Different dialects, same error

[Dennis R. Preston]

>Existenetial 'it' is actually pretty widespread in white southern
>speech, although more often noted by linguists for AAVE. Yes, I come
>by it native(ly), as I clearly do not come by -ly.

There are, however, restrictions in the dialects which I have never
quite got the handle on. Some AAVE existential it's are out of bounds
for me, but I haven't analyzed them.

For example, "It aint; nobody named Windy" sounds really good to me
but "It's a man in the other room" (on the existential reading, of
course) don't.

On the other hand, it's only on this ADS list where I actually not
only tolerate but even perform breakage of Preston's Laws of
Sociolinguistics #1 and #2.

dInIs



>Is existential 'it' native to your speech, DInIs, or is this an AAVE
>borrowing for you?
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: American Dialect Society on behalf of Dennis R. Preston
>Sent: Sat 9/4/2004 3:13 PM
>To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>Subject:      Re: Different dialects, same error
>
>Of course since it ain't nobody (leastways nobody I ever knowed)
>named "Windy," I never took it to be nothing but "Wendy," even in the
>face of the pragmatic evidence of "stormy eyes."


--
Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor of Linguistics
Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic, Asian, and African Languages
A-740 Wells Hall
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824
Phone: (517) 432-3099
Fax: (517) 432-2736
preston at msu.edu