This article discusses possible reasons for the (near-)absence of a feature from Newfoundland Vernacular English (NVE) that was present in both of its major donor dialects, namely the varieties of Southwest (SW) England and Ireland. Unstressed periphrastic do, the feature under investigation, is used as a tense carrier and marker of habituality in Southwestern dialects and — in a more restricted context — in Irish English (IrE). Modern NVE shows only traces of periphrastic do. All of these uses are (a) of IrE origin and (b) recessive (cf. e.g. Clarke 2004b: 305). If all settlers had used the feature at the time they emigrated to Newfoundland, it is extremely unlikely that it should have been lost in NVE, one of the most conservative varieties of English, but maintained, at least to a certain extent, in the much less conservative modern varieties of SW English and IrE.
This paper suggests possible stages of the life of periphrastic do in Newfoundland. With the help of evidence from literature on SW English dialects from the 19th and 20th centuries, it is argued that it is unlikely that all settlers were do users when arriving in Newfoundland. Moreover, a competing variant, generalized verbal ‑s, a pattern typical of NVE to the present day, existed in some of the settlers’ grammars (both SW English and IrE). It is assumed that periphrastic do, if it ever existed in NVE in those uses typical of SW English dialects, has been eradicated through contact with dialects that either used generalized ‑s or a more standard system.
2023. ‘Well, taakin about he da bring inta me yead wat I promised var ta tell ee about’: representations of south-western speech in nineteenth-century dialect writing. English Language and Linguistics 27:3 ► pp. 561 ff.
de Both, Fiona
2019. Nonstandard periphrastic DO and verbal -s in the south west of England. Journal of Historical Sociolinguistics 5:1
Ziegeler, Debra
2012. On the interaction of past tense and potentiality in Singaporean Colloquial English. Language Sciences 34:2 ► pp. 229 ff.
Clarke, Sandra
2010. Newfoundland and Labrador English. In The Lesser-Known Varieties of English, ► pp. 72 ff.
[no author supplied]
2013. Reference Guide for Varieties of English. In A Dictionary of Varieties of English, ► pp. 363 ff.
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