query re AAVE

[Wilson Gray]

The "You can't be serious" bit was meant as a comment on me - possibly
on others, too - who have that feeling that, "If I know it, then that
means that everybody else knows it, too, given that I'm the epitome of
ordinary and I know it." I guess that I put too much faith into that
emoticon. That quotation ought to read, "Self is the measure of all
things."

IAC, please accept my apologies.

-Wilson

On 7/20/06, Arnold M. Zwicky <zwicky at csli.stanford.edu> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Arnold M. Zwicky" <zwicky at CSLI.STANFORD.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: query re AAVE
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Jul 17, 2006, at 4:59 PM, Wilson Gray wrote:
>
> > I'm tempted to say, "You can *not* be serious!" :-) The change of
> > word-final /-Vt/ to [-Vk], even when the syllable has a strong
> > secondary stress, is stereotypical of BE as I knew it in Saint Louis.
>
> well, of course i was serious.  there's an awful lot i don't know.
> meanwhile, people come to me all the time with queries about
> language.  when i don't know the answer or how to find it out, i pass
> the query on to someone who might be able to help -- including the
> ADS-L crew.
>
> in this case, the responses have been very useful.  thanks from me
> and john rickford.
>
> arnold
>
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--
Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have
found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be
imposed upon them.

Frederick Douglass

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