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Some English verbs use distinct forms for the preterite (i.e., simple past; e.g., I broke the door) and the past participle (e.g., I've broken the door). These verbs may variably show use of the preterite form in place of the participle (e.g., I've broke the door), which the authors call participle leveling. This article contributes the first detailed variationist study of participle leveling by investigating the phenomenon in perfect constructions using data collected from three corpora of conversational speech: two of American English and one of British English. A striking degree of similarity is found between the three corpora in both the linguistic and the extralinguistic constraints on variation. Constraints on participle leveling include tense of the perfect construction, verb frequency, and phonological similarity between preterite and participle forms. The variable is stable in real time and socially stratified. The article relates the findings to theoretical linguistic treatments of the variation and to questions of its origin and spread in Englishes transatlantically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the linguistic, social, and geographic distribution of a-prefixing data in the Linguistic Atlas Project (LAP) of North America. Over 3,800 instances of the a-prefix were extracted for analysis from the LAP interview data of 1,527 speakers from across the United States, collected between 1931 and 2006. While the LAP a-prefix data do not generally deviate from patterns observed in the sociolinguistic literature, they do offer a more nuanced picture of infrequent prefixed forms, including uncommon constructions and verbs that appear as a-prefixed forms less frequently. A-prefixers in LAP tended to be White men, although it should be noted that 30–47% of the female speakers in four of the surveyed LAP projects also used this feature. The geographic distribution of the feature suggests that the a-prefix is not Southern so much as it is Eastern, with pockets of lesser and greater usage as one moves westward across the country. Additionally, the data cast the a-prefix as a rural phenomenon, rather than as a strictly Southern one, which opens the door to discussions of the feature as a means of indexing participation in (or affinity for) a rural lifestyle. Overall, this article demonstrates that LAP data are a tremendous resource and a key piece of the puzzle of understanding regional and social variation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the variation between past-tense forms burned/ burnt, dwelled/dwelt, dreamed/dreamt, and the like historically with the help of the Corpus of Historical American English and asks whether prescriptive grammars in the nineteenth century may have influenced the development of regular forms as a present-day morphological Americanism. Contrary to what is often assumed, this article argues that the irregular forms are the actual innovations and that the return to regular forms is found in writing only and is highly lexeme-specific. Also contrary to expectations, prescriptive grammar writing is shown to have been mostly ignorant of which verbs were undergoing change, in which direction, and to which degree, and prescriptive grammar writing could not have been instrumental in supporting, let alone triggering, the development of this morphological Americanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Southern American English expression fixin' to has its roots in the lexical verb to fix. The expression has developed in English for over six centuries, from a concrete transitive verb of Latin origin, through intransitive phases that included complements of either for + gerund or nonfinite verb phrases, and eventually to a quasi-modal with both deontic and epistemic senses of assessment, acknowledgement, and response to compelling or obligating circumstances. Syntactic and semantic tests are offered to argue that fixin' to clearly belongs in the family of American English quasi-modals, which also includes be bound to, be going to, and be supposed to is hypothesized that the expression bears a special semantic value implying that the speaker (1) is aware of and has evaluated a situation; (2) acknowledges a resulting pressing obligation or compulsion--typically, but not always, in the first person--to act/to happen; and (3) is preparing to address the situation forthwith. Finally, it is claimed that this special semantic value of fixin' to is why the expression has withstood the pressures of stigmatization and remains in the everyday lexicon of Southern American English speakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the influence of technology brand names upon the English language as of Winter 2013. According to the article, the American Dialect Society chose the verb google as its Word of the Decade during its January 2010 meeting. The article examines what it calls the "verbing" of brand names, other morphological processes concerning brand names in English, and efforts by business enterprises to persuade consumers to accept a brand's unique vocabulary. The article also provides definitions for several words such as Grouponer, Instagramming, and pinner.

The article discusses research into linguistic variations in Acadian French. Particular attention is paid to the use of the auxiliary verb avoir, rather than être, in Acadian French. The author discusses how, in standard French, certain verbs employ the auxiliary verb être rather than avoir for certain verbs of motion and for birth and death in the passé composé. A chart is presented of verbs that typically use the auxiliary être in standard French along with percentages of French speakers in different regions of French-speaking Canada who use the auxiliary verb avoir instead of être in these cases. A secondary topic is the placement of prepositions in places other than near the object of the phrase in Acadian speech; the author refers to this phenomenon as preposition stranding.

The article describes the author's research into linguistic variations in Acadian French. According to the author, this research leans on linguistic theory, written histories of language, and folklore recordings. The written and oral historical record for Acadian French is said to be quite good. The author describes differences between Acadian spoken French and Spoken French from France. Mention is made of the use of the auxiliary verb avoir in Acadian French in the passé composé where spoken standard French would have used the auxiliary verb être.

This article investigates the development of two groups of strong verbs, clustering around sing/sang/sung and sling/slung/slung, in written American English over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Especially during the nineteenth century, there is a massive reduction in variability in past-tense forms; typically, in the first group of verbs, past-tense a-forms come to predominate, resulting in the present-day standard sang, drank, or shrank. In the second group of verbs, past-tense u-forms are already established at the beginning of the nineteenth century and are not subject to variation. Contrary to expectation, prescriptive grammars were not instrumental in bringing about this reduction in variability. A quantitative analysis of 256 prescriptive grammars from the nineteenth century shows that, as a rule, (1) grammars allowed more variability than the written data actually showed, (a) American grammars were more tolerant of variation than British grammars, and (3) the development in grammar books actually followed, rather than preceded, developments in the written data. Combining historical corpus analysis and quantitative historical grammaticography in the analysis of processes of language change allows one to relativize an overly general assessment of the influence of prescriptive grammar writing in the nineteenth century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the use of the prefix un- in the English language. According to the authors, the use of the prefix has been prevalent in Modern English, particularly by the British playwright William Shakespeare. The article also examines the use of the prefix in nouns and verbs, and points to the use of the prefix in advertising slogans, such as 7-UP soda and the Smart Car, and popular culture such as social media. The article also provides several nouns and verbs beginning with the un- prefix, along with definitions.

The article discusses new words and phrases in contemporary English language usage in the U.S. It focuses on rhyming compounds composed of a noun and a noun or a verb and a verb. A definition of each phrase is presented. Citations are offered of its use in books, periodicals and newspapers. When possible, credit is given to an individual whom it has been determined was the originator of the expression. Several of the compounds have more than one definition. In such cases, both are presented.

This study explores quotative system norms within Latino communities and African American communities in two cities in North Carolina, Durham and Hickory, to identify how social and ethnic distribution intersects with regional distribution in such systems. Quotative frames were transcribed from sociolinguistic interviews conducted with 35 Latino and 27 African American participants between the ages of 9 and 21. The quotative verb form and the tense, person, and content of the quotation were analyzed as a basis for examining its distribution. Correlating Latino participants' length of residency in the United States to quotative usage provided insight into the possible effect of second-language acquisition on quotative systems. Quotative be like was found to be grammaticalized as a reporter of direct speech and thought in all communities and was favored in the first person for the Latino speech communities, mirroring prior studies of Anglo communities. Results indicate that Latino and African American quotative systems are aligning with other systems identified in the United States with respect to the types of verbal quotatives used and content constraints, though each group and region varies in the application of previously observed constraints. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article attempts to document the history of finite be in New England folk speech, a phenomenon thus far neglected in scholarly publications devoted to American historical dialectology. The authors aim at proving that even though plural indicative be had been brought to the early colonies with the first settlers, be as a singular indicative form was a New Englandism, not attested until the late seventeenth century--consequently, the authors engage in a comparative analysis of the linguistic contexts attracting the feature in focus respectively in Early Modern British English, early and late colonial New England English, and postcolonial New England English. In terms of textual selection, the authors make use of a vast array of primary sources, ranging from documents containing "close-to-oral" language through vernacular letters and comments by coeval language specialists to literary representations of the New England dialect; as for the latter, the authors have not shunned fictional portrayals but approached them with necessary caution both by means of careful selection of reliable dialect writers and comparison of the retrieved data with the ones obtained from other sources, such as the Linguistic Atlas of New England. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an analysis of subject-verb concord in earlier white Southern American Vernacular English (SAVE). The data were taken from the Southern Plantation Overseers Corpus (SPOC), a collection of vernacular letters dating from the late eighteenth to mid-nineteenth century. Part one focuses on the effect of two internal linguistic constraints that govern the occurrence of present tense verbal -s: The first constraint affects the auxiliaries have and be and predicts higher rates of -s when compared to lexical verbs. A second, functional constraint, which to the author's knowledge has not been investigated in other studies to date, operates on be, depending on its function as copula or other auxiliary verb. Part two investigates was/were variation in the early SAVE past-tense be paradigm. Separate analyses of all idiolects that combine to make up the community grammar of the overseers demonstrate that idiolects need to be considered in a sound interpretation and explanation of the results of group analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the correct usage of verbs in African American vernacular english. Creation of speech and thoughts; Effects of speakers to gender, grammatical persona dn discourse context; Nature of information on the quotative use in rural vernaculars.

Examines the usage of the linguistic form bes among white speakers in North and South Carolina. Literature on the form bes in American English; Paradigmatic relation of bes and be as a third person form than as an occasional variant; Diachronic or synchronic status of bes in the American English literature.

Discusses the unusual use of the pluperfect form `had' + Verb-`ed' that were first noticed in 1988 in the narratives of preadolescent African-American students (primarily sixth-graders) in East Palo Alto (EPA), California. Distinction between the preterite and the pluperfect; Preliminary textual examples of the use of preterite `had' by preadolescents in EPA; Quantitative and qualitative analyses of the preadolescents' usage of this form.

Presents a study that examined the use of the word like in conjunction with the stative verb be as a quotative or introducer of speech in discourse. Background on quotatives in American English; Examples of the use of be like as a quotative; Analysis of factors relevant to changes in the pragmatic functions of be like.

Examines how adequate habitual and progressive meanings are conveyed in Guyanese and Jamaican Creoles. Basis for the Guyanese basilectal aspectual system; Forms in which the system occurs; Classes of verbs.

Deals with the so-called invariant be as an aspect marker in the Afro-African dialect. Information on the different types of the invariant be; Discussion on the rise of be + -ing as a habitual marker; Details of a quantitative study of be[sub2] + -ing.

Deals with the aspects of the absolutive configuration in English. Uses of the terms ergative and absolutive; Systems contrasted in the nominative-objective system in English; Status of an ergative language in the subject of the intransitive verb; Ways in which the ergative-absolutive can be shown in a nominative-accusative configuration.

Explores the passivization, particle movement and dative shift in the transformations of verb phrase idioms in modern linguistics. Characteristics of each idiomatic expression in the Laboratoire d'Automatique Documentaire et Linguistique database; Syntactic structure of all expressions; Way in which idioms are formed.

Discusses the usage of the verb 'absent' in the English language. Use of the verb as a preposition; Definition of 'absent' based on its usage; Participles of the verb.

Discusses a study which analyzed the present tense usage of the verb 'be' in the Southern Black English language. Problems in classifying the transcribed forms of verbs; Distribution of present tense forms; Meaning of the present tense forms.

Examines the use of the complementizers say and se in Black English and by English-based creoles which have their roots in Africa. Theories on the origin of the use of the complementizers; Significance of the African element in constructions involving the sequential complements of the verbs of saying; Discussion on the form of the complementizers say and se as a loan translation in English.

Suggests that systematic field research can contribute to lexicology and lexicography if the research would address the relation between actual usage and descriptive or prescriptive statements. Information on verbs and dictionaries; Usage of verbs; Examples.

Discusses several issues on the English language. Automatic alterants in possessive and plural nouns and in third-person verbs; Etymology and meaning of the term Gonzo; Uses of the term et cetera.

Identifies the features of the literary dialect presented in Joseph Kirkland's 'Zury: The Meanest Man in Spring County.' Pronunciation; Variations in spelling; Description of nonstandard verb forms.

Explores various possible past participle form of the verb, stride. Information on the past participial form of the derivative verbs, bestride, outstride and overstride; Observation regarding the final paragraph of the bracketed information that precedes the definitions of the verb stride in the 'Oxford English Dictionary'; Examples of the past participial form of stride, which were recorded by the 'Oxford English Dictionary,' from 1899.

Presents a study that investigated the choice of the past tense form of verbs used by men and women in the U.S. Difference between the usage preference of men and women; Information on the forms offered by men and women for the past tense of the verbs do, come and see; Analysis of the percentage of differences in the usage preference.

Analyzes the semantic overlaps in the meanings of several verbs in the English language. Senses and extensions of verbs in Middle English; Details of the semantic distinctions among verbs; Examples of semantic overlaps in exact verb parallels and idioms.

Examines the vocabulary and style in the Papago language of Papago Indians. Features of the Indian language; Comparison of the Papago language with other Indian languages; Details on the verb forms in the Papago language.

Discusses the rules on subject-verb agreement used in English language construction. Details of how the agreement may be violated; Ruling on the verb with compound subjects; Information on the agreement with nouns of quantity.

Part III. Analyzes the type of English language used in Hawaii. Characteristics and syntax of Hawaiian English; Use of verbs and verbals; Types of idiomatic use in the state.

Focuses on how teachers of grammar in the 1930s disliked the American English verb get. Characteristics of the term; Criticism raised against the verb; Origin of the word.

Presents a list of articles on languages. 'Basic English'; 'Words as Nuisances'; 'The Villain Pronoun,' by Janet R. Aiken; 'Verbs of Motion in Their Semantic Divergence,' by Klara H. Collitz.

Discusses the use of stress to distinguish between the usage of dissyllables as a noun or a verb in the English language. Differences in the stress of dissyllables; Details on the stress in verbal compounds; Information on the fore-stress and end-stress in nouns.

Discusses issues related to English terms and phrases in the U.S. Distribution of colloquialisms in the U.S.; Information on the double past participle loadened; Origin of the phrase spit image.

Presents the case of two-year-old Anne who has a remarkable speaking vocabulary. Illustration of the child's tendency to generalize a word; Attempt to repeat a child's prayer; Past tense of verbs Anne expresses by a compound with did.

Examines several U.S. sources from 17th to mid-19th centuries and verbs which differ from those in use in standard speech. List of the sources; Classes of strong verbs into which they fall in Old English; Modern forms of verbs.

Discusses prepositions and adverbs as solidary modifiers. Way to establish a definite grammatical function for the adjuncts of the verb; Importance of the prepositional and adverbial solidary modifiers to the spoken language; Order of discrete adverbial modifiers.

Focuses on modification which may apply to all devices which the language uses for identifying the unqualified form of the verb and the substantive. Example of a type of solidary modification; Verbs which have no tense distinctions; Stages of the relationship asserted by the predicate.

Discusses the grammatical peculiarities of the Ozark dialect. Difference between the dialect and the standard vulgate of the U.S.; List of verbs; Examples of adjectives.

Deals with word pronunciation focusing on a dialect in Maine. Comparison of word pronunciation in Maine and other New England states; Description of culture in Maine; Details on verb uses in various expressions.

Discusses several issues related to the English language. Origin of the phrase whipping the cat; Details on the speech used in courtrooms; Usage of the verb sponsor.

Presents information on the usage of the English term boost in the U.S. Use of the term as a noun; Examples of the use of the term as a verb; Details on the usage words derived from the term.

Focuses on the American vulgate, characterized by H.L. Mencken in 'American Language,' as that which treats of the verbs of the common speech in the English language. List of principal verbs of the vulgate; Observation of the oral usage; Discussion on the degree of vulgarity in barbarisms.

Explores the usage of the verb be in Black English in the 19th century. Problems with the study of the history of Black English; Narratives analyzed for the usage of the verb; Characteristics of early Black English; Variations in the use of the verb be in the English language.

Compares the use of extended modifier or extended adjectival in German and American languages. Reference to the book 'Modern American Usage,' by Wilson Follett; Examples of such modifiers; Modification of adjectives by phrases; Instances where verb phrases are ambiguous.

Illustrates the process with the evolution of the English verbal endings. Discussion on the causative elements behind the anomaly/ungrammaticality dichotomy and the associated phenomenon of agreement; Details on first-person singular verbal endings of Indo-European; Elements which affect changes in the English verb.