SWAE relative "what"

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

On Aug 23, 2006, at 2:05 PM, William Salmon wrote:

> I agree with Wilson on the relative 'what' and Southern English. I
> recall hearing it pretty commonly in South Texas.  Especially with
> older speakers.

MWDEU thinks it's mostly southern and midland, used by "the little
educated", especially in rural areas.  and, of course, mostly spoken
rather than written.

i'm certainly familiar with it from central ohio, especially from
working-class speakers.  quote from the son of an osu colleague,
about a spelling bee in, i think, second grade: "I was the only boy
what winned!"  (you can see why i remember this.)  the kid in
question hung out with mostly working-class boys, and eventually
developed an extraordinary ability to switch varieties by context.

i suspect that relative "what" is not evenly distributed across
different contexts for relative clauses; in particular, i think
"only" favors it.  if so, this would make a nice research topic (if
it hasn't already been done).

arnold

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