Hello!
A mail came through on one of the Linux lists I'm subscribed to containing:
A) I could of done it
As you may imagine, this has generated some discussion; mostly to the effect
that English teaching has sadly declined etc...
I'm preparing a response to set the record straight, so I thought I'd canvass
your learned opinions ...
My position is basically that the phonological equivalence between the reduced
forms of *of* and *have*, together with the (semi-)productive conversion of P
to V in English facilitates (leads to, even) the reanalysis of (B) to (C):
B) AUX've
C) AUX of
ISTR *to* as infinitive marker arose in similar manner. Can anyone give a
(brief) description?
How about any other arguments or supportive evidence? What age range are the
auxiliaries generally acquired by?
Cheers
Dylan
p.s. Dick: Sorry for not responding b4, things went a bit squiffy. Anyway,
thanks for the offer, but it turned out that I waded thru 10 pages about
headedness only to discover it wasn't terribly relevant to his point!
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