Re: CHAT: Nonstandard usage (was Natural language change (was Re:Charlie and I))

Quoth Thomas R. Wier:
> Eric Christopherson wrote:
> > Re: preterit vs. perfect, I think "did you do your homework" sounds
> > perfectly appropriate, and "have you done your homework" is ok too (but=
 it
> > sounds a bit formal).
>=20
> But the question was not about "Did you do your homework?";  that
> is also perfectly normal for me to say.  What I was getting at was that
> use of "yet" to take on the full load of the perfectivity:  I find it odd
> when someone says "Did you do your homework *yet*?"
The mind boggles.  Now that you point this out, I understand what you
mean, but I didn't even understand the objection at first.  Yeah, I
rarely use "have" *except* if the main verb is "be" (where the
distinction carries).

Did you do your homework?  He did his homework.
Did you do your homework yet?  He did his homework already.
*Have you done your homework [yet]?  *He's done his homework [already].
Have you been sick?
I been sick.  You been sick.  He's been sick.  she's been, we been, they be=
en.
Were you sick?  I was sick.

(Fun side note: that the =B4ve disappears, at least when I'm not being
careful to be formal.)  For most verbs though, it's just the preterite
form I use, with adverbs carrying the aspectual burden.  It occurs to me
that this might be why I've been having a hard time distinguishing the
French tenses "pass=E9 compos=E9" and "imparfait"---I was mapping them over
to the English distinction, roughly, which I didn't realise that I
don't really use. ;)

> > However, it really annoys me to hear people use the perfect tense
> > where one would usually use the past tense, e.g. there was a
> > commercial where a woman said something like "Tony's been my dentist
> > since I've been a child." AARGH!! :)
See, this one sounds clearly wrong to me.  I wonder why I've managed to
keep the distinction, but only in "to be"...?  Are there other languages
out there where some tense or mood or such is only used for certain
verbs, leaving the other ones to drop into a different tense?  Or is
that sort of thing usually analysed as two tenses, with identical forms
except for one verb?

--=20
-=3D-Don Blaheta-=3D-=3D-dpb@cs.brown.edu-=3D-=3D-<http://www.cs.brown.edu/=
~dpb/>-=3D-
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