Present-tense singular of the verb "text"

[W Brewer]

Charles C Doyle wrote: xxx <<<verb "text" as [tEksIz]  ("So he ___'s me
that . . .). xxx
WB: texts [TEK.sIz], -s = 3rd person singular present indicative
active: such synthesis. It seems as if the principle of ease of
articulation via phonetic cluster simplification has outweighed the female
predilection to use the more prestigious and impressive (if not impossible
to pronounce with a straight face) form [tEksts]. Somewhere along the line,
the simplified form [tEks] had to express the {third singular present
indicative active} morpheme by adding the /schwa(with alveolar raising)-ess
(or -zee)/ after [-s] of the stem. We should write the new noun & verb form
as tex. Then texes would be a logical solution to the dilemma at hand. Or
we could all just switch to Esperanto.
CCD: <<< I wonder if that form is common (outside the South) with the new
verb text.>>>
WB: You will have to consult a dialect discussion list for that
information. Oh, wait! That's us!

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