LINGUIST List 17.1993

Fri Jul 07 2006

Qs: The Preterit and Present Perfect; More on Bobonkt

Editor for this issue: Jessica Boynton <jessicalinguistlist.org>

Directory         1.    Takashi Kumagai, The Preterit and Present Perfect
         2.    Carlota Smith, More on Bobonkt
Message 1: The Preterit and Present Perfect
Date: 07-Jul-2006
From: Takashi Kumagai <tomiscatclassic.email.ne.jp>
Subject: The Preterit and Present Perfect


Dear LINGUIST Listers,

I am currently working on the present perfect and the preterit in American and British English, i.e., the preterit as the present perfect and the present perfect with past time adverbs as in the following examples:

a. I just came back. b. You told me already. c. The horse's trainer has had a winner here yesterday.

This is discussed on the A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language (Quirk, R. et al.:1985) and Practical English Usage (Swan, M.:1995) and others.

But unfortunately, there are certain points that remain less than clear.

I therefore would be very grateful if any "native speakers" could give me their acceptability judgments on the data in the questionnaire below.

Please, respond to: http://www.englishcafe.jp/survey.html

I'll certainly be willing to share the results with anyone who is interested.

Thank you.

Takashi Kumagai. Graduate student. Hokkaido University of Education, Hakodate campus.

Linguistic Field(s): Morphology Syntax

Subject Language(s): English (eng)
Message 2: More on Bobonkt
Date: 07-Jul-2006
From: Carlota Smith <carlotasmithmail.utexas.edu>
Subject: More on Bobonkt



Original query: http://www.linguistlist.org/issues/17/17-1952.html#2

A few days ago I posted a query about "bobonkt" and received some interesting replies. Several people suggested that I check the transcription/spelling. I haven't yet tracked down the word, but here is some more information.

The diary clearly says "bobonkt" but it may be a misspelling: the writer was a 14-year-old girl in the northern hills of Arkansas, near Batesville (not in the West as I mistakenly said in my earlier posting). People also asked about the context, which is this: "I felt like talking a walk, so I walked to Mrs Maxwell's to get some bobonkt."

Any thoughts? Thanks very much. Carlota Smith

--

Carlota S. Smith Centennial Professor of Linguistics Dept of Linguistics University of Texas Austin, Tx 78712-1196

Linguistic Field(s): Lexicography

Subject Language(s): English (eng)