Agreement is a property of grammatical organization found in a pair of words in English it is between a subject and a verb, and between a determiner and a noun.
Here, a verb has to agree with its subject. For example; if the subject is third-person singular, the verb in present tense must appear with a particular marking –a final s-
Fromkin, 2000: 237. Subject-verb agreement is not only for the rule of present tense or past tense but also the auxiliary be must be appropriate with the subject. For the
past tense, the basic irregular forms of verbs must be remembered. The adding –ed at the end of a verb can’t be used.
Apart from those rules, there are other rules concerning subject-verb agreement, for instance agreement between the number of subject an d the form of
verb, etc. below are some example of violation of those rules: Table 4. The finding of the lack of subject-verb agreement
Number of data
Tenses The use of non-standard
subject-verb agreement The use of standard subject-
verb agreement
129 Present tense
Getting just as much as we is.
Getting just as much as we are.
131 I spends my money where I
treated right. I spend my money where I
treated right. 154
Here he come… Here he comes…
156 She don’t mind that rent he
be paying… She doesn’t mind that rent he
be paying… 130 Past
tense Well, go on back in the
house and let me and Bono finish what we was talking
about Well, go on back in the house
and let me and Bono finish what we were talking about
132 Me and Bono was talking
about baseball… Me and Bono were talking
about baseball… 137 He
throwed on that robe and He threw on that robe and PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
went off to look for his sickle.
went off to look for his sickle.
Looking at the use of incorrect tenses, the analysis concludes that Troy Maxon cannot master in correct tenses well. It is shown by the non-standard tenses
used by Troy Maxon. The analysis observes that it is about incorrect subject-verb agreement which has the correlation with the tenses. For example in present tense
sentences there are the sentences like I spends my money where I treated right, and Here he come…
Focusing the analysis on the way Troy Maxon produces present tense sentences, it is shown how he cannot differentiate what kind of subject followed by
verb with suffix –s. the presence of suffix –s, which is normally used for third person singular, in first person singular occurs in Troy Maxon’s utterance, for example: I
spends my money where I treated right. On the other hand, suffix –s is not used in third person singular. For instance in a present tense sentence there is the sentence
like She give it to me. In this analysis as seen from the table above, it is about the grammatical
feature which has been found in the study of the varieties of English spoken by Troy Maxon in August Wilson’s Fences, Troy Maxon in speaking Black English also
sometimes uses non-standard auxiliary. As the agreement of English auxiliaries in English grammar, the auxiliary verb do must be used for a second person singular or
a second person plural. Here, Troy Maxon uses the auxiliary verb do to follow a third PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
person singular. Another use of non-standard auxiliary verb is the auxiliary verb is in present tense and was in past tense is used for a first person plural. The auxiliary
verbs that must be applied are are in present tense and were in past tense. Troy Maxon also finds difficulty to differentiate between regular verbs and
irregular verbs. The verb throw is included in irregular verbs, but he just adds suffix – ed to symbolize past tense by changing into throwed. The correct form is threw.
From the analysis, it is shown that Troy Maxon finds difficulty when he must differentiate the function of the auxiliary verbs and he sometimes reverses in the use
of auxiliary verbs for singular and plural pronouns.
3. The Use of –be
Table 5. The finding of the use of –be
Number of data
Non-standard English Standard English
166 If you had got anywhere near the
gal, twenty minutes later you be looking to tell somebody.
If you had got anywhere near the gal, twenty minutes later you would
have been looking to tell somebody.
167 You be wanting me?
You were wanting me? 168 I
be here every night. I am here every night.
169 I be ready for you…but I ain’t
gonna be easy. I am ready for you…but I ain’t
gonna be easy.
One particular form of lack of agreement found in Black English is the incorrect use of the auxiliary verbs be. The words am, is, are, was, were, etc are
substituted by be. According to the play, Troy Maxon seldom use –be to replace am,
is, are, was, were, etc. 4. The use of
done
The use of done is one of the common grammatical features occurring in Black English. Instead of the use of done that can be found in Troy Maxon’s
utterance, the words have and has before past participle are substituted by done. Table 6. The finding of the use of done
Number Non-standard form
Standard form
170 Gabe done moved out and things
getting tight around here. Gabe has moved out and things
getting tight around here. 172
How in hell they done changed? How in hell they have changed?
179 Aw hell, I done paid for it. I done
paid for it ten times over Aw hell, I have paid for it. I have
paid for it ten times over 182 I
done learned my mistake and learned to do what’s right by it.
I have learned my mistake and learned to do what it’s right.
184 I done told you what I’m gonna
be doing. I have told you what I’m gonna be
doing. 190 I
done lost touch with everybody except Gabriel.
I had lost touch with everybody except Gabriel.
Table 6 contains the utterance using done. It happens specifically in present or past perfect tense. From the sentences above, they indicate that done have the closest
meaning to the perfective function of have in Standard English. Done is used to indicate that the action is completed. For instance, in the sentence I done learned my
mistake and learned to do what’s right by it shows that the subject, Troy Maxon, completely learn his mistake and he has known what to do. The form of the use done
in those sentences is appeared in the present perfect tense and past perfect tense.
5. The use of ain’t
Another dominant feature in Black English is the frequent use of contradictions, or short form, of certain words. Ain’t is a contradiction of the negative
forms of be, have, and do. Troy Maxon uses ain’t in daily conversation with the other characters, however, it is not used in Standard English structure.
Table 7. The finding of ain’t
Number of data
Auxiliary verb+negation
Sentence
226 am not
Naw, I ain’t mad at you, Gabe. 211
isn’t The white man ain’t gonna let him get
nowhere with that football. 230 aren’t
Ain’t you supposed to be working down there after school?
237 wasn’t Boy
ain’t working down there. 218 weren’t
Why ain’t you working?
236 hasn’t
He ain’t got to know. The man ain’t got to know my business.
209 haven’t We
ain’t finished this pint. 245 hadn’t
You ain’t wanted to talk to me for months.
You ain’t wanted to talk to me last night. 225 didn’t
I ain’t said anything about that.
Negative simple sentences in this play are negated by inserting ain’t as the negator. It seems that Troy Maxon does not differentiate the category of the subject in
the sentence. He does not give attention to the right form of negator whether the subject of the sentence is a first person singular, or second person singular, or third
person singular, or plural subject, and he also uses the word ain’t to produce present sentence, past sentence and even present or past perfect sentence.
The use of ain’t can be known that ain’t belongs to am not, isn’t, aren’t, wasn’t and weren’t by paying attention to the subject that is attached and the word
category that follows the word ain’t. Be in negative form is usually followed by present participle or active participle V-ing and adjective or adjective phrase. For
instance, am not is used by first person singular pronoun I; isn’t is normally used by he, she and it for present tense and wasn’t is used for past tense; aren’t for present
tense and weren’t for past tense are used when the subjects are second person singular pronoun and second person plural pronoun you, we and they.
Troy Maxon also uses ain’t to replace didn’t. Ain’t is similar to didn’t when ain’t is followed by infinitive Vo. As seen in the table above, ain’t also may replace
haven’t, hasn’t and hadn’t. This finding is related to Wardhaugh who say that a sentence containing ain’t is similar to a sentence containing haven’t or hasn’t 1986:
335.
6. Double Negation and Multiple Negations
Double negation in present day dialect is a survival of older forms of the language Freeborn, 1993: 41. Double negation, here, means the sentence is still
negative. Table 8. The finding of double negation
Number of data
Non-standard form Standard form
258 Legs don’t mean nothing. You
don’t mean nothing. You don’t do nothing but push them out of
Legs don’t mean anything. You don’t mean anything. You don’t do
anything but push them out of the PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
the way. way.
259 We ain’t had no yard
We had no yard 296 I
can’t give nothing else. I can’t give anything else.
The double negation in Wilson’s Fences is made by the occurrence of two negative items. According to Quirk, the effect of the double negation is to understate,
as was rather expected Quirk, 1985: 791. Those sentences can be paraphrase into positive, such as: I can’t give nothing else can be paraphrase I can give something
else. Double negation can be constructed by two negative items for instance the use double negation for negating the clause and negating the object there is a sentence
like We ain’t had no yard The double negation in this sentence is a negative clause since the word ain’t is presented to deny the whole sentence. In the sentence I can’t
give nothing else, the speaker adds nothing in his speech to emphasize that the sentence is totally negative. The use of double negation above does not have positive
meaning since the function of the second negative to emphasize the negative sentence.
The form of double or multiple negations that is usually used is the sentence consists of a negative item to negate the clause and a negative clause to negate the
object. For instance, the sentence contains two negative items namely the negator not to negate the clause and the use of negator no before the object of the sentence to
make object negations. The other examples taken from the play are: 1
I ain’t got no extra money. p. 540 2
I ain’t got no ten dollars. p. 541 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
The negation of the sentences above are expressed by the use of two negators ain’t before the verb and no before the object. In fact, the two double negation above
belongs to clause negation since the two negator is intended to stress the negative sentence.
7. Incorrect Use of Determiner and Pronoun
Most of Black English native speakers use incorrect determiner and pronoun. Them occurs mostly in the plural form, such as those.
Table 9. The finding of incorrect use of determiner and pronoun
Number of data
The use of non-standard determiner and pronoun
The use of standard determiner and pronoun
344 You can look at her and tell she
one of them Florida gals. You can look at her and tell she is
one of those Florida gals. 355
She’s my daughter, Rose. My own flesh and blood. I can’t deny her no
more than I can deny them boys. You and them boys is my family.
She’s my daughter, Rose. My own flesh and blood. I can’t deny her no
more than I can deny those boys. You and those boys are my
family.
346 Next day a truck pulled up here and
two men unloaded them three rooms
Next day a truck pulled up here and two men unloaded the three
rooms
The table above contains the speech using non-standard determiner and pronoun. It happens repeatedly in the use of pronoun those. Troy Maxon substitutes
the pronoun those with pronoun them. Here, pronoun those has function as a demonstrative pronoun. The pronoun them itself has function as an object pronoun.
Them is not only used to substitute the pronoun those, but also them is used to PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
substitute a determiner. For example: Next day a truck pulled up here and two men unloaded them three rooms. The word them three rooms should be the three rooms.
8. Incorrect Plural
In Troy Maxon’s utterance, it is found an incorrect plural form. Table 10. The finding of incorrect plural
Number of data
The use of non-standard plural form
The use of standard plural form
358 Why you got the white mens
driving and the colored lifting? Why you got the white men
driving and the colored lifting? 359
Man would sit down and eat two chickens and give you the wing.
Man would sit down and eat two chicken and give you the wing.
This table shows that Troy Maxon cannot use a correct plural form of a noun man. According to Oxford Dictionary, the plural of the noun man is men and chicken
has shown plural because it is uncountable. Chicken in this sentence means food. In Standard English that not all the form of plural nouns always are added by suffix –s.
He adds suffix –s to show some nouns are plural. What happen to Troy Maxon is that he forms the ungrammatical plural form.
9. Incorrect Past Participle
Table 11. The finding of incorrect past participle
Number of data
The use of non-standard past participle
The use of standard past participle
360 He ain’t throwed his money
away. He has not thrown his money
away. 361
That makes six or seven times I done went down there and got
him. That makes six or seven times I
have gone down there and got him.
362 I done give you everything I got.
I have given you everything I PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
got.
As seen in table 11, Troy Maxon forms the present perfect tense in incorrect form. The word throwed means the past participle of the verb throw. The verb throw
is included to the irregular basic form. The correct past participle form of throw is thrown. In sentence 361, the past participle of the verb go must be gone and the past
participle of the verb give is given.
10. Incorrect Use of Relative Clause
Sometimes, the incorrect form of relative clause appears in Troy Maxon’s utterance.
Table 12. The finding of incorrect relative clause
Number of data
The use of non-standard relative pronoun
The use of standard relative pronoun
364 Man what drove the truck give me
a book. Man who drove the truck give me
a book. Here, the relative clauses that are common to use are who, whom, and whose. In
Finch’s theory on relative clause, what which is found in the table above is not allowed to be Standard English relative clause. The correct relative pronoun which
must be used is who.
B. The Effects of the Features of Black English Structure Toward the
Understanding of the Story
To answer the second problem formulation, the open-ended questions are used to know how respondents catch what the characters speak. The questionnaire is
an indicator toward the understanding of the story. The questionnaire sheets distributed were 15 sheets. All the questionnaires were returned.
In order to know the understanding toward the story, the writer makes a questionnaire which consists of 22 open-ended questions. Those questions contain the
structure features of Black English which there are two or three example of each feature. Here, the respondents are asked to paraphrase the question based on their
understanding in English. Paraphrasing is chosen to check the respondents understanding because it can be a measure how deep they understand those questions
which consist of Black English features.
1. The Result of the Questionnaires Based on the Respondents’ Category
The analysis of the result of the study will be defined into two groups; they are the respondents whose L1 is English and the respondents whose L1 is not
English.
a. Answers from the respondents whose L1 is English
First, the writer will analyze the American Native Speaker R1. The writer finds only one mistake in the questionnaire that was filled by the American
Native speaker. Actually it surprises the writer that the mistake lies on the S20 because she does not fill the question. Nevertheless she can answer the other
twenty one questions correctly and perfectly. She also can paraphrase those sentences well. For examples:
No. Sentences Paraphrases
258. Legs don’t mean nothing. You
don’t mean nothing. You don’t do nothing but push them out of
the way. You’re not important.
344. You can look at her and tell she
one of them Florida gals. You can tell she’s from Florida.
358. Why you got the white mens
driving and the colored lifting? Why are the white men doing the
easy work?
Her answer shows that she can understand what the sentences mean. Such as in sentence number 258, she does not revise the double negation but she just
changes into a simple sentence which is easier to accept the meaning. She also can answer the Black English feature of the use incorrect determiner and pronoun
correctly. Although she does not change them into those, she can catch the meaning that the girl in that sentence looks like a girl comes from Florida.
The next analysis is the answer from the Swiss’ girl R2. Although she is from Swiss, she only speaks English. She has answered the questionnaires
perfectly because the writer does not find any mistakes in her answers. Her experience speaking English in correct structure makes her revise all the
sentences into good sentences based on the Standard English structure.
b. Answers from the respondents whose L1 is not English
The analysis focuses on the results from the students in 8
th
semester from Sanata Dharma University and always gets GPA above 3 who have ever got
Sociolinguistics in 5
th
semester. They are called as R3, R4, R5 and R6. From the answer sheets that have been distributed to those students, the writer finds three
students answer those sentences mostly correct and only one student gives three wrong answers. R3, R4 and R5 have paraphrased most of all sentences correctly.
Their answers are quite similar because they just revise the sentences into Standard English sentences. They have good knowledge in the features of Black
English structure proven by their ability to fill the questionnaires with little mistakes although they need more or less an hour to do it.
The writer will move to show the answers given by the clever respondent in 8
th
semester R6 who has made three wrong answers in the questionnaire. The list below shows her mistakes.
No. Sentences Paraphrases
207. I ain’t lying. I am lying.
209. We ain’t finished this pint. We finished this pint.
360. He ain’t throwed his money away.
He throwed his money away. The tables above shows that her answer can change the understanding of the
story toward the meaning because the word ain’t means the negative forms of be, have, and do while her answer means those sentences are positive. Her answer in
S207 seems that ain’t is an auxiliary verb be. However in S209 and S360, she just omits ain’t so that she makes the sentence into positive past tense sentence. Her
