[extropy-chat] invariant be

[Dirk Bruere]

spike wrote:

>In Robin MacNeil's fascinating language program, a
>recording made in the 1930s of African American speech
>was played.  Curiously, the invariant "be" was completely
>missing ("he be going" instead of "he is going).  
>
>I had it in my mind that this signature ebonics 
>usage was somehow adapted from Western African 
>language groups, but now I am not at all
>sure it isn't a fairly recent American invention,
>perhaps in addition to the double negative often
>heard in such speech.  
>
>Has anyone ideas or speculations on where, when or
>how the invariant be came to be?
>
>  
>
Perhaps from an English dialect, probably West Country
For example, much of the Southern US sound comes from cotton workers who 
immigrated from Lancashire.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Country_Accent

"In other areas, /be/ may be used exclusively in the present tense, 
often in the present continuous; /Where you be going to?/ = /Where are 
you going?"/

-- 
Dirk

The Consensus:-
The political party for the new millenium
http://www.theconsensus.org



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