Re: USAGE: pronouncing "l", "needs washed"

Irina Rempt wrote:
>
> On Wed, 8 Dec 1999, John Cowan wrote:
>
> > This is characteristic of Western Pennsylvania, and may have spread, perhaps
> > under Mennonite influence, to the Midwest.
>
> It's probably from Dutch or Low German if it occurs in Pennsylvania:
> "dat overhemd moet gewassen" (and not "... gewassen worden" which is
> correct but a bit over-emphatic for everyday use) is the usual way to
> say it in Dutch.
>
        I've seen that feature in Dutch, especially the dropping of 'gaan' (to
go) when used with an auxiliary like 'moeten' or 'willen'. On the other
hand, I don't think I've seen 'zijn' (to be) dropped in the same
circumstances (fairly logical, "Ik wil een hond" and "Ik wil een hond
zijn" is pretty different :) ). Am I right? Anyway, I like this feature
very much. It gives me the impression that the auxiliaries become more
"active" if you know what I mean (about synesthesia, I don't see colours
for words, but I do see patterns of movements (or absence of movements)
associated with words, impressions of speed or slowliness or other
things like that. The interesting thing is that words from different
languages meaning the same thing usually give me a different
impression).

> Another data point from a non-native speaker who spent 18 months in
> Wiltshire, England: I say [wO:k] and [wOk] for "walk" and "wok"
> respectively.
>
>    Irina
>
> --
>             Varsinen an laynynay, saraz no arlet rastynay.
> irina@rempt.xs4all.nl (myself) - http://valdyas.conlang.org (Valdyas)
>         http://www.xs4all.nl/~bsarempt/irina/index.html (home)
--
        Christophe Grandsire

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