Is "do" derived? (was Re: Question about "do")

Roger Mills wrote:
> "Do" also serves to replace a verb phrase in anaphora:
> He likes toast and jam, and I do too, or
> .........but I don't.
>
> And in the tag questions--
> He likes toast and jam, doesn't he?
> He doesn't like toast and jam, does he?
>
>  There's also the British usage (which may be on its way out, though one
> still hears it in TV imports)--
> He doesn't go to church as often as he used to do.
For these reasons, I'm tempted to analyze the do forms as the *basic*
form, with the "simple" present and past as being derived.  Thus, "He
likes toast and jam" would be underlyingly "He does like toast and
jam".  Thus, it behaves just like any other auxiliary "He will eat toast
and jam, but I won't", "He has eaten the toast and jam, hasn't he?".
The rule then being that when do is unstressed in an affirmative
statement, the do-less forms are used.

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