Re: USAGE: double modals (RE: [CONLANG] OT: English and schizophrenia

And Rosta wrote:

> Ray:
> > At 11:07 pm -0500 9/8/01, Thomas R. Wier wrote:
> > >Nik Taylor wrote:
> > >
> > >> John Cowan wrote:
> > >> > This is a bit extreme, but "might could" for "might have been
> > >> > able to" is very common.
> > >>
> > >> I've only heard "might could" meaning "might be able to", like "I might
> > >> could get it done by tomorrow".  Altho, at least around here, it's
> > >> hardly "very common".  I've only heard it a couple of times.
> > >
> > >Indeed.  It's entirely absent in any dialect of Texan English that
> > >I've heard.
> >
> > ...and in any dialect of Brit English I've heard.
>
> It occurs in Scots. I can't remember details but can refer anyone
> interested to an article on it.
Which makes a lot of sense, considering that the American West
that lies east of the Mississippi (everything from Ohio on down
to the Gulf Coast) was settled originally and primarily by Scots and
Scots-Irish.  It is in these areas, especially in the South, that one
normally hears people mock rural accents with double modals.

===================================
Thomas Wier | AIM: trwier

"Aspidi men Saiôn tis agalletai, hên para thamnôi
  entos amômêton kallipon ouk ethelôn;
autos d' exephugon thanatou telos: aspis ekeinê
  erretô; exautês ktêsomai ou kakiô" - Arkhilokhos