"The sun has riz, the sun has set, and here we is in Texas yet" (1933)

[Laurence Horn]

At 2:18 PM -0500 2/14/07, Charles Doyle wrote:
>The sentence-terminal "yet" in "Here we is in Texas yet" seems
>significantly different (more "German"/less "English") than "yet" in
>the verb phrase of "Does that star-spangled banner yet wave . . . ?"
>And, of course, different from "yet" in "Are we out of Texas yet?"
>
>My brain is too tired to postulate reasons WHY!
>
>--Charlie

Well, the third, which is the only one I find natural, is the
negative polarity counterpart of "already".  (For me, your question
could be answered "No, not yet" or "Yes, we're (already) out of
Texas; we just crossed into Oklahoma", but not "Yes, we're still out
of Texas.")  Similarly, "I'm already through"/"I'm not through yet".

In the other two, "yet" alternates with "still".  The sense of "here
we is in Texas yet" is presumably that after all that driving, or
riding, we're still within the state lines, Texas being Texas and
all.  And the rhetorical question posed in the anthem is whether that
SSB is still waving.  It's this "yet" = 'still' that falls outside my
native competence.

LH

>_______________________________________________________
>
>---- Original message ----
>>Date: Wed, 14 Feb 2007 13:52:43 -0500
>>From: "Mark A. Mandel" <mamandel at LDC.UPENN.EDU>
>>Subject: Re: "The sun has riz, the sun has set, and here we is in
>>Texas yet" (1933)
>
>>
>>Larry asks:
>
>>
>>Besides the obvious virtue of its elegance, this
>>line (in the positive versions) has the very nice
>>use of "yet" for 'still', which I assume derives
>>from German influence in Texas, as it does in
>>Wisconsin.  Any thoughts?
>>
>>   <<<<<
>>
>>Why postulate foreign influence?
>>
>>         O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
>>         O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
>>                 (By a fellow alumnus)
>>
>>-- Mark A. Mandel, St. John's College (Annapolis) 1969
>>[This text prepared with Dragon NaturallySpeaking.]
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org