Re: [ADS-L] Final c all for papers: ADS 2008 Chicago

[RonButters at AOL.COM]

In a message dated 8/7/07 11:30:19 AM, preston at MSU.EDU writes:


> For
> example, "never" is apparently standard in "I never went there" for
> "At no time in the past did I got there" but nonstandard for "I
> didn't go there."
>

So "standard" American English has some kind of punctual-versus-eternal
aspect? Not for me, I think (maybe for young guys such as Dennis), is "I never went
there" 'standard' for either case, though I could say it informally whether
my meaning was 'I have never gone there' or 'I didn't go there at the time that
instant in time that is at issue in our conversation." If someone says to me,
"I never went there"--whether it is Dennis, Arnold, Frank, or some totally
vernacular speaker, I cannot know, except for context, whether the time
described is punctual or eternal.


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