Re: YAEDT? Syntax in dialects of English (was: Of accents & dialects (was: Azurian phonology))

Ray's observation that it is common enough down south accords with my observations.
I live in Cambridge and although I know some northerners, most of my friends
and acquaintances are southern - Hertfordshire, Isle of White, Surrey,
Somerset, London, Essex - etc. I've caught all of them saying 'I was sat' and
'I was stood'. Never did here 'I was laid' - although I did ask one of my
friends about it a few weeks ago and he says that he'd never heard it either.

-Elliott

----- Original Message ----
From: R A Brown <ray@...>
To: CONLANG@listserv.brown.edu
Sent: Sunday, October 26, 2008 11:02:50 AM
Subject: Re: YAEDT? Syntax in dialects of English (was: Of accents & dialects (was:
Azurian phonology))

Daniel Prohaska wrote:
> Hi Eliott,
>
> I’d say, rather than a generally British thing the “I was sat in the pub”
> construction is predominantly northern.
Nah - it's common enough here down south (I live in Surrey) and is also
common in south east Wales where I live for 22 years. Just as common
here down south in England & in south east Wales is "I was stood in the
queue for ages."

The latter sounds to this old-timer as though the person had been placed
there bu someone else. But I've heard it often enough to know that it
means just "I was standing ......"

Also, as I wrote quite recently, in south east Wales, rather than "I was
lying flat out on the bed" they say "I was laid [lEd] flat out on the
bed" - which sounded very strange when I first heard it!
=======================================

deinx nxtxr wrote:
[snip]
> Locally, there are a lot of strong verbs that become weak.  You'll
> hear "knowed" instead of "knew" for example.  Then there are the ones
> like "seen" instead of "saw" where the participle takes over for the
> simple past.
The use of "seen" instead of 'saw' is also typical of Newport in south
Wales - "I seen him yesterday."

--
Ray
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http://www.carolandray.plus.com
==================================
Frustra fit per plura quod potest
fieri per pauciora.
[William of Ockham]

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