"at" at end of sentence

[Alice Faber]

Dennis R. Preston wrote:
>Hardly Midwestern US. I have yet to visit an English-speaking part of
>the world where many prepositions were not left at the ends of
>sentences. I suspect there are some lower-level syntactic conditions
>which will obtain in some areas and not in others (causing Canadians,
>for example, to notice others' use but not their own, a common enough
>sociolinguistic phenomenon [or 'phenomena', a rapidly-growing
>singular]), but I don't think we know about the distribution of these
>conditions, and I suspect that many are more social than geographic.
>
>Good thesis. Get on it.
>
>dInIs
>
>>Many of my friends in Indiana use the sentence-ending "at," so I suspect
>>it's more of a midwest thing.
>>
>>Paul
>>
>>>   You know you're from Ohio if:
>>>
>>>   You end your sentences with an unnecessary
>>>   preposition. Example:"Where's my coat at?"
>>>
>>>   I'd always thought this was American in general (ie., Canadians
>>>   never put "at" at the end of sentences, but it's one of
>>>   the first things we notice when we go south of the border).
>>>
>>>   Is this usage considered specific to Ohio or that general region?

Ah...but this specific use of "at" with "where" is hardly a stranded
preposition. "To whom did you give the book?" is a valid, albeit
stilted, variant of "who did you give the book to?". "At where did I
leave my coat?" is just bizarre. The "at" in "where's my coat at?",
to me, reflects some kind of regional difference. It sounds alien to
me (a native New Yorker), but I've definitely encountered it often
enough to not be boggled by it. If you want to tell me it's general
South Midlands, I won't argue with it, but it certainly isn't
American (as opposed to Canadian).
--
 =============================================================================
Alice Faber                                             faber at haskins.yale.edu
Haskins Laboratories                                  tel: (203) 865-6163 x258
New Haven, CT 06511 USA                                     fax (203) 865-8963