Another Look at the Copula in Black English and Caribbean Creoles

Copula variability in Gullah

“…16 Romaine (1982), however, argued that "deletion" should be ordered before contraction and that contracted tokens should then be counted out of the remaining full and contracted forms. 17 In Winford (1992a), contracted and zero copula tokens were each counted as a percentage of all possible forms, in a manner described by Rickford et al (1991) as "straight contraction and deletion." Other studies, such as Rickford et al (1991) and Hannah (1997), applied a variety of formulas for purposes of comparison.…”

“…However, researchers examining varieties such as Samaná English (see Poplack & Sankoff, 1987) and Trinidadian Creole (see Winford, 1992a) have observed variable copula absence in these environments and have included them in their analyses. 23 Blake (1997) argued that wit constructions should be considered "don't count" cases in studies of aave copula variability, not only because of their near-categorical behavior, but also because of their tendency to occur with extremely high frequencies in the data.…”

“…One of the inconsistencies, noted by Poplack and Sankoff (1987) as well as Mufwene (1992), involves adjectival predicates, which exhibit relatively high frequencies of copula presence in aave but strongly favor copula absence in creole varieties. But studies such as Singler (1991) and Winford (1992a) have argued that, when mesolectal (Rickford et al, 1991:117) .42 .46 a .62…”

“…23. Winford (1992a), however, excluded wit subjects in his comparison of Trinidadian Creole and aave. 24.…”

“…Creolists have attempted to trace the roots of aave to creole sources (e.g., Bailey, 1965;Baugh, 1980;Dillard, 1972;Holm, 1984;Rickford, 1974Rickford, , 1977Rickford, , 19981 Stewart, 1967Stewart, , 1968Winford, 1992aWinford, , 1992bWinford, , 1998, whereas dialectologists have argued that the origins of aave may be traced to early British English sources (e.g., D 'Eloia, 1973;Ewers, 1996;Howe & Walker, 2000, Krapp, 1924Kurath, 1928Kurath, , 1949McDavid & McDavid, 1951;Montgomery, 1991;Poplack & Sankoff, 1987;Poplack & Tagliamonte, 1989, 1994, 2001Schneider, 1982Schneider, , 1989Schneider, , 1993Tagliamonte & Poplack, 1988Walker, 2000). At the forefront of this debate have been studies of the copula, inspired by the observation that patterning of the copula in aave differs significantly from patterns found in other English varieties, but resembles patterns found in certain creole varieties, particularly with regard to the effects of following grammatical systems of Gullah and aave, as well as between Gullah and other English-based creoles.…”