How Does "Doz" Disappear? [electronic resource] : (Or: Where Are the Creolists When the Creoles Most Need Them?) / John R. Rickford.
In Guyana Creolese, the word "doz" appears frequently in the speech of people on a wide range of social levels. The term signals that the action occurs habitually. The use of "doz" is not widely noted among creolists, however, possibly because it often occurs in phonologically re...
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| Format: | Electronic eBook |
| Language: | English |
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[S.l.] :
Distributed by ERIC Clearinghouse,
1975.
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| Summary: | In Guyana Creolese, the word "doz" appears frequently in the speech of people on a wide range of social levels. The term signals that the action occurs habitually. The use of "doz" is not widely noted among creolists, however, possibly because it often occurs in phonologically reduced forms such as "Iz" or "z." The reduction of "doz" is more than rapid speech; it helps approximate the prestigious standard dialect or acrolect. The process achieves linguistic progress without sacrificing expressive value. The removal of the "d" from "doz" in this reduction is part of a general rule affecting initial voiced segments in creole auxiliaries or tense-aspect markers. The "d" is retained l00% of the time after a pause, 69% after vowels and 60% or less after consonants. The removal of "d" following nasals, liquids, stops, fricatives and vowels is examined. Other creole dialects and black U.S. English are searched for similar examples of deletion. The deletion of the vowel in "doz" occurs after an immediately preceding vowel but never after a consonant. If the "z" is also deleted, use of the remaining verb stem for habitual aspect is indistinguishable from Standard English use of present tense. (CHK) |
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| Item Description: | ERIC Document Number: ED119516. ERIC Note: To appear in Proceedings of the 1975 International Conference on Pidgins and Creoles, U. of Hawaii, late 1976. |
| Physical Description: | 32 p. |