Date:  Tue, 4 Apr 1995 09:38:56 -0500

From:  "Timothy C. Frazer" <mftcf[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]UXA.ECN.BGU.EDU>

Subject: Re: need + participle



My posting in reply to Bob Wachal pretty much answers the queries

below. I think I forgot to mention, however, that BEth also collected

DARE citations and found 10 (the DARE QR does not invite this response).

5 in Pennsylvania, one in w.Va., 1 in so. Ohio, 1 in w. Tenn., 1 in

Louisiana,

1 in Idaho. With rare exceptions, this feature distributes itself like

most midland features. Compare, for example, the DARE map for the

low-back vowel merger (reproduced in Wolfram's book on American dialects).



Tim Frazer







On Tue, 4 Apr 1995, Bruce Gelder wrote:







> Anton Sherwood reports:

>

> >My parents (natives of Indiana) reported hearing "the car needs washed"

> >when they moved from Illinois to Pittsburgh.

>

> and Cathy Bodin asks:

>

> >Does anyone have an idea of the geographical extension of this phrase,

> >i.e. "this needs washed" instead of "this needs being washed" or "it

> >needs a washing?"

> >    Is it limited to Pennsylvania?

>

> I had claimed in my original posting that one of the three people I know

> who use the construction consistently is from Salt Lake City. I remember

> now that he's actually originally from Pennsylvania (western, I think--but

> I'm not certain), so that makes three Pennsylvania sources so far. Is

> it very widespread there?

>

> Also, we already have reports of two sources in Ohio, plus I received E-mail

> from someone stating that his mother from Akron used the "needs washed"

> construction (his father, from Stowe, OH, used the "needs washing"

> construction). So that makes three sources in Ohio so far, two of

> which are from Akron.

>

> Am I to assume from this that this is a fairly common construction between

> Akron and Pittsburgh? Is it the norm?

>

> Also, if there's anyone out there from Montana, is it also used there with

> any regularity? Or is it just a quirk in my friend's case?

>

> Incidentally, Cathy, I'm unfamiliar with the "this needs being washed"

> construction. It's not a part of my dialect. I always use the infinitive

> (i.e. "this needs to be washed"). And "it needs a washing" is something I

> hear at times, but it's not productive for me.

>

> --Bruce Gelder

> bgelder[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]camel.sim.es.com

>