Date:  Sun, 20 Nov 1994 12:41:21 CST

From:  salikoko mufwene <mufw[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]MIDWAY.UCHICAGO.EDU>

Subject: Re: Recent Black English



In Message Fri, 18 Nov 1994 20:55:36 CST,

 "Donald M. Lance" <ENGDL%MIZZOU1[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]uicvm.uic.edu> writes:



>I've gotten similar reactions to what Tim Frazer reported regarding VBE.

>One shouldn't be surprised that a "lect" changes in a generation, particularly

>in salient usages that have the potential for social stigmatization. Is

>the VBE lect of today's college-age African Americans supposed to be the

>same as that of their parents' generation? The item that was called to my

>attention was habitual BE, as in Tim's case.



  Change is possible, but it is also possible that the construction was

just not well understood by influential outsiders who describe the variety.

I think that Arthur Spears' notion of "camouflaged" construction applies

to much more than "come + V-in" constructions.



Sali.

Salikoko S. Mufwene

University of Chicago

Dept. of Linguistics

1010 East 59th Street

Chicago, IL 60637

s-mufwene[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]uchicago.edu

312-702-8531; fax: 312-702-9861