Describing Varieties: Structures Flashcards
“I come”
Regulization of the past tense paradigm of the strong (irregular) verb “came” to become regular “come” (weak verb)
” I have saw”
Levelling in opposite direction - uses present perfect instead of past.
” I might could get that one”
Double modals to express uncertainty
“you was making tea” “I were making tea”
Non-standard use of was and were - variations in auxiliary be
“I did tell you I did”
Periphrastic do - normally used in positive contractions in the south
“shunt” “wunt” “kunt”
Non-standard use of auxiliaries with negative contractions
“1000 foot” “20 pound”
Unmarked plurality
“I didnt have no dinner”
Negative concord - Vernacular universal
“t’internet” “t’shops”
Definite article reduction
“you’s three” “ill come with thee” “she’s a fine lass isn’t thou”
Non-standard use of second person pronouns
“I dont like you me”
Possessive determiner used to achieve interactional goals (SNEIL)
“i want them ones”
Non-standard use of demonstrative pronoun “them” to mean “this” (close sing) “that” (distant sing) “these” (close plural) “those” (distant plural)
“look at he here” (meaning tree)
Gendered pronoun for inanimate object
“you can come with we if you like”
Pron oun exchange - we normally used as object as opposed to subject (“us”)
What are the limitations with studying grammar?
Occur less frequently than phonetic features anf affected by prestige.
