Re: USAGE: Circumfixes

Mark J. Reed wrote:
> I would agree with Ray on that point.  The phrase "ain't do
> nothing" is nonsense in my 'lect - not because it's "formally"
> wrong, not because it's "improper grammar"; it simply
> makes no sense, at a fundamental level.  Nor have I
> personally heard it in other dialects.
I also agree, whole-heartedly.  But I can see why a person
whose native language isn't English would think that he was
hearing English speakers say "ain't do nothing."  To wit:
"Ain't doing nothing" has n follow ng, and that ngn sequence
is hard to say in many dialects, so the phrase becomes
"ain't doin' nothing," and the n sounds merger, so we hear
"ain't doinothing."  And, in many dialects, that oi dipthong's
i is so weak that people who aren't native speakers just
don't hear it, so they think they hear "ain't do nothing."