Re: Language Subtag Registration

On 08/29/2018 10:07 PM, Nicholas Felker wrote:
> There are several syntactic differences:
> 
> For example, "with" and an implicit target, ie. "Do you want to come with?"

This construction is not unique to the Philly area, originating in many
U.S. areas with Germanic influence. In addition, I would argue that it
has already begun to spread outside of such areas.

See:
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/come_with
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North-Central_American_English#Grammar

> There is the positive use of anymore, ie. "Cars are so expensive
> anymore", which is distinct as anymore is typically used with a negative
> connotation.

Positive anymore is spread across a similar region in the United States
as "come with", and is believed to have originated in Ireland:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positive_anymore

> There is the unusual usage of "done" which has distinctive usages.
> 
> It may mean you actually haven't finished it but are not interested in
> it anymore. For example, saying "I'm done with the water" may not mean
> that the water is completely consumed, but you no longer are thirsty.

I don't see how this is a non-standard use of "done".

> It can also be used by omitting an article to imply the task or event is
> completed. For example, "I'm call you when I'm done work" may read a bit
> odd, but is used when the activity is finished.

I believe this is another instance of Germanic influence, similar to
"come with", resulting in the same construct as "the car needs washed".

> Also, the local word "jawn" does not have a specific definition, but can
> be used in a replacement for many nouns in a sentence when the meaning
> is implicit. For example, if we were at a barbecue, one may say "Put
> some cheese on that jawn" or "I'm thirsty. Do you have any cold jawns?"
> In this sense it stands out as it's not a simple word replacement but a
> unique word that that does not have a more generalized equivalent.

Many regions have a word that means "thing" or "whatchamacallit". That
doesn't mean they warrant their own variant subtag.


Additionally, in response to other messages in this thread: Bill Labov
is a prominent figure in sociolinguistics and dialectology; I suspect
many people on this list are familiar with his work. However, his having
performed research on a dialect does not entail necessarily the
existence of a need for a variant subtag – the actual research itself is
what matters.

Regards,
Gordon

--

Gordon P. Hemsley
[email protected]
http://gphemsley.org/

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