Re: "two be"

On Tue, 1 Jan 2002 18:02:09 +0000
Dan Jones <dan@...> wrote:

> Padraic Brown escreva:
> >Am 30.12.01, Steven W. Lytle yscrifef:
> >
> > > thou didst
> >
> >There are modern dialects of English that use thou (either
> >as /Daw/ or /Da:/. The usual verb form used is 3rd s., as
> >far as I'm able to tell.
>
> In Warwickshire/West Midlands English, -st seems to still be hanging on, as
> in "tha cost" etc, although in fast speech, the -t tends to be lost.
>
> Dan
Hi Dan

I'm confused... do you mean that the -st of the old verb (e.g. didST)
remains? Does your example 'tha cost' mean 'that cost' ('that' being
a pronoun)? Or are you just making a comment on phonetics?

I lived in Leamington for a couple of years but don't recall hearing
any shade of 'thou' in speech... but then again I mightn't have noticed
it without expecting it ;)

genuinely curious - rather than critical -
stephen

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