Present tense marking as a synopsis of Southern American English: Plural verbal -s and zero 3rd singular.

This thesis explores the evolution plural verbal -s ("People thinks he is guilty") and zero 3rd singular ("He think he is guilty") in data from two sources on Southern English: The Linguistic Atlas of the Gulf States (LAGS) and The Linguistic Atlas of the Middle and South Atlantic States (LAMSAS). The research questions that underlie this study consider (1) the demographic association of plural verbal -s and zero 3rd singular, (2) the maintenance of each form, (3) the constraints on their use, and (4) the origins of -s variability. The atlas data suggest the following for plural verbal -s: (1) it has a British source, (2) it was present in both African American Vernacular English (AAVE) and early Southern White English (SWE), and (3) there were different grammatical constraints on its use in AAVE and SWE. Data for zero 3rd singular -s suggest this form (1) did not have a British source and (2) that it has historically been an AAVE feature.

Grantor dc:publisher

University of North Texas

Year dc:date

2005

Author dc:creator

• Aguilar, Amanda G.

Contributors dc:contributor

• Cukor-Avila, Patricia
• Chelliah, Shobhana Lakshmi
• Bailey, Guy

• English language -- Southern States.
• Black English -- Southern States.
• African American Vernacular English
• plural verbal -s
• zero 3rd singular
• Southern American English

Statement dc:rights

• Public
• Copyright
• Aguilar, Amanda G.
• Copyright is held by the author, unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

oclc: 62093611
https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc4797/
ark: ark:/67531/metadc4797

OAI identifier oai:identifier

info:ark/67531/metadc4797