Contractions: gonna, wanna, tryinna

[Mai Kuha]

Now that you mention it, this is what stood out to me about that instance of
"tryinna": it is separated from its infinitive by "I think more than
complain". ("Tryinna" does seem very normal to me too, but somehow I never
notice anyone saying it.)

Maybe it was "wanu", not with a schwa. The [u] threw me for such a loop that
I'm sure my perception and memory of the first vowel are entirely
unreliable.

-Mai

on 10/14/03 8:43 AM, Beverly Flanigan at flanigan at OHIOU.EDU wrote:

> "Tryinna" seems very normal to me, as long as an infinitive follows the
> contracted 'to'.  Otherwise, I'd expect the full "trying to" with implied
> infinitive, as in your "going to" example.  I've also heard "wanu"; in
> fact, I think (with fuzzy memory) it may have been the more common
> contraction when I was younger.  But this is just impressionistic.  BTW,
> was it really a schwa in the first syllable, or [a]?
>
> At 05:28 PM 10/13/2003 -0500, you wrote:
>> (...)
>> This reminded me of a contraction on a Seinfeld episode that's been haunting
>> me for a long time. Elaine is trying to convince a total stranger to drive
>> her and her friends around the parking garage so that they can find their
>> car. He refuses, and when Elaine insists, gives this reason: "I just don't
>> [w at nu]." "But why?" Elaine whines, "why don't you [w at nu]?"
>> I found that very odd. Dispense with the [t], but keep a full-blown [u]?
>>
>> And that reminded me of my dissertation data. I have one of my lovely
>> informants saying this on tape:
>> "I think I was just tryinna, I think more than complain, just let the
>> neighbor know I'm aware of the situation."
>> I'm not aware of having heard "tryinna" since. Maybe it does occur but isn't
>> noticed?
>>
>> -Mai