Entry · catalog no. 1069
done
/ /dʌn/ /dun
auxiliary · South; nationwide · 1900s
✓ Verified
1.
Completive done: places an action as finished and settled, usually with emphasis. "He done ate" means he has already eaten and that is that.
“I done told you twice.”
Origin & Attribution
A completive aspect marker of African American English, strongest in Southern Black speech and carried everywhere by the Great Migration. Like habitual be, it does grammatical work Standard English handles clumsily or not at all, and like habitual be it was long mistaken for a mistake.
1900s
Established completive marker in Southern Black speech
1940s
Carried nationwide by the Great Migration
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
The South
South; nationwide · 1900s
Spoken by
Southern Black speakers; nationwide
$DONEThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Steady126 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
80/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
1900
in the culture
Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.
Hear it spoken
By region — how it actually sounds
@nolakid
New Orleans, LA
@htxdri
Houston, TX
Contribute your pronunciation
Citations & Sources
■
John R. Rickford, African American Vernacular English: Features, Evolution, Educational Implications — book · 1999
submitted
■
+ Cite a sourceLisa J. Green, African American English: A Linguistic Introduction — book · 2002
submitted
See also