the spread of adjective-licensed "of"

Dennis Preston preston at MSU.EDU
Mon Jan 21 17:17:29 UTC 2008 

If there is contamination of ge- I wouldn't be surprised in some
varieties, but I think the reanalysis now is more likely to be that
of a have/of mix.

dInIs

>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>-----------------------
>Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>Poster:       Paul Johnston <paul.johnston at WMICH.EDU>
>Subject:      Re: the spread of adjective-licensed "of"
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Isn't this a reanalysis of a last-gasp example of OE participial
>prefix ge- which became schwa in Southwestern English dialects and
>came over here as a fossilized form between have and a past-
>participle in perfect constructions?  I've heard it analyzed as have,
>too.  It's more systematic in the SED material from Somerset, etc.
>though plainly,. it's a relic there, too.  I've heard it most
>frequently in things like "If I had a-done that, I'd...".
>
>Paul Johnston
>On Jan 21, 2008, at 10:52 AM, Dennis Preston wrote:
>
>>  ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>  -----------------------
>>  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  Poster:       Dennis Preston <preston at MSU.EDU>
>>  Subject:      Re: the spread of adjective-licensed "of"
>>  ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>  ---------
>>
>>  You have reason Ron, as Troy Aikman revealed yesterday in the not
>>  very surprising "Had they not of done..." with a very clearly
>>  articulated "of." When it's a schwa, we might assume a "double
>>  perfect " (Had they not have done...."), but the full form shows that
>>  "of" is indeed becoming a verbal particle.
>>
>>  dInIs
>>
>>>  ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>>  -----------------------
>>>  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>>  Poster:       ronbutters at AOL.COM
>>>  Subject:      Re: the spread of adjective-licensed "of"
>>>  ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>  ----------
>>>
>>>  Both "of recent" and "how big of a" sound completely normal to me. I
>>>  have heard both all my life & thought nothing odd about either one.
>>>  Indeed, I have always assumed that "how big a" was just a shortened
>>>  form of the FULL form with "of." Cf. the "to" in "help him (to)."
>>>
>>>  I can't believe that actual research (as opposed to the mere
>>>  reporting of transient impressions) will reveal anything odd or NEW
>>>  here. Of course, since I am merely reporting my own transient
>>>  impressions, maybe I am dead wrong. But isn't the burden of proof on
>>>  those who are made the original claims?
>>>  Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
>>>
>>>  -----Original Message-----
>>>  From: "STAHLKE, HERBERT F" <hstahlke at BSU.EDU>
>>>
>>>  Date:         Mon, 21 Jan 2008 00:17:42
>>>  To:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>>>  Subject:      Re: [ADS-L] the spread of adjective-licensed "of"
>>>
>>>
>>>  Larry,
>>>
>>>  I'm copying my reply to you because ADS-L has not be accepting my
>>>  postings now for several years, even when I've changed addresses.
>>>
>>>  I'm wondering if "of recent" isn't along the lines of "of a
>>>  Monday," the
>>>  latter now archaic and/or regional.
>>>
>>>  The "of a" you illustrate strikes me as related to another @(v) I've
>>>  observed.  In clauses like
>>>
>>>  If he had been there.
>>>
>>>  What I hear often is "if he'd /@@/ been there."  The lengthened
>>>  schwa is
>>>  almost two syllables in speech.  One of the schwa's is clearly the
>>>  reduction of "have," but the other can't be that.  I also get it and
>>>  hear it sometimes in the declarative "He'd /@@/ been there if it
>>>  hadn't
>>>  @ rained."  The schwa in this conditional seems to be the same
>>>  thing as
>>>  the first of the schwas in the main clause.  I don't have a
>>>  description
>>>  of this phenomenon, but there is clearly something going on that
>>>  reanalyzes both "have" and "of."
>>>
>>>  Herb
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>  ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>  >> -----------------------
>>>  Sender: American Dialect Society
>>>  Poster: Laurence Horn
>>>  Subject: the spread of adjective-licensed "of"
>>>  ---------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>  ---
>>>  -------
>>>
>>>  I'm sure Arnold has a better label for this construction, which we've
>>>  discussed here in the past. What struck me today was the proximity
>>>  of two occurrences, one in print that suggests the occurrence of the
>>>  "adjective-of-a" construction (what some might consider epenthetic
>>>  "of") that has moved beyond the colloquial into at least semi-formal
>>>  style, as seen in this headline in an Allstate ad on the back cover
>>>  of today's NYT Week in Review:
>>>
>>>  How long of a retirement should you plan for?
>>>
>>>  Somehow I wouldn't bat my eye at a sportscaster wondering on the air,
>>>  "How long of a run was that?", but the occurrence in a newspaper ad
>>>  seems a bit odder.
>>>
>>>  The other intrusive prep. occurs in spoken and indeed sportscasterese
>>>  register (from the broadcast of today's AFC championship game on
>>>  CBS), but what's interesting is the construction itself, which seems
>>>  pretty foreign to me, although obviously interpretable:
>>>
>>>  The guy who's really putting this team over the top of recent is
>>>  Maroney.
>>>
>>>  Hard to search "of recent" on google for obvious reasons, but I'm
>>>  guessing it could be a nonce blend of "recently" + "of late".
>>>
>>>  LH
>>>
>>>  ------------------------------------------------------------
>>>  The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>>
>>>  ------------------------------------------------------------
>>>  The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>>
>>  --
>>  Dennis R. Preston
>>  University Distinguished Professor
>>  Department of English
>>  Morrill Hall 15-C
>>  Michigan State University
>>  East Lansing, MI 48864 USA
>>
>>  ------------------------------------------------------------
>>  The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org


--
Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor
Department of English
Morrill Hall 15-C
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48864 USA

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

More information about the Ads-l mailing list