Table 1.

Linguistic constraints in African American English.

Constraint	Description
Person/number	First person singular forms are more likely to be overtly marked than third person singular forms, and all first and third person forms are more likely to be overtly marked than all second person forms: “I am happy” (more likely) vs. “He is happy” (less likely) vs. “You are happy” and “We are happy” (least likely).
Tense	Forms with tense are more likely to be overtly marked than those without: “She was walking” (more likely) vs. “She is walking” (less likely).
Contractibility	Uncontractible forms are more likely to be overtly marked than contractible forms: “Is she happy?” (more likely) vs. “She is happy” (less likely).
Grammatical function	Copula forms are more likely to be overtly marked than auxiliary forms: “She is happy” (more likely) vs. “She is walking” (less likely).
Type of preceding context	Forms preceded by it/that/what are more likely to be overtly marked than forms preceded by a specific noun phrase, and these are more likely to be overtly marked than those preceded by a personal pronoun: “It is big” (more likely) vs. “John is happy” (more likely) vs. “She is happy” (less likely).