Needs specimen

[Dennis R. Preston]

I (and others who have worked on the needs+pp construction) find this in
people of every status group (including the very highest, and, in fact, I
have written in several places about the local "unawareness" of it). I'm
afraid we must go on saying it is very common, perhaps ubiquitous.

dInIs (who ain't got it; just slipped a few miles south of it)

) >I spend time in central Illinois although I no longer live there, and I have
>never heard this except by extremely low class people. You really shouldn't
>say it is common.
>
>>From: AAllan at AOL.COM
>>Reply-To: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>>Subject: Needs specimen
>>Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2000 14:55:11 EST
>>
>>In central Illinois, "needs cleaned" and "needs washed" are common, but
>>today
>>I came across a rare "needs" specimen in a student journalist's story, with
>>regard to the lighting for a spoken and signed production of "West Side
>>Story":
>>
>>"Besides the actors, there are interpreters and hand signing that need well
>>lighted."
>>
>>- Allan Metcalf
>
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Dennis R. Preston
Department of Linguistics and Languages
Michigan State University
East Lansing MI 48824-1027 USA
preston at pilot.msu.edu
Office: (517)353-0740
Fax: (517)432-2736