LL-L "Morphology" 2003.08.10 (04) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Morphology

> From: Gavin.Falconer at gmx.net <Gavin.Falconer at gmx.net>
> Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2003.08.10 (02) [E/LS]

> There is a general tendency in non-standard English to conflate the past
> participle and the preterite, and this is very strong in Scots. The use of
> "went" as the past participle is recorded as early as William Dunbar, but
> would be
> thought low-register in the present-day literary language.

Ah, interesting!  In some American dialects, especially in African American
ones, you hear constructions like "I would have went" (for standard "I would
have gone") and "You should have took ..." (for standard "You should have
taken ...").  Do you think these are separate developments or cases of
preservation of British dialect features?

But aren't there some restrictions here?  I don't recall hearing, say,
"You've took my book."  Does the said type of construction only occur with
"would have," "should have," and "could have"?  Or is my exposure merely
limited.

"You've took my book" ... Hmm ... Now that I said it several times in my
head, I'm starting to think that in some dialects it might be grammatical
after all.

Pondering ...
Reinhard/Ron

P.S.: Gavin, it was so refreshing to "hear" you "say" "European English"!

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