copula deletion and BEV

[Wilson Gray]

I don't know. What does "an important community marker" mean?

-Wilson

On 1/24/07, Amy West <medievalist at w-sts.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Amy West <medievalist at W-STS.COM>
> Subject:      copula deletion and BEV
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Thanks for educating me. It's something that I've never noticed before.
> Does Labov's claim hold up under scrutiny?
>
> ---Amy West
>
> >Date:    Tue, 23 Jan 2007 12:23:09 -0500
> >From:    Michael H Covarrubias <mcovarru at PURDUE.EDU>
> >Subject: Re: a dialect using just participle?
> >
> >It looks like copula deletion.  Labov claimed this feature was an important
> >community marker of Black English Vernacular.
> >
> >Quoting Amy West <medievalist at W-STS.COM>:
> >  > Now, finally, I'm reading the handbook (Longman Writer's Companion)
> >>  and in their discussion of the progressive & perfect tenses they
> >  > identify as a dialect example this:
> >>
> >>  The interview starting five minutes late.
> >>  (They analyze it as omitting _is_ in _is starting_.)
> >>
> >>  I've never run across this dialectical variant. Now I feel really
> >  > stupid for thinking that my student was stupid.
>
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