Re: USAGE: Weird dialectal stuff

On Mon, 10 Jan 2000 16:50:02 -0800, Melissa Phong writes:
> Tom Wier wrote:
> >Something
> >similar has happened in my speech, whereby I would normally say "could'na"
> >for "could not have":  /ai kUdn@ gAn/ = "I could not have gone".
>
> For myself, I might write "I didn't used to," but I would say "I didn't
> use to."
> I simply can't pronounce that d without great difficulty and then only by
> putting a significant pause between used and to.  Tom, what you're
> describing is not unique to you. I know a lot of people who say "could'n
> 'av" and "could 'av" for "could not have" and "could have" to the point
> where I've seen people write "couldn't of" and "could of" because they're
> deceived by how it sounds.
>
Indeed, I constantly saw

{could of}
{should of}
{would of}

even in semi-formal contexts at my previous employer.  Thankfully
it never turned up (afaik) on company literature or our web-page!

I get a feeling that this might (very possibly) be the start of
subjunctive(-like) constructions moving from aux. phrases to
prepositional verbs in British English.  I dread the day when I start
seeing {ought of} <G>.  Causes and other symptoms are beyond me
at the moment, but perhaps it's another possible consideration for
Terra Novan (which seems to me to be descended from a British
English pidgin over an American English substrate?)

Just my 2 denarii,

---
Pb