Ain't is a negativeinflection foram,is,are,has, andhave in informal English. In some dialects, it is also used fordo,does,did, andwill. The development ofain't for the various forms ofbe,have,will anddo occurred independently, at different times. The use ofain't for the forms ofbe was established by the mid-18th century and for the forms ofhave by the early 19th century.
The use ofain't is a continuing subject ofcontroversy in English. It is commonly spoken in informal settings, especially in certain regions anddialects. It is often highly stigmatized and is often understood as a marker of low socio-economic or regional status or education level. It is generally considered non-standard by dictionaries and style guides except when used for rhetorical effect.
Ain't has several antecedents in English, corresponding to the various forms ofbe andhave thatain't is used for. The development ofain't for both verbs is adiachronic coincidence:[1] independent developments and at different times.
Amn't as a contraction ofam not is known from 1618.[2] As the "mn" combination of two nasal consonants is disfavoured by many English speakers, the "m" of amn't began to beelided, reflected in writing with the new forman't.[3]Aren't as a contraction forare not first appeared in 1675.[4] Innon-rhotic dialects,aren't lost its "r" sound, and began to be pronounced asan't.[5]
An't (sometimesa'n't) arose fromam not andare not almost simultaneously.An't first appears in print in the work ofEnglish Restoration playwrights.[6] In 1695an't was used as a contraction of "am not", inWilliam Congreve's playLove for Love: "I can hear you farther off, I an't deaf".[7] But as early as 1696John Vanbrugh usesan't to mean "are not" inThe Relapse: "Hark thee shoemaker! These shoes an't ugly, but they don't fit me".[8]
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An't foris not may have developed independently from its use foram not andare not.Isn't was sometimes written asin't oren't, which could have changed intoan't.An't foris not may also have filled a gap in theparadigm ofbe.[6]Jonathan Swift usedan't to meanis not in Letter 19 of hisJournal to Stella (1710–13):It an't my fault, 'tis Patrick's fault; pray now don't blame Presto.[9]
An't with along "a" sound began to be written asain't, which first appears in writing in 1749.[10] By the timeain't appeared,an't was already being used foram not,are not andis not.[6]An't andain't coexisted as written forms well into the nineteenth century—Charles Dickens used the terms interchangeably, as in Chapter 13, Book the Second ofLittle Dorrit (1857): "'I guessed it was you, Mr Pancks", said she, 'for it's quite your regular night; ain't it? ... An't it gratifying, Mr Pancks, though; really?'". In the memoirs (1808–1810) of the English lawyerWilliam Hickey,ain't appears as a contraction ofaren't; "thank God we're all alive, ain't we..."[11]
Han't orha'n't, an early contraction forhas not andhave not, developed from eliding the "s" ofhas not and the "v" ofhave not.[6]Han't appeared in the work of English Restoration playwrights,[6] as inThe Country Wife (1675) byWilliam Wycherley:Gentlemen and Ladies, han't you all heard the late sad report / of poor Mr. Horner.[12] Much likean't,han't was sometimes pronounced with a long "a", yieldinghain't. WithH-dropping, the "h" ofhan't orhain't gradually disappeared in most dialects and becameain't.[6]
Ain't forhas not/have not first appeared in dictionaries in the 1830s and appeared in 1819 inNiles' Weekly Register:Why I ain't got nobody here to strike....[13] Charles Dickens likewise usedain't to meanhaven't in Chapter 28 ofMartin Chuzzlewit (1844):"You ain't got nothing to cry for, bless you! He's righter than a trivet!"[14]
Similarly toan't, bothhan't andain't were found together late into the nineteenth century, as in Chapter 12 of Dickens'Our Mutual Friend: "'Well, have you finished?' asked the strange man. 'No,' said Riderhood, 'I ain't'....'You sir! You han't said what you want of me.'"[15]
Ain't meaningdidn't is widely considered unique toAfrican-American Vernacular English,[16] although it can be found in some dialects ofCaribbean English as well.[17] It may function not as a true variant ofdidn't, but as a creole-like tense-neutral negator (sometimes termed "genericain't").[16] Its origin may have been due to approximation when early African-Americans acquired English as a second language; it is also possible that early African-Americans inherited it from colonial European-Americans and later kept the variation when it largely passed out of wider usage. Besides the standard constructionain't got,ain't is rarely attested for the present-tense constructionsdo not ordoes not.[citation needed]
Ain't is formed by the same rule that English speakers use to formaren't and othernegative inflections of auxiliary verbs.[3][18] Linguists consider use ofain't to be grammatical, as long as its users convey their intended meaning to their audience.[19] In other words, a sentence such as "She ain't got no sense" is grammatical because it generally follows a native speaker's word order, and because a native speaker would recognize its meaning.[20] Linguists distinguish, however, between grammaticality and acceptability: what may be considered grammatical across all dialects may nevertheless not be acceptable in certain dialects or contexts.[21] The usage ofain't is socially unacceptable in some situations.[22]
Ain't has in part to plug what is known as the "amn't gap" – the anomalous situation in standard English whereby there are standard negative inflections for other forms ofbe (aren't forare, andisn't foris), but nothing unproblematic foram. Historically,ain't has filled the gap where one might expectamn't, even in contexts where other uses ofain't were disfavored.[23] Standard dialects that regardain't as non-standard often substitutearen't foram not intag questions (e.g., "I'm doing okay,aren't I?"), while leaving the "amn't gap" open indeclarative statements.[24]
Ain't has been called "the most stigmatized word in the language",[25] as well as "the most powerful social marker" in English.[26] It is a prominent example in English of ashibboleth – a word used to determine inclusion in or exclusion from, a group.[25]
Historically, this was not so. For most of its history,ain't was acceptable across many social and regional contexts. Throughout the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries,ain't and its predecessors were part of normal usage for both educated and uneducated English speakers and found in the correspondence and fiction of, among others,Jonathan Swift,Lord Byron,Henry Fielding andGeorge Eliot.[27] For Victorian English novelistsWilliam Makepeace Thackeray andAnthony Trollope, the educated and upper classes in 19th century England could useain't freely, but in familiar speech only.[28]Ain't continued to be used without restraint by many upper middle class speakers in southern England into the beginning of the 20th century.[29][30]
Ain't was a prominent target of earlyprescriptivist writers. In the 18th and early 19th centuries, some writers began to propound the need to establish a "pure" or "correct" form of English.[31] Contractions in general were disapproved of, butain't and its variants were seen as particularly "vulgar".[25] This push for "correctness" was driven mainly by the middle class, which led to an incongruous situation in which non-standard constructions continued to be used by both lower and upper classes, but not by the middle class.[28][32] The reason for the strength of the proscription againstain't is not entirely clear.
The strong proscription againstain't in standard English has led to many misconceptions, often expressed jocularly (or ironically), as "ain't ain't a word" or "ain't ain't in the dictionary."[33]Ain't is listed in most dictionaries, including (in 2012) Oxford Dictionaries Online[34] and Merriam-Webster.[35] However, Oxford Dictionaries Online states "it does not form part of standard English and should never be used in formal or written contexts"[34] and Merriam-Webster states it is "widely disapproved as non-standard and more common in the habitual speech of the less educated".[35]
Webster's Third New International Dictionary, published in 1961, went against then-standard practice when it included the following usage note in its entry onain't: "though disapproved by many and more common in less educated speech, used orally in most parts of the U.S. by many cultivated speakers esp. in the phraseain't I."[36] Many commentators disapproved of the dictionary's relatively permissive attitude toward the word, which was inspired, in part, by the belief of its editor,Philip Gove, that "distinctions of usage were elitist and artificial".[37]
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Ain't is found across regions and classes of the English-speaking world[38] and is among the most pervasive nonstandard terms in English.[39] It is one of two negation features (the other being thedouble negative) that are known to appear in all nonstandardEnglish dialects.[40]Ain't is used in much of the United Kingdom, with its geographical distribution increasing over time.[41] It is also found throughout most of North America, including inAppalachia, theSouth,New England, theMid-Atlantic and theUpper Midwest of the United States[26] and Canada, particularly in rural communities and theWestern Provinces. In its geographical ubiquity,ain't is to be contrasted with other folk usages such asy'all, strongly associated with the Southern United States.[42]
In England,ain't is generally considered non-standard, as it is used by speakers of a lower socio-economic class or by educated people in an informal manner.[43] In the nineteenth century,ain't was often used by writers to denote regional dialects such asCockney English.[44] A notable exponent of the term isCockney flower girlEliza Doolittle fromGeorge Bernard Shaw's playPygmalion; "I ain't done nothing wrong by speaking to the gentleman".[45]Ain't is a non-standard feature commonly found in mainstreamAustralian English[46] and in New Zealand,ain't is a feature ofMāori-influenced English.[47] In American English, usage ofain't corresponds to a middle level of education,[43] although its use is widely believed to show a lack of education or social standing.[48]
The usage ofain't in the southern United States is distinctive, however, in the continued usage of the word by well-educated, cultivated speakers.[49]Ain't was described in 1972 as in common use by educated Southerners,[50] and in the South used as a marker to separate cultured speakers from those who lacked confidence in their social standing and thus avoided its use entirely.[51]
In theMerico creole of Liberia,ain't has becomeɛ̃ orẽ.[52][clarification needed]
Ain't can be used in both speech and writing to catch attention and to emphasize,[citation needed] as in "Ain't that a crying shame" or "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary gives an example from film criticRichard Schickel: "the wackiness of movies, once so deliciously amusing, ain't funny anymore."[53] It can also be used deliberately for whatThe Oxford Dictionary of American Usage and Style describes as "tongue-in-cheek" or "reverse snobbery".[54] Star baseball pitcherDizzy Dean, a member of theBaseball Hall of Fame and later a popular announcer, once said, "A lot of people who don't say ain't, ain't eatin'."[55]
Althoughain't is seldom found in formal writing, it is frequently used in informal writing, such as popular song lyrics. In genres such as traditional country music, blues, rock n' roll and hip-hop, lyrics often include nonstandard features such asain't.[56] This is principally due to the use of such features as markers of "covert identity and prestige".[56]
