DIALECTS 243
optional tense marking but requires that the action be marked as momentary or
continuous.
Aspect also allows speakers to stretch out the time of a verb, an important
characteristic of Black English, which uses the verb formbeto accomplish the
task. Sentences 9 and 10, for example, have quite different meanings:
- Macarena workin’.
- Macarena be workin’.
In sentence 9, Macarena may be working today, at this moment, but she nor-
mally doesn’t. In sentence 10, on the other hand, Macarena has been conscien-
tiously working for a long time. We see similar examples in the following:
- Fritz studyin’ right now.
- Fritz be studyin’ every afternoon.
Studyin’agrees in aspect withright now,andbe studyin’agrees in aspect
withevery afternoon. It therefore would be ungrammatical in Black English to
say or writeFritz studyin’ every afternoonorFritz be studyin’ right now
(Baugh, 1983; Fasold, 1972; Wolfram, 1969).
Black English usesbeen,the participial form ofbe,as a past-perfect marker:
Beensignals that an action occurred in the distant past or that it was completed to-
tally (Rickford, 1975). In this sense it is similar to the past-perfect formhave+
verbandhave+beenin Standard English, as the following sentences illustrate:
- They had told us to leave. (standard)
- They been told us to leave. (black)
- Kerri had eaten all the cake. (standard)
- Kerri been eat all the cake. (black)
- She had been hurt. (standard)
- She been been hurt. (black)
Beenis also used to assert that an action initiated in the past is still in effect,
as in the following:
- Macarena has known Fritz more than 3 months now. (standard)
- Macarena been been knowin’ Fritz more than 3 month now. (black)
Questions in Black English generally take two forms, depending on the
aspect involved. Someone inquiring about a short-term state, for example,
might ask: