What's the grammatical explanation of this sentence, I recently hear from an old jazz song? It confused me.
Is it slang? dialect?
Is it slang? dialect?
"Is you is, or is you ain't"
It's supposed to be African American Vernacular English (AAVE).
In AAVE, 'is' often takes the place of "are" ("Is you going?" "Is you there?"), but the construction "is you IS (my baby)?" seems a bit odd to me. A simple "is you or is you ain't my baby?" seems more logical. Perhaps the extra "is" is added for emphasis or is simply an over-exaggeration of African American speech.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmZfAVvEj_s
In AAVE, 'is' often takes the place of "are" ("Is you going?" "Is you there?"), but the construction "is you IS (my baby)?" seems a bit odd to me. A simple "is you or is you ain't my baby?" seems more logical. Perhaps the extra "is" is added for emphasis or is simply an over-exaggeration of African American speech.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmZfAVvEj_s
ben learn what you are talking about before replying please. I do not want to waste time on foolish people like you.
The "ben learn" message was written by the usual little hoaxer, not by Diego.
It's also a line from O Brother Where Art Thou? "Is you is, or is you ain't my constituency?"