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'''Ain’t''' is a contraction originally just for “am not”, but can include “is not”, “are not”, “has not”, or “have not” in the common vernacular. In some dialects it is also used incorrectly as a contraction of “do not”, “does not”, and “did not”, as in ''I ain’t know that''. The word is a perennial issue in English usage.

Contents

Controversy

Origin and Early Usage

Related Words and Usage

Examples

References

Controversy

Critics say frequent use of ''ain’t'' is a marker of basilectal — which is to say, “vulgate” or “common speech” . The same applies for using ''i’n’it'' (normally written as ''innit'') instead of “isn’t it”. There is little justification for this judgment on etymological or grammatical grounds, but it remains a widespread belief that the word is “not a word” or “incorrect”.^[1] However, a descriptive analysis of frequency statistics does make it perfectly justifiable to regard it as a colloquialism seldom found in formal writing.
During the nineteenth century, with the rise of prescriptivist usage writers, ''ain’t'' fell under attack. The attack came on two fronts: usage writers did not know or pretended not to know what ''ain’t'' was a contraction of, and its use was condemned as a vulgarism — a part of speech used by the lower classes. Perhaps partly as a reaction to this trend, the number of situations in which ''ain’t'' was used began to expand; some speakers began to use ''ain’t'' in place of ''is not'', ''have not'', and ''has not''.
''Ain’t'' would solve one logical problem of English grammar; it would serve as a useful contracted inverted form in the question “Ain’t I?” Many prescriptivists prefer “Aren’t I” in this situation; this is illogical in conjugation (the Hiberno-English and Scottish English form ''Amn’t I?'' follows other patterns), and for speakers of non-rhotic accents may only be a baroque spelling of one possible pronunciation of the eighteenth century ''an’t''. ''Ain’t'' is also obligatory in some fixed phrases, such as “Say it ain’t so” and “you ain’t seen nothing yet” (though for the former, “Say it isn’t so” is also sometimes used). Under grammatical analysis of some dialects of nonstandard English, such as African-American vernacular English (AAVE), use of ''ain’t'' is in fact required in some conditions. In AAVE, ''ain’t'' is used as a substitute for ''hasn’t'' in certain past tenses. Thus, one would say “she ain’t called me” for “she hasn’t called me”.
''Ain’t'' is also found to be a stereotyped word for most peoples from the south-eastern United States, and is commonly used in most casual conversational settings. Modern usage notes in dictionaries note that ''ain’t'' is used in a self-conscious way by some speakers and writers for a deliberate effect: what Oxford American Dictionary describes as “tongue-in-cheek” or “reverse snobbery”, and what Merriam-Webster Collegiate calls “emphatic effect” or “a consistently informal style”. An example of this effect would be “''Ain’t'' ain’t a word ’cause it ain’t in the dictionary” or “''Ain’t'' ain’t a word so I ain’t gonna say it”. Most usage writers continue to condemn use of the word in an unselfconscious way.

Origin and Early Usage

''Ain’t'' arose toward the end of an eighteenth century period that marked the development of most of the English contracted verb forms such as ''can’t'', ''don’t'', and ''won’t''. The form first appears in print in 1685, in a Latin text regarding English variability^[2]. The variant ''an’t'' arose in speech around the same time, and is still commonly used in some parts of England. ''An’t'' appears first in print in the work of Restoration playwrights: it is seen first in 1695, when William Congreve wrote ''I can hear you farther off, I an’t deaf'',^[3] suggesting that the form was in the beginning a contraction of “am not”. But as early as 1696 Sir John Vanbrugh uses the form for “are not”: ''These shoes an’t ugly, but they don’t fit me.''^[4] At least in some dialects, ''an’t'' is likely to have been pronounced like ''ain’t'', and thus the appearance of ''ain’t'' is more a clarified spelling than a separate verb form. In some dialects of British English, ''are'' rhymed with ''air'', and a 1791 American spelling reformer proposed spelling “are” as ''er''. ''Ain’t'' in these earliest uses seems to have served as a contraction for both ''am not'' and ''are not''.

Related Words and Usage

The related word '''hain’t''' is an archaic and non-standard contraction meaning ''has not'' or ''have not''. It can be found in literature, particularly in Mark Twain’s stories such as ''The Adventures of Tom Sawyer''. It is reminiscent of ''hae'' (have) in Lowland Scots.

Examples

★ The speech Ain't I a Woman? given by abolitionist Sojourner Truth.

★ Hall of Fame pitcher Dizzy Dean, who became a play-by-play broadcaster after his playing days ended, was chastised by critics for using that word on the air. His response has sometimes been quoted as, “A lot of folks who don’t say ‘ain’t’, ain’t eatin’ regular!” [1]

★ Lewis Carroll may or may not have been tweaking purists in his children’s book ''Through the Looking Glass'', when the character Tweedledee says to Alice, “If it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn’t, it ''ain’t''. That’s logic.”

★ “Say it ain’t so, Joe!”, reportedly said by a young baseball fan to Shoeless Joe Jackson after the fan learned about the Black Sox scandal involving throwing the 1919 World Series.

★ In the 1939 film ''The Wizard of Oz'', upon receiving his medal, the Cowardly Lion exclaims, “Look what it says: ‘Courage’. Ain’t it the truth, ain’t it the truth!”

★ The Hollywood Argyles’ 1960 novelty song ''Alley Oop'', about the comic-strip caveman, contains the spoken comment, “He sho’ is hip, ain’t he!”

★ Christina Aguilera’s hit song “Ain’t No Other Man”.

★ ''Ain’t It Cool News'', a media-based website created by Harry Knowles.

★ In 1980, the New Orleans Saints were called the ''Aints'' because of their 1-15 season, in which the Saints lost their first 14 games.

★ “It Ain’t Like That”, a song by Alice in Chains, is another example of the usage of ain’t in popular culture.

★ ''It Ain’t Half Hot Mum'', a 1974 BBC comedy series charting the exploits of a Royal Artillery Concert Party—a theatrical troupe—based in India during the Second World War. Created by Jimmy Perry and David Croft.

★ “This Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race”, a 2007 single released by Fall Out Boy.

★ In the American television series “Prison Break”, ain’t is often used by the convicts.

★ The popular song “Life During Wartime” by Talking Heads, includes the lyrics “this ain’t no party, this ain’t no disco, this ain’t no fooling around”.

★ Often used on Disney Channel's show "Hannah Montana."

★ "Ain't That Peculiar" and "Ain't Nothing Like The Real Thing", Number One singles for Motown artist Marvin Gaye.

★ Rocket From The Tombs' song "Ain't It Fun", recorded by The Dead Boys and later covered by Guns N' Roses.

★ The Hollies song "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother"

★ Alicia Keys song "If I Ain't Got You"

References

1. “Ain’t”, entry in ''Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of English Usage'', E. Ward Gilman, ed., (Merriam-Webster 1989) ISBN 0-87779-132-5
2. Shana Poplack, Gerard Van Herk, and Dawn Harvie. "'Deformed in the dialects': an alternative history of non-standard English." ''Alternative Histories of English''. Ed. Richard Watts and Peter Trudgill. (Routledge 2002)
3. William Congreve, ''Love for Love'', act 3, scene 7 (1695)
4. Sir John Vanbrugh, ''The Relapse'' (1696)