Tense in BE

[Beverly Flanigan]

Stative progressives are common here in Southern/Appalachian Ohio but were
totally new to me when I came down here (from Minnesota via St. Louis and
Bloomington, Ind.) in 1980.  We just discussed these in my Sociolx class
last week, with ref. to Michael Montgomery's listing of this form as
Appalachian.  None of the students from other areas claimed to use stative
progressives, though they have heard them; the foreign students, coming
from "book English" studies, predictably considered them ungrammatical.

Beverly

At 08:37 AM 5/30/2007, you wrote:
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>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       Dennis Preston <preston at MSU.EDU>
>Subject:      Re: Tense in BE
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>The traditional explanation is that stative verbs (know, love, have,
>etc...) do not "take" the progressive.
>
>dInIs
>
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> >Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> >Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
> >Subject:      Re: Tense in BE
> >-------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ------
> >
> >I've heard "I've *been* knowin' that!" from younger white speakers
> >in East Tennessee, though only one or two of them.
> >
> >Have we ever discussed the (formerly?) regional use of the present
> >progressive for the simple present in certain verbs that
> >traditionally don't use it?
> >
> >E.g., the current MacDonald's slogan, "I'm lovin' it!" instead of SE
> >"I love it!"
> >
> >East Tennesseans were saying "I'm lovin' it/ this!" at least thirty
> >years ago.  It still sounds weird to me.
> >
> >JL
> >
> >
> >Dennis Preston <preston at MSU.EDU> wrote: ----------------------
> >Information from the mail header -----------------------
> >Sender:       American Dialect Society
> >Poster:       Dennis Preston
> >
> >Subject:      Re: Tense in BE
> >-------------------------------------------------------------------------
> ------
> >
> >Margaret,
> >
> >I remember quite distinctly "I BEEN knowing this" (with remotive
> >stressed BEEN) from Black speakers (Louisville area) from some time
> >ago (50s). As I recall, however, the context was "Why are you telling
> >me what I've known for a long time?" The remotive plus progressive is
> >not at all rare, and this could be the source for the "knowing this"
> >for you cite, but in your memory it seems to be a simple agreement
> >marker while I remember it as a slightly annoyed response to old news.
> >
> >I know; this breaks Preston's law of sociolinguistics #2. But since
> >both my laws are broken daily here, I can't resist.
> >
> >dInIs
> >
> >>---------------------- Information from the mail header
> >>-----------------------
> >>Sender:       American Dialect Society
> >>Poster:       Margaret Lee
> >>Subject:      Re: Tense in BE
> >>------------------------------------------------------------------------
> -------
> >>
> >>Wilson Gray  wrote:    When I was stationed in
> >>Berlin ca.1961, I used to hear some black GI's
> >>say "knowin' this" instead of "fuckin' A" or "I'm hip." At the time, I
> >>figured that this was local slang brought from home, wherever that
> >>was.
> >>
> >>
> >>And the cool way to say it was with the stress on the first
> >>syllable, "know' in this," used to indicate that you agree with what
> >>someone has just said.
> >>
> >>    Margaret
> >>
> >>
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