Tense in BE

[Dennis R. Preston]

Wilson,

Whew! For one horrible moment I thought you had a "continues into the
present" stressed BEEN. I shoulda known better.

dInIs

PS: I am all for big and little been; puts us on equal footing with
silly syntactic language.

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>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
>Subject:      Re: Tense in BE
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Naw, I still be sayin' it. But BEEN isn't consistent with "awla my
>life." Only unstressed "been" is. In my experience, big BEEN <har!
>har!> can imply that the other person, in the speaker's opinion, was
>right stupid to think that what he had to say was of any interest to
>anyone else. Adding the longer variant with unstressed "been" is meant
>to take the put-down out of it, rather like a spoken smile/wink
>emoticon.
>
>-Wilson
>
>On 5/30/07, Dennis Preston <preston at msu.edu> wrote:
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>>  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  Poster:       Dennis Preston <preston at MSU.EDU>
>>  Subject:      Re: Tense in BE
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>  Wilson,
>>
>>  Does that mean you ain't sayin' it now? Is 'BEEN' consistent with
>>  "awla my life"?
>>
>>  dInIs, being picky
>>
>>
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>>  >Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  >Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
>>  >Subject:      Re: Tense in BE
>>  >-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>  >
>>  >Shoot, dInIs, I BEEN sayin' that! In fac', I been sayin' that kina
>>  >thang awla my life.
>>  >
>>  >-Wilson, writing in the guise of [wIusn]
>>  >
>>  >On 5/30/07, Dennis Preston <preston at msu.edu> wrote:
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>>  >>  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  >>  Poster:       Dennis Preston <preston at MSU.EDU>
>>  >>  Subject:      Re: Tense in BE
>>  >>
>>  >>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>  >>
>>  >>  Margaret,
>>  >>
>>  >>  I remember quite distinctly "I BEEN knowing this" (with remotive
>>  >>  stressed BEEN) from Black speakers (Louisville area) from some time
>>  >>  ago (50s). As I recall, however, the context was "Why are you telling
>>  >>  me what I've known for a long time?" The remotive plus progressive is
>>  >>  not at all rare, and this could be the source for the "knowing this"
>>  >>  for you cite, but in your memory it seems to be a simple agreement
>>  >>  marker while I remember it as a slightly annoyed response to old news.
>>  >>
>>  >>  I know; this breaks Preston's law of sociolinguistics #2. But since
>>  >>  both my laws are broken daily here, I can't resist.
>>  >>
>>  >>  dInIs
>>  >>
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>>  >>  >Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  >>  >Poster:       Margaret Lee <mlee303 at YAHOO.COM>
>>  >>  >Subject:      Re: Tense in BE
>>  >>
>>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>  >>  >
>>  >>  >Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM> wrote:    When I was stationed in
>>  >>  >Berlin ca.1961, I used to hear some black GI's
>>  >>  >say "knowin' this" instead of "fuckin' A" or "I'm hip." At the time, I
>>  >>  >figured that this was local slang brought from home, wherever that
>>  >>  >was.
>>  >>  >
>>  >>  >
>>  >>  >And the cool way to say it was with the stress on the first
>>  >>  >syllable, "know' in this," used to indicate that you agree with what
>>  >>  >someone has just said.
>>  >>  >
>>  >>  >   Margaret
>>  >>  >
>>  >>  >
>>  >>  >---------------------------------
>>  >>  >Park yourself in front of a world of choices in alternative vehicles.
>  > >>  >Visit the Yahoo! Auto Green Center.
>>  >>  >
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>>  >
>>  >--
>>  >All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
>>  >come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
>>  >-----
>>  >                                               -Sam'l Clemens
>>  >
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>
>
>--
>All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
>come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
>-----
>                                               -Sam'l Clemens
>
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--
Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor
Department of English
15C Morrill Hall
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824
517-353-4736
preston at msu.edu

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