more on Pittsburgh talk; with a digression on nanas

[Beverly Flanigan]

What do you mean by "natural error"?  Positive anymore isn't an error for
its users!  And it's not at all comparable to the genuine errors made by
non-native speakers.

At 11:54 AM 10/23/00 -0400, you wrote:
>>Talking to my wife, a native Pittsburgh regioner, about the recent
>>postings on Pittsburgh talk, reminded me of a quirk of her defunct
>>mother's way of talking that had struck me from the first time I had
>>heard it: the use of the work "anymore" in affirmative statements.
>>For instance, "That is so expensive anymore!"  I would only use
>>"anymore" in a negative context: "I can't afford that anymore."  In
>>Doggie Nana's statement, I would use "nowadays" or "now", &c: "That
>>is so expensive these days!" ...
>
>I think positive 'anymore' is widespread, although with varying
>frequency/prevalence.
>
>I generally considered it a 'natural error' in Chicago, Detroit, etc.
>
>Here in Pittsburgh it seems to be somewhat more common.
>
>Supposedly it is concentrated in South Midland dialects.
>
>It has been discussed on this list to some extent.
>
>A comparable 'natural error' which I've heard only from non-native speakers:
>
>"Have you ever been to New York?"
>"No, but I have ever been to Boston."
>
>[I'm sure somewhere in AS there must be a paper demonstrating that this is
>really a widely accepted usage .... (^_^)]
>
>-- Doug Wilson


_____________________________________________
Beverly Olson Flanigan         Department of Linguistics
Ohio University                     Athens, OH  45701
Ph.: (740) 593-4568              Fax: (740) 593-2967
http://www.cats.ohiou.edu/linguistics/dept/flanigan.htm