Syntactical Features Preverbal marker of tense, aspect and mood

don‟t sing” or have instead of “has” as in “She have it” is related, since “doesn‟t” and “hasn‟t” include third singular –s Rickford, 1999: 7. In simple present tense which refers to present time. The verb after the third person singular he, she, it should be ended by –s Quirk et al, 1972:85. b. Generalization of is and was to use with plural and second person subjects i.e., instead of are and were as in “They is some crazy folk” for Standard English “They are crazy folk” or “We was there” for Standard English “We were there ” Rickford, 1999: 7. c. Use of past tense or preterite form V-ed as past participle V- en, as in “He had bit ” for Standard English “He had bitten,” or “She has ran” for Standard E nglish “She has run” Rickford, 1999: 7. To form perfective sentences, it needs have has had + past participle. The form of past participle itself can be divided into regular verb, it is usually ended with –d-ed and irregular verb, there are not basic rules to form it. d. Use of past participle form V-en as past tense or preterite form V-ed, as in “She seen him yesterday” for Standard English “She saw him yesterday” Rickford, 1999: 7. On the contrast of above characteristic, which shows the use of past tense as past participle, African American Vernacular English speaker usually uses past participle form V-en as past tense. e. Use of verb stem V as past tense or preterite form V- ed, as in “He come down here yesterday” for Standard English “He came down here yesterday.” Rickford, 1999: 7. The verb base or verb stem can also be used as past tense marker for African American Vernacular English speakers.

c. Nouns and pronouns.

A noun is a word that refers to a person, an animal, a place, a thing, an activity, or quality. In Standard English nouns, the marker of singular or plural noun is clear, which is by using suffix –s for plural or not using suffix –s for singular. Otherwise, in African American Vernacular English the marker of singular or plural noun in some situation is absent. A pronoun is a word that replaces nouns or noun phrases. Pronoun in Standard English can be divided into several types. In African American Vernacular English, the pronouns are somewhat different. Those differences of African American Vernacular English and Standard English in nouns and pronouns can be seen in the following characteristics: a. Absence of possessive –s, as in “John ø house” for Standard English “John‟s house ” Rickford, 1999: 7. To show possessive in Standard English, it needs „s after the subject whose own the object. b. Absence of plural –s, as in “two boy ø ” for Standard English “two boys.” Rickford, 1999: 7. The plural form of noun in Standard English is marked by the final –s -es after the noun. For example: “horses”, “languages”, “heroes” Quirk et al, 1972:172. c. Use of and them or nem, usually after a proper name, to mark associative plurals, as in “Felicia an‟ them” or “Felician nem” for “Felician and her friend or family or associates Rickford, 1999: 7. d. Appositive or pleonastic pronouns, as in “That teacher, she yell at the kids” for Standard English “That teacher ø yells at the kids” Rickford, 1999: 7.