Ok, but wouldn’t that would be “Why you always be hatin?”. Meaning, your always hating. Hating now, and in the past. Where as, “Why you be hatin?”, works with the type that is hating right now.
It sounds analogous to the difference between “ser” and “estar” in Spanish.
No, they’ve already told you what it means. “Why you be hating” and “Why you always be hating” mean the exact same thing.
That previous post wasn’t supposed to sound so scoldy.
I think you’re missing the grammatical distinction here. One could say “Why you always be hatin?” for emphasis, but the “always” is not needed to express the idea of a habitual state or action. It would be in many other English dialects, but in AAVE the use of the “be + verb” construction already makes that clear.
To refer simply to the present act of hating, one would say “Why you hatin’?”
You’re spot on about the bad British thing, and I bet you are about the ebonics too. The only thing is that being from the UK when I hear (read) “I be doing something or other” what I hear is my Wiltshire Nana speaking “Now where’s my 'at – he be on the table.” The English language is a wonderful thing innit.
Why you hatin’? 
It is the textbook example of the difference between AAVE and standard English, which got me thinking the other day. In standard English, we often make a distinction between habitual versus present by using progressive forms of the verb - “I live in Chicago” versus “I’m living in Chicago”. “I watch 24” or “I’m watching 24” - and so on. Isn’t this a parallel distinction?
:eek: :eek: :eek:
You mean to tell us that there is actually a TEXTBOOK on this? One that is used, studied and referred to in order to assist people in the correct use of ebonics? So much so that it has an acronym even? (pssst what is AAVE?).
Also, I have the same question as ParentalAdvisory if be is supposed to mean some version of “as you are”, then why do we hear so many black youths use it in the present “why you be doing__________”? Where _______ is something they are presently and phsycially engaged in.
Don’t be trying to tell me that “be” is only for present progressive. I be hearin’ it both ways too often to be believin’ that.
“Ebonics” just turned into a media beat-up word a few years back after a hoo-hah about whether it ought to be taught in some Californian schools: the correct term is AAVE, which stands for African-American Vernacular English {previously referred to as BVE, and still may be, for all I know}.
I don’t know {and doubt} if there are specific prescriptive textbooks on it in the sense that I think you mean, but it features prominently in most English Linguistics textbooks {descriptively, not prescriptively}: as a number of posters have pointed out, AAVE isn’t just debased Standard English, but has consistent and often elegant rules of its own which distinguish it from Standard English - it also isn’t homogeneous, and there are a number of regional sub-variants, which makes it an interesting field of study.
If you’re interested in the topic, a good book to start with would be Peter Trudgill’s Sociolinguistics: An Introduction To Language And Society.
At the predominately white university I attended, my dorm roommate took a course in Black English. And yes, she had a textbook.
I’m not sure I understand your confusion. If someone is caught stealing cookies and it’s known that this is an old habit of hers, then “She be stealing cookies” would be an appropriate way to describe her. A friend might say to the thief, “Why you be doing that?” I don’t see that there are any laws broken by saying this.
But even if there were, since when are youth are the users of correct grammar? 
When I use AAVE, I have to admit that simply saying “She be ___” sounds empty to my ears. I usually say, “She be ___ all the time.” So in the above situation, when confronting the cookie thief, I would say, “Why do you be doing that all the time? Don’t you know you can’t be goin’ around, taking things that don’t belong to you?” (Note that I did not drop my verbs. Not all AAVE speakers do that. I only do it when I say “You so crazy”.)
Sometimes when I’m playfully arguing with someone about music and they make the mistake of slamming one of my favorite singers, I will say, “Don’t be saying nothing bad about them!” I do it deliberately–yes I could say it the proper way if I wanted to–but it sounds better to my ears (plus I know it will get laughs from people who aren’t using to hearing me that way). The standard English translation would be, “Don’t ever say anything bad about them!” So in this way, “be” means “in the habit of doing, now and in the future”. I don’t know what the textbooks say about this, but I’ve heard many speakers use this form.
As in:
“Don’t be rollin’ your eyes at me, girl!!”
Ditto. Unless, of course, various black customers of mine are in fact expressing a perpetual state of desiring some wings and a Jack & Coke.
Sorry for using the acronym without explaining. Case Sensitive already answered your questions, but yeah, it is African-American Vernacular English, formerly known as Black Vernacular English or Black English Vernacular (BVE and BEV). Those terms are no longer in current use, although you may still see them in older articles and books.
There may be “How to Speak AAVE” textbooks out there, but I was referring to linguistic textbooks. Examining the differences between dialects and understanding how the different grammar structures work is an important part of the study of linguistics.
*The “be + verb” structure refers to habitual actions or states. It doesn’t matter whether the subject is presently engaged in that action or not, although the speaker is probably more likely to say something about it if they are. Would it seem strange to you if someone said “Why are you always doing X?” to a person who was doing X at the moment?
It is not difficult for me to believe that someone could habitually want wings with a Jack & Coke. I’m a creature of habit when it comes to my restaurant orders as well.
Your black customers say “I be wanting some wings and a Jack & Coke” to you? I find that almost impossible to believe - it’s easier to believe that you’re remembering incorrectly since that’s how you thought AAVE worked until now. Purposefully listen again for an order like that next time you go to work and report back if you were sucessful in hearing one.
I was assumiog, in my above post, that Roland claims to get orders from black customers in the form of “I be wanting some wings and Jack & Coke”. If they’re just generally conversing about wanting wings and Jack & Coke then that’s more believable.
Well, in truth, the orders that are phrased that way – and I have had a number of them; I pay attention to linguistic quirks as it’s a personal interest – do tend to be conversational in nature. A straight-up order for wings and a J&C will generally be “I have some wings an’ a Jack & Coke”. If they’re telling me why they came to the restaurant, though (and they often do; I find many drinkers are very conversational by nature), they’ll talk about how they “be wanting some wings an’ a Jack & Coke”. In this manner, I’ve heard it used in a standard past tense, past perfect, and a sort o convoluted present perfect (as in discussing the state of mind of a group wherein it is collectively decided that they want some wings and Jack & Cokes, culminating in "we be wantin’ some wings an’ Jack & Coke). So really, that isn’t terribly different from the usage you’re upholding, save for the minor difference of using it in reference to specific past states (which could be another category of usage entirely).
So no, I haven’t specifically gotten an order that was phrased “I be wantin’ some wings an’ a Jack & Coke”. Sorry if my above post implied that.
Sounds to me like the closest translation would be “I’ve been wanting/craving an order of wings and a Jack and Coke for a rather extended period of time before entering this establishment, and I continue to want them now.” As opposed to, “I entered this building with the intent of purchasing snack food items and alcoholic beverages, but without making a specific choice until after perusing your extensive selection of fried delicacies. After such perusal, I have come to the conclusion that what I’d really like to eat is some wings and a Jack and coke.”
Pregnant chick be knowing about all day cravings! 
And of course there’s also the third possibility that both Roland and I correctly recounted real-life observations that disprove your assertion.
It is at this point that I have to ask what qualifies you to speak with such certain authority on the subject. If you’re black, I’ll accept whatever you say without argument. If you’re a linguistics students, you best be prepared to get laughed at.
pizzabrat is black.