Date:    Wed, 1 Apr 1998 11:27:01 -0500
<br>From:    Bryan Gick  bgick[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]SAPIR.LING.YALE.EDU 
<br>Subject: so don't I
<br>
<br>I know I'm a couple weeks late on this one, but just in case anyone's
<br>still interested in the "so don't I" distribution...
<br>  My mother grew up in the small town (pop. 1500-ish) of Youngsville in NW
<br>Pennsylvania. I spent my early years (till 1st grade) in the smaller town
<br>of Irvine (pop. maybe a couple hundred) about 3 miles away, but did
<br>kindergarten in Y-ville. From 2nd-9th grade we lived in the county seat
<br>(Warren, pop. 11K or so), maybe 8 miles away from Y-ville.
<br>  I was baffled when, having lived in the area all my short life, we moved
<br>back to Youngsville for my 10th grade year, and I discovered that the
<br>standard response indicating agreement was "so don't I" (as in A: "I like
<br>ice cream." B: "Mmm. So don't I!" Also, "so didn't I," "so doesn't she,"
<br>etc., but not "I don't too," etc.). While it had more currency among the
<br>harder-core locals, it seemed to be pretty much standard fare for
<br>everyone, barring those who'd moved in from outside.
<br>  I'd never before nor have ever since heard the construction used
<br>anywhere outside of the very immediate bounds of Youngsville. Renegade New
<br>Englanders? Well, NW PA _is_ at a wild juncture of dialect areas, and
<br>with lake Erie where it is, a bottleneck for New Englanders travelling
<br>overland to the West. Still strange, tho.
<br>Any thoughts?
<br>Bryan
<br>
<br>************************************
<br>Bryan Gick - bgick[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]pantheon.yale.edu
<br>Yale Department of Linguistics
<br>and Haskins Laboratories
<br>************************************
<br>