Heard on The Judges: "tell [NP] say"

[Wilson Gray]

Fifty-ish, white male speaker from East Texas:

"Even people in [the local Catholic] church told me _says_[sic],
"John, she [his best friend's new wife] gon' be trouble for you."


_Tell [NP] say_ is usually perceived as a feature of black speech
(this perception absolutely conforms to reality in the case of the
speech of my grandparents, my parents, and, to a moderate extent, the
speech of my brothers I don't use it, of course, having made a
conscious effort to erase this structure from my own speech) and this
is the first time that I've ever heard it used by a white person that
I can recall.

I mention that he was a Catholic, since that a white Texan named "John
Fuller" should be a Catholic and not a Baptist is unexpected bordering
on amazing. indeed, I'm even surprised that the animated-cartoon
character, Hank Hill, is a Methodist. I note "says" because, in my
family, at least, only "say" was ever used.

--
-Wilson
–––
All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"––a strange complaint to
come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
–Mark Twain

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