will/shall

[Laurence Horn]

At 9:52 AM -0500 1/25/01, David Bergdahl wrote:
>As a 60-yr old American I can attest that no one in my generation or
>younger uses 'shall' for any purpose whatsoever except to sound posh:
>"will" or "gonna" ~ "going to" or BE + V+ing is all the future we need
>in informal usage.
>
>-- db
>____________________________________________________________________
Even in suggestions with interrogative syntax, where it doesn't
alternate with "will"?

Shall we leave?
#Will we leave?  [OK, but not as a suggestion]

Of course, "Let's leave" is another possibility, but it's more
definitive; the "shall" interrogative really does ask for
confirmation.  I also say, and hear, the elliptical "Shall we?", with
the action recoverable from context.  I agree that "shall" in
declaratives sounds archaic, posh, or British (if these are
distinct), but "shall" in 1st person interrogatives is alive and not
entirely unwell.

larry