Edith,

There's an alternate source of /h/ in words like this a number of dialects -- it's a side effect of English "losing" /h/ on other words. Speakers feel that they're supposed to say some /h/s on words they aren't, and they overcompensate and put them in where they never were (the same thing happens with /r/ on the east coast; those people who pronounce 'car' as roughly /ka/ also tend to pronounce 'Africa' as "Afriker"). I have a friend from Australia who inserts the occasional /h/ this way. I'd have to do some digging to find out what's going on with the Ohio dialect, but as an initial guess, I'd suspect overcompensation. 

Sincerely,

Bill Spruiell


-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar on behalf of Wollin, Edith
Sent: Wed 6/3/2009 10:44 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: training wheels & ain't
 
I've been wondering if there is any connection between the "ain't" for
"have" and the dialect that uses "hain't."  My father-in-law from Ohio
used to say "hain't."

Anybody know?

Edith Wollin

 

From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Dick Veit
Sent: Wednesday, June 03, 2009 7:07 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: training wheels & ain't

 

I'd do it but I ain't got the time.

On Tue, Jun 2, 2009 at 2:36 PM, Larry Beason <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

Herb,
Can you give examples of people who use 'ain't' for a contraction of
'has/have not.'  I might not be thinking it through, but I cannot think
of any such instances myself.

Just curious.

Larry

____________________________
Larry Beason, Associate Professor
Director of Composition
University of South Alabama
Mobile, AL 36688-0002
Office: 251-460-7861
FAX: 251-461-1517


To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web
interface at: http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html and select
"Join or leave the list" 

Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/ 


To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
and select "Join or leave the list"

Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/


To join or leave this LISTSERV list, please visit the list's web interface at:
     http://listserv.muohio.edu/archives/ateg.html
and select "Join or leave the list"

Visit ATEG's web site at http://ateg.org/