Codeswitch
Name It
Feature
Phonetics
Do It All!
100
My grandpa cook dinner every night.
What is: My grandpa cooks dinner every night. *third person singular
100
'Bout. (or 'boutta)
What is: About to.
100
Last night, we bake cookies.
What is: Past tense marker -ed. *Last night, we baked cookies.
100
She be walkin' to the store.
What is: Deletion of final "g", e.g. walking = walkin`
100
The car broken. (Pronounced: The ca` broken.)
What is: Imperfect tense, deletion of postvocalic [r], e.g. car = ca.
200
He funny.
What is: He is funny. *imperfect tense
200
Mad.
What is: Extremely. (most common use) *can be qualitative (very, really, etc.) or quantitative (a lot, many, quite a few, etc.)
200
We don't got nothin' to wear to the dance!
What is: double negative, in this context we would use the verb: "to have," rather than: "to get." *We don't have anything to do.
200
That ain't really my style. (Pronounced, "[D]at ain't really my style."
What is: Initial "th" [d] or [t], e.g. those = dose, throw = trow.
200
Pro'lly
What is: Probably.
300
She be watching that show since July.
What is: She has been watching that show since June. *imperfect tense
300
'Sup?
What is: How are you? *The answer is not, "What is up?" because even though that translation makes perfect sense, the phrase, "What is up?" is not used in formal, mainstream American english.
300
Why he be lying?
What is: Here, "be" indicates that this person has been, is currently, and always will be lying, so it is okay to include the word "always," if it pertains to the context. Without, "be," or the "is" participle, the person would be lying just this once. *Why is he (always) lying?
300
My grandma's from the East Side of Providence.
What is: Final consonant cluster reduction, e.g. east side = [eas_sayd]
300
You isn't thinkin' straight.
What is: You aren't thinking clearly. *imperfect tense, phonetically keeping the, "ing," and vocabulary.
400
We ain't got nothin' to do.
What is: We don't have anything to do. *double negative
400
Up in my grill.
What is: Too close to me. (In my space, Being too nosy or prying, etc.)
400
I'm 'a gonna get me some tickets.
What is: word choice (gonna = going to), referring to ourselves as "me," in the active voice rather than, "myself" as we would, "he, she, them." *I am going to get myself some tickets.
400
That's bad. (Pronounced, "[D]a's ba.")
What is: Deletion of word-final stops, e.g. bad = ba`and that's = tha`s.
400
Why there always gotta be mad mosquitos out in the summertime?
What is: Why does there always have to be so many mosquitos out in the summertime?" *imperfect tense, vocabulary
500
So I was all, "I ain't got no pencil, but you might could give me yours."
What is: I told him I didn't have a pencil, then I asked if I could borrow his. *double negative *double modal verbs
500
Trippin'
What is: To be anxious, to make a big deal out of, to get upset over nothing.
500
I might could get me some of that cheesecake.
What is: Double modal verbs (might and could are next to each other.) This sentence also implies the intention of action, or the actual 'getting' of some cheesecake, so it is missing a noun that properly expresses this, like "to go." Lastly, mainstream American English is different from this sentence because we do not refer to ourselves as, "me" as we would use, "her, him, them." *Maybe I'll go get some of that cheesecake.
500
Can I borrow a pen? (Pronounced: K[I]n I borrow a p[IN]n?)
What is: Neutralization of vowel contrasts before nasals, (e.g. pin = pen, Lynne = Len, sinned = send, bin = Ben.) *also see [IN] = [ÊN] thing = thang, ring = rang, etc.
500
Ain't nobody got time for that. (Pronounced, "Ain't nobody got time for [d]a`.)
What is: Nobody has time for that. *double negative, Initial "th" [d] or [t], e.g. those = dose, throw = trow.
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