more begging of the question.

[Arnold M. Zwicky]

On Apr 12, 2007, at 9:24 AM, John M. Spartz wrote:

> The -ed for -ing to be the most plausible analysis. Using the -ed
> for the -ing
> present participle is common in some dialect areas--Pennsylvania?
> Even here in
> Indiana, I hear things like "my car needs washed" on a regular basis.

this is not really "using the -ed *for* the -ing"; they're simply two
different constructions, a standard one with the present participle
and a (much-studied) regionally distributed non-standard one with the
past participle.  we're talking not about the use of the participles
in general, but only in the complement of a few verbs (mostly "need"
and "want"), where the subject of the clause is understood as the
object of the verb in the complement.

arnold

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