Article published In: English World-Wide
Vol. 47:3 (2026) ► pp.274–304

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Participle leveling in African American English

A quantitative analysis based on the Corpus of Regional African American Language

ORCiD logo with link | Adam Mickiewicz UniversityPoznań
ORCiD logo with link | Adam Mickiewicz UniversityPoznań
Published online: 23 October 2026
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/eww.26022.suc
Abstract
This paper investigates the use of preterit verb forms in lieu of normative past participles (in present- and past-tense contexts as well as following non-tensed have) by African American speakers drawing on data from the Corpus of Regional African American Language (CORAAL). This type of morphosyntactic variation, labeled as Participle Leveling, has been documented in many varieties of English worldwide. However, variationist research on participle leveling remains limited and has thus far centered exclusively on mainstream varieties. By focusing on African American English (AAE), the present study addresses this research gap and contributes to a systematic understanding of the variable in AAE. Statistical analyses indicate that participle leveling in AAE is largely conditioned by similar language-internal factors identified in mainstream English varieties. Moreover, the variable is socially stratified among AAE speakers and exhibits regional patterning with higher rates of non-standard forms found in the Southern United States. No evidence of change over time has been found.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Background
    • 2.1Theoretical assumptions
    • 2.2Participle leveling in contemporary English
    • 2.3Non-standard participles in AAE
    • 2.4Outstanding research questions
  • 3.Methods
    • 3.1Corpus
    • 3.2Data searching and coding
    • 3.3Statistical analysis
  • 4.Results
  • 5.Discussion
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • Primary Sources
  • References
References (79)
Primary Sources
Kendall, Tyler and Charles Farrington. 2023a. The Corpus of Regional African American Language. Version 2023.06. Eugene: The Online Resources for African American Language Project. [URL].
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