What The African American Vernacular English Word "Finna" REALLY Means

Edited by Azizi Powell

Latest Update: December 13, 2021 

This pancocojams post presents information and comments about the history and use of the African American word "finna" in the United States.

The content of this post is presented for linguistic and socio-cultural purposes.  

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post.
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This is part of an ongoing pancocojams series on the word "finna", Click the "finna" link below for more pancocojams posts in this series.
 
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SELECTED ONLINE EXCERPTS ABOUT THE WORD "FINNA"

(These excerpts are given in no particular order and are numbered for referencing purposes only.)

Excerpt #1
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African-American_Vernacular_English [retrieved Sept. 3, 2021]
"African-American Vernacular English (AAVE, /ˈɑːveɪ, æv/[1]), also referred to as Black (Vernacular) English, Black English Vernacular, or occasionally Ebonics (a colloquial, controversial term),[2] is the variety of English natively spoken, particularly in urban communities, by most working- and middle-class African Americans and some Black Canadians.[3]

Having its own unique grammatical, vocabulary, and accent features, African-American Vernacular English is employed by Black Americans as the more informal and casual end of a sociolinguistic continuum; on the formal end of this continuum, speakers switch to more standard English grammar and vocabulary, usually while retaining elements of the nonstandard accent.[4][5]

As with most African-American English, African-American Vernacular English shares a large portion of its grammar and phonology with the rural dialects of the Southern United States,[6] and especially older Southern American English,[7] due to historical connections of African Americans to the region.

[...]

AAVE grammatical aspects

[...]

Finna corresponds to "fixing to" in other varieties.[65] it is also written fixina, fixna, fitna, and finta[66]

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Excerpt #2
From https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/finna/
..."WHAT DOES FINNA MEAN?

Finna, a contraction of fixing to, means “getting ready to do something.”

It’s used to express a goal to take some sort of action in the near future.

Finna, sometimes pronounced or spelled as finta or fitna, is a shortening of the expression fixing to, like gonna is a shortening of going to.

Fixing to has a long history in Southern American English, and its sense of “getting ready to” is seen as early as the 1700s, where fixing meant “to intend,” “arrange,” or “make preparations.”

By the mid-1800s, the verb was settling into the phrase fixing to, widening in meaning from just “preparing to,” to mean “going to,” “intending to,” or “getting ready to” do something. It’s still used like this today in some Southern dialects.

Finna emerged from fixing to in African American English and is recorded in hip-hop lyrics in the late 1980s. For example, N.W.A.’s 1987 “3 The Hard Way” features the line “I finna kick this sh-t*, alright!” and King Tee’s 1998 “Act a Fool” includes “I’m finna act a fool.”
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*This word is fully spelled out in this comment.

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Excerpt #3
From https://ygdp.yale.edu/phenomena/fixin-to Yale Grammatical Diversity Project
"English in North America

..."Fixin’ to

"I’m fixin’ to wash the dishes."

(Ching 1987:338)

Sentences with fixin’ to place an event in the near future. Speakers of mainstream English may be more familiar with the variations in (2), which also place the event of telling the story in the near future.

1) Daisy’s fixin’ to tell the story.

(Myers 2014:56)

2)
a. Daisy’s going to tell the story.

b. Daisy’s about to tell the story.

c. Daisy’s planning to tell the story.

Crucially, however, speakers who use fixin’ to note that there is a difference in meaning between (1) and any of the sentences in (2) (Goldie Ann McQuaid and Harold Torrence, p.c.). This difference may be difficult to pin down, but see semantic properties below for some discussion.

Fixin’ to also has a number of phonological variants, perhaps the most well-recognized being finna. Consider:

3) a. I finna get off the bus.

(Thomas 2013:9)

b. I’m fixin’ to get off the bus.

Like with fixin’ to, finna can most easily be paraphrased in mainstream English with going to/gonna, planning to, and about to. However, such paraphrasing does not necessarily produce identical meaning. Furthermore, it remains unclear exactly what the relationship between fixin’ to and finna is."...

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Excerpt #4
From https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/28740/what-is-the-history-and-geographic-area-of-the-word-finna What is the history and geographic area of the word "finna?"

1.
"In St. Louis, I learned of the word, "finna." I know it is slang/contraction for "fixing to." By asking dozens of people, I've learned that it is used by people of many different races and cultural backgrounds. I've also learned that many who use this word have been using it all their lives (for some, that means at least 50 years).”…

edited Dec 24 '13 at 17:25, Tim Lymington

asked Jun 6 '11 at 4:35, Eri

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2.
"Just to add some boundaries to the extent of the usage: I've lived in St. Louis most of my life ('50s, '60s, '90s, '00s), and I've never heard this that I can think of. I'm white, middle-class, grew up in the inner-ring suburb of University City, have lived last 20 years in the ethnically mixed Central West End."
- Steve Harris,  Jun 6 '11 at 7:17

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3.
@Steve Harris: That is good to know. Many of my city teacher friends, also white and middle-class, say it, but those who just moved to the area in the last few years say it because they picked it up from their students and colleagues. Perhaps there is a socio-economic boundary?

 –Eri,  Jun 6 '11 at 20:08

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4. 
"I’m from Louisville, Kentucky, and I’ve only heard people in more urban communities use it. I’ve always wondered how the word or saying finna came about. Your explanation makes sense to me!

People also say frinna down here as well."

edited May 11 '14 at 14:21, tchrist♦

answered May 11 '14 at 13:54, user74814

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Excerpt #5
From https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=finna
"Literally means "going to"

Came from "fixin to"

"I finna give you an LA ass woopin'" - Chris Tucker

"Finna take it to the house" - Trick Daddy

by Budhacris September 23, 2005" 

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Excerpt #6
From https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=finna%20do
"finna do

Getting ready to do or fixin' to do something. used as a verb.

"what you and yo" finna do"  is a good example of how the word is used. used a lot in southern regions of the united states.

by Artist1 January 25, 2011"

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