Re: bless (adj)

Date:    Thu, 19 Aug 2004 18:10:17 -0400
From:    "Mark J. Reed" <markjreed@...>
Subject: bless (adj)

> So here in the southern US we seem to be in the middle of a change that
> I'm not sure how to categorize:  the bare word "bless" is acquiring the
> meaning of its participle "blessed" (something that has been blessed).
> So far I've only seen it in the set phrase "have a bless day", where it
> obviously came from a merger of the /t/ and /d/ in "blessed day"
> /blEstdei/, but I've now seen it written down in -edless form several
> times, and I can't help but wonder how long it will be before this new
> meaning of unsuffixed "bless" becomes lexicalized in GAE. It may already
> have that status in AAVE . . .
Who've you heard it from?  Final consonant cluster simplification is a
common feature not just of AAVE, but of many Southern dialects as well.
(Which is not surprising, given the two's historical relationship.)

A more interesting question for me is the phrase itself:  is it just
a passing fad, or more evidence that America is undergoing a so-called
fourth "Great Awakening"?

 =========================================================================
Thomas Wier	       "I find it useful to meet my subjects personally,
Dept. of Linguistics    because our secret police don't get it right
University of Chicago   half the time." -- octogenarian Sheikh Zayed of
1010 E. 59th Street     Abu Dhabi, to a French reporter.
Chicago, IL 60637

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