African-American English (AAE), also known as Black English in American linguistics, is the set of English sociolects primarily spoken by most black people in the United States and many in Canada; most commonly, it refers to a dialect continuum ranging from African-American Vernacular English to a more standard English. Like other widely spoken languages, African-American English shows variation such as in vernacular versus standard forms, stylistic variation, rural versus urban characteristics, variation based on geography (that is, features specific to singular cities or regions only), and other types of variation (including age-graded variation). There has been a significant body of African-American literature and oral tradition for centuries.