"ain't" (mis)behavior

[Joel S. Berson]

Where would I find discussion of "ain't" -- its chronology of usage,
relation to class distinctions, onset of prohibition, etc.?

I thought I'd try Google Ngram.  It replies 'Replaced "ain't" with "
is not " to match how we processed the books.'  Prescriptivist bastards!

The OED is similarly silent on "ain't", unless I've missed something.

Joel

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