African American Vernacular English (AAVE)—also called African American English (AAE); less precisely Black English, Black Vernacular, Black English Vernacular (BEV), or Black Vernacular English (BVE)—is a variety (dialect, ethnolect and sociolect) of American English, most commonly spoken today by urban working-class and largely  middle-class African Americans. Non-linguists often call it Ebonics (a term that also has other meanings and connotations).