The Zero Copula
April 27, 2021 5:52 PM Subscribe
"[Z]ero copula refers to the absence of an explicit auxiliary verb (usually a form of the verb be) in certain constructions where it is customarily found in standard English [... it] is one of the most 'distinctive and identity-affirming' characteristics of African-American Vernacular English (AAVE)."
This post was deleted for the following reason: Poster's Request -- loup
Somebody [has] set us up the bomb.
Zero wing copula.
posted by otherchaz at 6:47 PM on April 27, 2021 [10 favorites]
Zero wing copula.
posted by otherchaz at 6:47 PM on April 27, 2021 [10 favorites]
Zero copulas given.
posted by zamboni at 6:52 PM on April 27, 2021 [12 favorites]
posted by zamboni at 6:52 PM on April 27, 2021 [12 favorites]
Also in Attic Greek! E.g., a saying attributed to Callimachus: "μέγα βιβλίον μέγα κακόν" ("[a] big book [is] [a] big evil"). I think there it lacks the preference for occurring after a pronoun subject rather than a noun, though.
posted by praemunire at 6:53 PM on April 27, 2021 [9 favorites]
posted by praemunire at 6:53 PM on April 27, 2021 [9 favorites]
Thanks for the habitual be link, taquito sunrise. AAVE uses "be" in places where standard English doesn't (habitual), then omits it in places where standard English has it (zero copula). And the choice to do that changes the meaning subtly in both cases, it's quite expressive.
posted by Nelson at 7:01 PM on April 27, 2021 [14 favorites]
posted by Nelson at 7:01 PM on April 27, 2021 [14 favorites]
Francis Ford Copula a great director.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:38 PM on April 27, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 7:38 PM on April 27, 2021 [4 favorites]
I thought zero copula was celibacy
posted by allegedly at 7:40 PM on April 27, 2021 [12 favorites]
posted by allegedly at 7:40 PM on April 27, 2021 [12 favorites]
I was just thinking about this construction today, without knowing its name.
There’s a bit in Stan Against Evil wherein the sheriff asks the deputy,
“What happened to the erotic bakery?” and he responds,
“Caligula’s Fist? Oh, they closed.”
And from hearing it, you can tell he means “they did close,” but written down, it could just as easily mean “they are closed.”
I love learning language things.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 7:51 PM on April 27, 2021 [5 favorites]
There’s a bit in Stan Against Evil wherein the sheriff asks the deputy,
“What happened to the erotic bakery?” and he responds,
“Caligula’s Fist? Oh, they closed.”
And from hearing it, you can tell he means “they did close,” but written down, it could just as easily mean “they are closed.”
I love learning language things.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 7:51 PM on April 27, 2021 [5 favorites]
Zero copula? Yes, I barely know her
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 9:33 PM on April 27, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by Fiasco da Gama at 9:33 PM on April 27, 2021 [3 favorites]
Alt-f Kurtz. Not disappointed.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 11:13 PM on April 27, 2021
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 11:13 PM on April 27, 2021
Also see Negative Concord in AAVE (and also in other influenced-by-Southern-USA dialects)
posted by lalochezia at 12:05 AM on April 28, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by lalochezia at 12:05 AM on April 28, 2021 [2 favorites]
The Zero Copula by Robert Ludlum: A linguist discovers a plot to control society, but realizes the conspiracy goes deeper after her research tapes reveal that she has been replaced by an impostor with a funny-sounding voice. Soon to be a film with Janelle Monae, and Mads Mikkelsen as the elusive Schwa.
posted by Wrinkled Stumpskin at 1:48 AM on April 28, 2021 [10 favorites]
posted by Wrinkled Stumpskin at 1:48 AM on April 28, 2021 [10 favorites]
Also in Attic Greek!
It's in a ton of languages, including Russian and the Semitic languages. It was a little weird how the article took pains to say that it wasn't "exclusively" a feature of pidgin languages, but didn't mention that it's a super common feature in languages modern and ancient all around the world. Maybe one of the reasons it's common in pidgins is that one or more of the languages influencing a given pidgin uses the zero copula or some other non-verb copula. (If any linguists are reading this, have there been studies tracing copula types in creoles and pidgins back to first-generation speakers' languages?)
posted by trig at 2:08 AM on April 28, 2021 [8 favorites]
It's in a ton of languages, including Russian and the Semitic languages. It was a little weird how the article took pains to say that it wasn't "exclusively" a feature of pidgin languages, but didn't mention that it's a super common feature in languages modern and ancient all around the world. Maybe one of the reasons it's common in pidgins is that one or more of the languages influencing a given pidgin uses the zero copula or some other non-verb copula. (If any linguists are reading this, have there been studies tracing copula types in creoles and pidgins back to first-generation speakers' languages?)
posted by trig at 2:08 AM on April 28, 2021 [8 favorites]
It has been studied! Not what I would have expected either (from the summary until I can log in to JSTOR).
posted by Wrinkled Stumpskin at 2:22 AM on April 28, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Wrinkled Stumpskin at 2:22 AM on April 28, 2021 [1 favorite]
possibly relevant if you replace 'memes' with 'languages'...
What's So Bad About Digital Blackface? - "The problem isn't that nonblack people are 'pretending to be us,' or that black people are being reduced to fungible. Digital blackface is actively skewing our perception of what blackness contains, and thus what possibilities are open to all of us, regardless of phenotype (if, that is, I and hooks are right). Importantly, though, this is possible because memes are underdetermined and fungible; it is because memes in general are open to this kind of manipulation and projection that a distinctly antiblack manipulation and projection can happen. When we realize that we can condemn this manipulation without either a) buying into cultural nationalism or b) condemning fungible memes as inherently antiblack, I think we avoid some dangerous pitfalls."
posted by kliuless at 3:45 AM on April 28, 2021 [12 favorites]
What's So Bad About Digital Blackface? - "The problem isn't that nonblack people are 'pretending to be us,' or that black people are being reduced to fungible. Digital blackface is actively skewing our perception of what blackness contains, and thus what possibilities are open to all of us, regardless of phenotype (if, that is, I and hooks are right). Importantly, though, this is possible because memes are underdetermined and fungible; it is because memes in general are open to this kind of manipulation and projection that a distinctly antiblack manipulation and projection can happen. When we realize that we can condemn this manipulation without either a) buying into cultural nationalism or b) condemning fungible memes as inherently antiblack, I think we avoid some dangerous pitfalls."
posted by kliuless at 3:45 AM on April 28, 2021 [12 favorites]
Copula deletion to mark aspect in AAVE is a venerable topic in linguistics. Indeed I’ve often used it to introduce sociolinguistics to entry-level students, albeit usually to explain “linguistic ideology” rather than to focus on grammar as such.
I didn’t see her name cited in thread, although it’s probably at some of the posted links, but in the spirit of citing great Black women scholars when we talk about their areas of influence and expertise, Harvard Prof. Marcyliena Morgan has been, in my universe, the leading, indeed precisely pioneering, scholar of AAVE for nearly 30 years.
posted by spitbull at 5:45 AM on April 28, 2021 [14 favorites]
I didn’t see her name cited in thread, although it’s probably at some of the posted links, but in the spirit of citing great Black women scholars when we talk about their areas of influence and expertise, Harvard Prof. Marcyliena Morgan has been, in my universe, the leading, indeed precisely pioneering, scholar of AAVE for nearly 30 years.
posted by spitbull at 5:45 AM on April 28, 2021 [14 favorites]
AAVE has a quite rich aspect system, in which the zero copula plays a role. Aspect is hardly covered at all in most non-linguistics-oriented English-language classes, so it's not surprising that an awful lot of American-English speakers folks don't get how the choice of phrasing and verb use reflects subtleties of what's meant.
posted by jackbishop at 8:29 AM on April 28, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by jackbishop at 8:29 AM on April 28, 2021 [5 favorites]
Wikipedia has a remarkably good article on aspects in grammar, including a chart of AAVE-unique forms. What's interesting to me is I don't even recognize half these forms and yet can immediately understand all of them. AAVE is not part of my personal heritage although of course I've grown up with it all around me like most Americans.
posted by Nelson at 9:07 AM on April 28, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by Nelson at 9:07 AM on April 28, 2021 [3 favorites]
Is there a cupola in the Attic Greek?
(Is thee a stationary store in the Wriggly Building?)
posted by The Underpants Monster at 10:20 AM on April 28, 2021
(Is thee a stationary store in the Wriggly Building?)
posted by The Underpants Monster at 10:20 AM on April 28, 2021
Labov (1969) has explained, the rule for its use is really quite simple. If you can contract be in SE [Standard English], you can delete it in AAE. That is, since 'He is nice' can be contracted to 'He's nice' in SE, it can become 'He nice' in AAE. Likewise, 'But everybody's not black' can become 'But everybody not black.' . .
The most compelling argument ive ever seen demonstrating AAVE isnt some retrograde dialect or historical artifact, it represents an entire next level progression of our* language.
Im curious about the history of the inclusion of the V in AAVE since it isnt in the 60s era quote i pulled above. . .
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 11:22 AM on April 28, 2021
The most compelling argument ive ever seen demonstrating AAVE isnt some retrograde dialect or historical artifact, it represents an entire next level progression of our* language.
Im curious about the history of the inclusion of the V in AAVE since it isnt in the 60s era quote i pulled above. . .
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 11:22 AM on April 28, 2021
I love the habitual be and I didn't know it was a thing-thing until right now.
One of the occurrences that sticks with me is in Netflix's Chefs Table BBQ series, ep 1 (which is such a fucking tearjerker that I couldn't watch any further episodes)
BBQ Owner to line cooks: Y'all ready [to open]?
Line cook: We been ready!
This has lived in my head rent free and now I know why! Thank you!
posted by some chick at 11:25 AM on April 28, 2021
One of the occurrences that sticks with me is in Netflix's Chefs Table BBQ series, ep 1 (which is such a fucking tearjerker that I couldn't watch any further episodes)
BBQ Owner to line cooks: Y'all ready [to open]?
Line cook: We been ready!
This has lived in my head rent free and now I know why! Thank you!
posted by some chick at 11:25 AM on April 28, 2021
We been ready!
This is actually a separate form--stressed BIN to use Lisa Green's way of writing it (amazing scholar, who literally wrote the book on this). There are two meanings for this BIN: one indicates that something started happening in the past, and still holds right now; to use one of Dr. Green's examples, "[The police] ain't going bad. They BIN bad".
BIN can also have a habitual meaning, but it's that something started in the past, and has continued since then habitually: so "Bruce BIN running" means something like "Bruce started running some time ago, and he still runs from time to time".
This example's the first type--describing a state that started long in the past, and continues right now (where the state = being ready).
And, for more on copulas and creoles/more Black AAE scholars, see also work by Tracy Weldon, John Rickford, and Don Winford; Winford and Rickford are also native speakers of creole languages.
posted by damayanti at 11:41 AM on April 28, 2021 [6 favorites]
This is actually a separate form--stressed BIN to use Lisa Green's way of writing it (amazing scholar, who literally wrote the book on this). There are two meanings for this BIN: one indicates that something started happening in the past, and still holds right now; to use one of Dr. Green's examples, "[The police] ain't going bad. They BIN bad".
BIN can also have a habitual meaning, but it's that something started in the past, and has continued since then habitually: so "Bruce BIN running" means something like "Bruce started running some time ago, and he still runs from time to time".
This example's the first type--describing a state that started long in the past, and continues right now (where the state = being ready).
And, for more on copulas and creoles/more Black AAE scholars, see also work by Tracy Weldon, John Rickford, and Don Winford; Winford and Rickford are also native speakers of creole languages.
posted by damayanti at 11:41 AM on April 28, 2021 [6 favorites]
Fascinating, damayanti, thank you so much for the clarification. Even better!
posted by some chick at 12:50 PM on April 28, 2021
posted by some chick at 12:50 PM on April 28, 2021
"[Z]ero copula refers to the absence of an explicit auxiliary verb (usually a form of the verb be) in certain constructions where it is customarily found in standard EnglishI've pricked up my ears on hearing the phrase "needs [to be] blanked" used by Scottish and New Zealander colleagues in recent years, which I'd previously always associated w/Southern US characters on TV, e.g. "the light needs fixed" or "the floor needs mopped". Am I right that that's an example of zero copula?
posted by I'm always feeling, Blue at 2:48 PM on April 28, 2021
"needs [to be] blanked"
It's a different structure- what this is varying with is "needs washing" (along with "needs to be washed"). This construction is common in Ohio and Indiana. More info here.
posted by damayanti at 3:36 PM on April 28, 2021 [2 favorites]
It's a different structure- what this is varying with is "needs washing" (along with "needs to be washed"). This construction is common in Ohio and Indiana. More info here.
posted by damayanti at 3:36 PM on April 28, 2021 [2 favorites]
Am I correct in this:
"John is paid for working there" -> "John be paid for working there";
but:
"John is employed there" -> "John employed there"?
posted by Joe in Australia at 4:32 PM on April 28, 2021
"John is paid for working there" -> "John be paid for working there";
but:
"John is employed there" -> "John employed there"?
posted by Joe in Australia at 4:32 PM on April 28, 2021
That link is top tier, cheers damayanti!
posted by I'm always feeling, Blue at 5:13 PM on April 28, 2021
posted by I'm always feeling, Blue at 5:13 PM on April 28, 2021
No. I'm probably oversimplifying, please don't murder me, linguists, but the "be" is habitual or imperfective.
"John be paid for working there" = "John regularly gets paid for working there" OR
"John was paid in the past, and still is paid"
"John paid for working there" = "John is paid for working there" (the most simple, declarative, neutral way of saying it)
Despite a pretty good high-school and college education, the only place I ever learned about aspect was in Greek class. English has a pretty decent aspectual system but the structure is not taught formally to most students.
posted by praemunire at 6:02 PM on April 28, 2021 [3 favorites]
"John be paid for working there" = "John regularly gets paid for working there" OR
"John was paid in the past, and still is paid"
"John paid for working there" = "John is paid for working there" (the most simple, declarative, neutral way of saying it)
Despite a pretty good high-school and college education, the only place I ever learned about aspect was in Greek class. English has a pretty decent aspectual system but the structure is not taught formally to most students.
posted by praemunire at 6:02 PM on April 28, 2021 [3 favorites]
Thanks Wrinkled Stumpskin, that'll be an interesting read.
posted by trig at 1:58 AM on April 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by trig at 1:58 AM on April 29, 2021 [1 favorite]
Hm. The article says zero copula isn't often used by whites, but I feel like it's somewhat commonly used in very specific situations like asking someone, "you good?" or "you ready?" But maybe that's a loan from AAVE.
posted by dgr8bob at 12:10 PM on May 2, 2021
posted by dgr8bob at 12:10 PM on May 2, 2021
I think that's a different thing (at least in "standard" English), where any first verb (not just forms of 'be') in a question can get dropped in informal speech:
(Are) we good here?
(Did) you eat yet?
(Does) he live here?
(Have) you eaten yet?
(Do) you wanna go?
(Do) you guys prefer Pepsi or Coke?
Notice in the second and third examples that it really is a case of omitting a word, because otherwise you'd expect to see "you ate" instead of "you eat" and "he lives" instead of "he live". It's like the markers for tense and person are there, but silent. Hopefully someone who knows what this is called will be along.
Weirdly, this feels most natural and common with "you", somewhat less natural with "he", "she", "they" -- but more so in the present than in the past -- and completely wrong with "I" ("I prefer Pepsi or Coke?"). I can't decide where "we" fits along the continuum.
posted by trig at 2:13 PM on May 2, 2021 [1 favorite]
(Are) we good here?
(Did) you eat yet?
(Does) he live here?
(Have) you eaten yet?
(Do) you wanna go?
(Do) you guys prefer Pepsi or Coke?
Notice in the second and third examples that it really is a case of omitting a word, because otherwise you'd expect to see "you ate" instead of "you eat" and "he lives" instead of "he live". It's like the markers for tense and person are there, but silent. Hopefully someone who knows what this is called will be along.
Weirdly, this feels most natural and common with "you", somewhat less natural with "he", "she", "they" -- but more so in the present than in the past -- and completely wrong with "I" ("I prefer Pepsi or Coke?"). I can't decide where "we" fits along the continuum.
posted by trig at 2:13 PM on May 2, 2021 [1 favorite]
I think there's a lovely contrastive use of it in Pulp Fiction (1994).
The question: (casual English elided "are") "We happy?".
The answer: (deliberate use of zero copula) "We happy."
posted by Wrinkled Stumpskin at 12:29 PM on May 3, 2021
The question: (casual English elided "are") "We happy?".
The answer: (deliberate use of zero copula) "We happy."
posted by Wrinkled Stumpskin at 12:29 PM on May 3, 2021
Zero copula! No wampires on the police force! Ah ah ah!
posted by The Underpants Monster at 4:39 PM on May 3, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 4:39 PM on May 3, 2021 [1 favorite]
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posted by taquito sunrise at 6:10 PM on April 27, 2021 [20 favorites]