I don't know what the "linguistic roots" to this usage are, but I doubt that
it's limited to the "hills." It seems to me that it is quite common
throughout the country. It appears in a very clearly New York City-ish
environment in Arthur Miller's _Death of A Salesman_ (final scene,
"Requiem."). When I taught this play to my Asian ESL students of years ago,
they always wondered if it was a printing error!

Paul E. Doniger

----- Original Message -----
From: Jean Harper <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, June 07, 2000 6:35 AM
Subject: About "don't"


> New to the list, I have what is likely a simple question: When a student
says
> or writes "He don't..." we know this to be incorrect, strictly speaking,
but
> what is the reason for this construction?  I teach in an area where many
of
> my students are not far removed from Appalachia or as they put it, the
> "hills."  Are there linguistic roots to this "he don't" construction?  I'm
> getting at the notion, I suppose, that while we teach the students to
learn
> to pass in the world by knowing straight grammar, perhaps there is some
room
> for validating their own way of speaking and/or writing.
> Thanks for any answers/comments.
> Jean Harper
> Indiana University East (Richmond, Indiana)
>