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I'm trying to talk about several grammatical errors that a Negro makes when he's speaking: "us wants" and "I is."

I'd like to give an example so that you'll know what I want. For “Thats” and “aint,” I may use "omission of apostrophe," and I want to know how I can describe the kind of errors given above.

These words are actually from a dialogue in Jean Toomer's short story "Blood-Burning Moon," which was first published in the 1920s. I just copied "Negro" because Toomer himself used this word in the text. I thought it was a neutral word and did not mean to suggest anything political.

Yuhang Ma
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  • To be clear, omitting the written apostrophe is no more a grammatical error than any other spelling mistake is. One should avoid confusing writing errors for grammatical ones. What you're asking about, however, is indeed a grammatical error because you can hear its issue without needing to read how it has been transcribed into written form. Grammar is about syntax and morphology, which you are in fact asking about, so the reference to mere writing errors may risk confusing answerers who will want to answer the grammatical question. – tchrist Dec 24 '23 at 17:10
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    You cant omit an apostrophe when youre *speaking*. – Peter Shor Dec 24 '23 at 17:40
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    Unless you're quoting from an old book, I don't think anyone has used the word negro in about 50 years. Let's just call it 'unwise' & move on rapidly. You perhaps need to research at least the first elements of African American English [AAE & its close cousin AAVE] to see why some of these forms are not 'incorrect', they are dialectic. – Tetsujin Dec 24 '23 at 17:50
  • Allow me to tell you something, Yuhang Ma (sorry, I am not sure which is your first name). First, we don't use the word Negro at all anymore in the States. We say: blacks, black Americans. Second, some Black Americans speak a dialect known as AAVE. I suggest you go and read some academic papers on AAVE. – Lambie Dec 24 '23 at 18:11
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    Please do not drag the euphemism treadmill, political causes, neo-taboos, social justice, cultural relativism, and race baiting into a simple question of terminology. This is a simple question with a simple answer. – tchrist Dec 24 '23 at 18:22
  • I tend to doubt these specific non-standard (wrong, if you prefer) uses arose in actual speech. As others have mentioned, some members of the African American community sometimes use a dialect of English with different conjugations or choices of verbs. But these particular combinations don't fit well. Usually it's use of "be" instead of am, are, or is. And sometimes "I’ze" but I doubt "I is" as two words. What's your source with these phrases? – Andrew Lazarus Dec 24 '23 at 18:38
  • @tchrist What if this were the other way round? What if this site were Chinese, and one of us asked a question like this about Chinese culture because we simply had no idea? There is a minimum sine qua non here, isn't there? – Lambie Dec 24 '23 at 19:02
  • @tchrist It took me a few stabs before I properly parsed neotaboos. This question is the second google hit. It may be premature to drop the hyphen on that one. – jimm101 Dec 24 '23 at 21:35
  • @tchrist There were no politics or euphemisms in the comment, the usage just dated. The advice is practical. We’re here to share knowledge. I can’t believe you wouldn’t have wanted similar advice as you were learning other languages. – Lee Whitney III Dec 24 '23 at 23:57
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    Thanks for your ideas! These words are actually from a dialogue in Jean Toomer's short story "Blood-Burning Moon," which was first published in the 1920s. I just copied "Negro" because Toomer himself used this word in the text. I thought it was a neutral word and did not mean to suggest anything political. Again, thanks for your answers! – Yuhang Ma Dec 25 '23 at 01:48

1 Answers1

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Agreement error

This is called an agreement error. It is a grammatical error not a writing error. When you get back copy marked up by a proofreader, a circled agr indicates this problem.

The Wikipedia article on Agreement says:

In linguistics, agreement or concord (abbreviated ᴀɢʀ) occurs when a word changes form depending on the other words to which it relates. It is an instance of inflection, and usually involves making the value of some grammatical category (such as gender or person) "agree" between varied words or parts of the sentence.

For example, in Standard English, one may say I am or he is, but not "I is" or "he am". This is because English grammar requires that the verb and its subject agree in person. The pronouns I and he are first and third person respectively, as are the verb forms am and is. The verb form must be selected so that it has the same person as the subject in contrast to notional agreement, which is based on meaning.

tchrist
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    Yes, but you are not addressing the elephant in the room, are you? – Lambie Dec 24 '23 at 18:12
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    @Lambie I answered the question asked. I refuse to be drawn into slapping people down just because the Holy Inquisition of Political Language would levy their full wrath upon them, complete with all the crushing social opprobrium they can bring to bear on their innocent victims. That's something you expect of China, not the West. – tchrist Dec 24 '23 at 18:33
  • Frankly, I don't think that Chinese people are expected to know anything about all this. So, that is a consideration well outside the bounds of what you indicate. – Lambie Dec 24 '23 at 19:00
  • @Lambie What do you mean Chinese people are not "expected to know anything about all this?" – Yuhang Ma Dec 25 '23 at 02:04
  • @tchrist Thanks for your answer. I will take it. – Yuhang Ma Dec 25 '23 at 02:04
  • @YuhangMa Thank you. If you click the little grey checkbox next to the answer, it will turn it green this this to indicate that you've accepted this answer. You can change your mind later if a better one comes along. – tchrist Dec 25 '23 at 02:46
  • @tchrist Okay, I've accepted your answer. Thanks. – Yuhang Ma Dec 25 '23 at 04:19
  • @YuhangMa Politically correct language when it matters: negro [buzzer], ni****[buzzer], black [okay], Black [okay] – Lambie Dec 25 '23 at 15:57