparison of romance Creoles
  19. 11. Implicit determination and plural 301
  20. Part VI: English-lexified Creoles
  21. 12. Bare nouns and articles in Sranan 339
  22. 13. Aspects of the syntax and semantics of bare nouns in Jamaican Creole 383
  23. Part VII: African American English
  24. 14. NPs in aspectual Be constructions in African American English 403
  25. 15. Bare nouns in African American English (AAE) 421
  26. Part VIII: Dutch-lexified Creoles
  27. 16. Bare nouns in Berbice Dutch Creole 437
  28. Part IX: A Synthesis and a postface
  29. 17. Properties of noun phrases in creole languages 461
  30. 18. Functional deficiency, ellipsis or innovation in creole languages? 471
  31. Index 485
https://doi.org/10.1075/cll.31.23spe

Chapters in this book

  1. Prelim pages i
  2. Table of contents v
  3. Acknowledgment ix
  4. Part I: An introduction
  5. 1. Noun phrases in creole languages 3
  6. Part II: Portuguese-lexified Creoles
  7. 2. Bare nouns and the nominal domain in Santome 37
  8. 3. On the syntax and semantics of DP in Cape Verdean Creole 61
  9. 4. Papiamentu and Brazilian Portuguese 107
  10. 5. On the interpretation of bare noun phrases in Guinea-Bissau Portuguese Creole (Kriyol) 145
  11. Part III: Spanish-lexified Creoles
  12. 6. Some aspects of NPs in Mindanao Chabacano 173
  13. 7. Bare nouns in Palenquero 205
  14. Part IV: French-lexified Creoles
  15. 8. Bare nouns in Réunionnais Creole 225
  16. 9. The bare NP in Lesser Antillean 243
  17. 10. Bare NPs and deficient DPs in Haitian Creole and French 265
  18. Part V: A comparison of romance Creoles
  19. 11. Implicit determination and plural 301
  20. Part VI: English-lexified Creoles
  21. 12. Bare nouns and articles in Sranan 339
  22. 13. Aspects of the syntax and semantics of bare nouns in Jamaican Creole 383
  23. Part VII: African American English
  24. 14. NPs in aspectual Be constructions in African American English 403
  25. 15. Bare nouns in African American English (AAE) 421
  26. Part VIII: Dutch-lexified Creoles
  27. 16. Bare nouns in Berbice Dutch Creole 437
  28. Part IX: A Synthesis and a postface
  29. 17. Properties of noun phrases in creole languages 461
  30. 18. Functional deficiency, ellipsis or innovation in creole languages? 471
  31. Index 485
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