Im Black/Aint Got No

Leaving aside ain't , as John suggests, the phenomenon called "double negation" is not so simple as it may seem. Most of the languages of the world use multiple negatives to emphasize the negation, like the respectively French, Spanish, and Yiddish examples below:. Using negatives this way is known as Negative Concord. Many English dialects, especially in informal registers, have a negative concord system; one well-known example is AAVE. But other dialects, including standard whitebread American English, use a different system, called Negative Polarity.

• LEmpire, tome 1 : LEnvoûtement (Littérature Française) (French Edition);
• Your Answer.
• I Didn't Get No Sleep 'Cause Of Ya'll | Know Your Meme.
• grammaticality - Origin and correctness of “ain’t no”? - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange;
• Mossfire (R&P Labs Mysteries Book 1).

Instead of using negative elements in the focus of another negative to reinforce the negative sense, a negative polarity system uses other -- non-negative, but specialized -- elements, called Negative Polarity Items NPIs , in these positions. NPI is a term applied to lexical items, fixed phrases, or syntactic construction types that demonstrate unusual behavior around negation.

And then there are several different types of over- and under-negation ; there's a big literature on it. Not all double negatives are incorrect; and there's more to negation than you might expect. I find it interesting that you point out that the double negative is incorrect, but you make no mention of whether "ain't" is acceptable or not. If we go ahead and ignore the debate over "ain't," and grant for the sake of argument that it might have some valid usage, then we can move on to your main question, which asks why the double negative that you describe is becoming more common.

My feeling about the "origin" of this type of speech is that it arises from intrinsic human impulses. People often want to do two things in common speech: It is more powerful than "I don't have any," which can seem effete. When you speak this way, you're not "putting on airs" or acting superior; instead, you're "one of us" regular folks. The prestige dialects of American English and British English would indeed look upon "ain't no" as bad English. However, there are common dialects in the USA where that is in fact the correct construction.

The most prominent today would be African-American Vernacular English:. I had a linguistics class a long time ago where we talked about Black English Vernacular, with its own patterns and forms, and I think the patterns you're asking about are related to this discussion. Here's the first thing I found that seems to cover the bases, but I bet Wikipedia probably has a solid discussion on this as well:.

It's worth keeping in mind that double negatives are not universally grammatically incorrect and also appear as alternately positive or negative depending on the language. For instance, in Russian or Spanish, double negation is negation, while in English it emerges as its opposite, a positive.

Thus, if you follow the argument that Black Vernacular English emerged from English mixed with west African languages or Caribbean creoles, double negation is probably something that rode along with the grammar of those languages. What further complicates your example, probably, is the controversial "ain't". I am certainly no expert, though, and what I'm remembering is a discussion about twelve years old: By clicking "Post Your Answer", you acknowledge that you have read our updated terms of service , privacy policy and cookie policy , and that your continued use of the website is subject to these policies.

Home Questions Tags Users Unanswered. In contemporary American English usage, I come across sentences like: CodeBlue 5 8 Was you in the nut house for hackin' somebody up with a hatchet? I never used no hatchet that I remember. So you're just crazy in a retard kind of way, huh? Wouldn't matter to me if you did do violence on someone.

I ain't scared of shit. You're just a humped-over retard, seems to me. Welcome to our humble home, Buddy. Hey is this the kind of retard that drools and rubs shit in his hair and all that, 'cause I'm gonna have a hard time eatin' 'round that kind of thing now. Just like I am with antique furniture and midgets. You know that, I can't so much as drink a damn glass of water around a midget or a piece of antique furniture.

You shouldn't be that way. I ain't saying it's right, I'm just telling the damn truth. He'll make me sick. What am I supposed to do about supper while you're out runnin' around with that fag? You're not crippled, get in there and make it yourself. Talkin' back and everything. That kinda makes me horny, Linda.

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Frank, maybe you better go play in your room if Doyle's gonna talk nasty. I don't wanna go play in my room. He don't wanna go play in his room. Let's all just sit here and be a family. Until your mentally retarded friend and your homosexual friend get here. Linda, go get my guitar. It's out there with that looney toon. Frank's a weak little kid.

His daddy taught him how to be a pussy. Don't talk about my daddy. Go on and get up outta here. Go out to the garage and let me be.

Muhammad Ali - in his own words

Go on now, get! I wish you'd all lay off for tonight! I can't hear myself think with that racket! Knock it off or I'm calling the police! I told you three times already, the law's on my side! I play cards with J.

Hair Cast - Ain't Got No Lyrics

Shelnut, chief of PO-lice! So kiss my ass, you old bastard! What in the hell you doin' with that hammer? I don't rightly know. I just kinda woke up a-holding it. Your buddy Karl here is going. We can't be no normal family with him living in the garage and comin' in the damn bedroom at 4: I don't like homosexuals and she goes out and buddies up with one so I gotta deal with that.

I don't like little wimpy-ass kids or mental retards and she got one of each livin' with her. I'm just kidding about that really. To call the police, you push then just tell 'em to bring an ambulance, or a "hearst" if you're gonna kill me. Believe in the Bible, do ya Karl? I don't understand all of it, but I reckon I understand a good deal of it.

Well I can't understand none of it. This one begat that one and that one begat this one, and lo and behold someone says some shit to someone else - just how retarded are you? I don't mean to be so damned Dots look good on paper. You don't sing them anyway, you're just showing your true Aries color now. Stay out of my goddam face, you fucking buzzard! This ain't right, Doyle. There IS something wrong with you. I don't guess I give a shit. I ain't here that much so if you want a retard living out in the garage, I guess that's your business.

Muhammad Ali - in his own words - BBC Sport

But I do got some tools and a set of socket wreches out there I'd rather not have stolen. He wouldn't steal nothing. Frankie, I wasn't talking to you, now was I? I was talking to your Mama. It's her decision, not yours. If I let it go on it's because she said so, not you! What's in the bag? Tooth paste and whatnot. What's all them books?

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One of 'em is the Bible. We don't need to fucking practice, Randy! We don't no shit-ass manager neither!

You all are a bunch of losers! I'm the only sane son-of-a-bitch here! It's not your house, Doyle, it's Linda's. I'll whip the dog shit out of you, Vaughan.