Habitual be

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Habitual be is the nonstandard use of zero copula or an invariant be in African American Vernacular English and Caribbean English to mark habitual or extended actions in the present tense, instead of using the Standard English inflected forms of be, such as is and are. This usage leads to sentences like:

"I be singing" instead of the Standard English "I am singing."

"The coffee be cold" signifies the coffee is always cold, whereas "The coffee cold" would mean the coffee is cold right now.

The use of habitual be is most commonly used by working-class speakers and young persons. Younger speakers tend to restrict their use to progressive verb forms (as in He be dancing) whereas their parents use it with progressives, adjectives (as in He be smart), and expressions that refer to a location (He be at work). Young speakers use invariant be exclusively to indicate habit, whereas older speakers also tend to omit be forms or use present tense verb forms (He runs) with the use of adverbs like often or usually to show habitual action.

The source of invariant be in AAVE is still disputed because some linguists suggest it represents influence from finite be in the 17th to 19th century English of British settlers. Other linguists feel that Scotch-Irish immigrants may have played a larger role since their dialects mark habitual verb forms with be and do be.

[edit] Sources

1. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000 "Be" http://www.bartleby.com/61/82/B0128200.html

2. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000 "Zero Copula" http://www.bartleby.com/61/12/Z0011225.html