LL-L "Grammar" 2011.03.14 (03) [EN]

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L O W L A N D S - L - 14 March - Volume 03
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From: Mark and Ruth Dreyer <mrdreyer at lantic.net>
Subject: LL-L "Grammar" 2011.03.09 (08) [EN]

Dear Pat:


Subject: LL-L "Grammar"



Apologies for the late response to your letter (other events being uppermost
in mind).



I beg to object that the 'Aint done nothin' is internally contradictory, if
only for this reason: That I can anticipate the *need* for this very
structure to negate another negative sentence; an accusation, for example,
already couched in negative terms.



As in:

Father, "I sent you this morning to tidy your room, & you have done
nothing!"

Son, indignantly, "I haven't done nothing!"



Now if in the interests of lucid communication standard English needs to be
able to use this self-same structure, you may be sure that non-standard
English needs the same. Either the standard form must abandon it & craft
some laboured circumlocution to meet the need, or (as I know often to be the
case) those who use non-standard English must avoid the construction, or
avoid a klap!



See, I readily concede the cultural authority of recapitulated negation in
an *emphatic* negative sentence, but it is a special condition, as shown by
the fact that the recapitulation acquires momentum of its own, as in, "I
'ain't never done nothing..." & so on ad nausium.



You wrote:
If the purpose of the List is to explore language in an objective way using
the findings of linguistics, then there is nothing contradictory about I
ain't done nothin'. It's not standard English but aren't we exploring
language that is often seen as having no standards just because it isn't the
language of the court, of the capital, of the government?



Yrs as ever,

Mark

Hanne



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