I would like to thank Prof. Graham Shorrocks and Prof. Sandra Clarke, who gave me advice throughout the initial stages of my research. I am also thankful to Dr. Philip Hiscock for showing me around MUNFLA and explaining to me how to access and use the material; to Patricia Fulton and Pauline Cox, who provided me with the necessary files and answered all of my questions. Furthermore, I would like to thank Prof. Hildegard L.C. Tristram and Prof. Christian Mair for valuable comments on earlier versions of this article. AAA - Arbeiten aus Anglistik und Amerikanistik Band 33 (2008) Heft 1 Gunter Narr Verlag Tübingen ‘There’s after being changes’: Be after V-ing in Placentia Bay, Newfoundland Christina Bismark 1. Introduction The syntactic construction be after V-ing is well documented for the English dialect spoken in Ireland. However, there are a few other varieties of which be after V-ing is a less well documented characteristic. One of them is the dialect spoken in Newfoundland. Approximately 300 years ago Irish settlers took the construction to the island, where it developed under conditions different from those in the source country. It is the aim of the present study to show exemplarily for one area in Newfoundland that this difference in development led to a change in meaning and function of be after V-ing. Also, it will be demonstrated how the new semantics is a result of contact with the second major variety taken to Newfoundland, namely the southwestern English dialect. A final point to be discussed is the status of be after V-ing as a marker of Newfoundland identity (cf. Bismark 2006). 2. The be after V-ing construction At a pub in St. John’s, Newfoundland, the presenter of an Open Microphone Night is hit accidentally on stage. He comments on the situation by saying: I’m after getting whacked in the back and smacked in the face. The syntactic Christina Bismark 96 1 It has been shown by Sabban (1982: 155ff) that something similar holds for Hebridean English. Despite the fact, however, that Welsh too possesses a construction which could be translated as be after V-ing the feature has not been attested for Welsh English so far: dw i wedi darllen form of BE AFTER VN read ‘I am after reading’ (I have read) construction he uses to refer to the incident is the be after V-ing construction, i.e. a structure consisting of a form of be followed by the preposition after followed by a verb ending in -ing: (1) I’m after getting form of BE prep AFTER V-ING ‘I’ve just gotten’ The construction be after V-ing is found in only a few varieties of English. Most often it has been described as being an integral part of the grammar of Irish English (see e.g. Filppula 1999: 99ff). However, it has also been attested for another variety in the British Isles, namely Hebridean English (Sabban 1982: 155ff). In Canada transplanted varieties of Irish English like Newfoundland English (see e.g. Clarke 1997b: 216; Kortmann and Szmrecsanyi 2004: 1151, 1053), Prince Edward Island English (Pratt 1988, s.v. after (1)) and the dialect spoken in the Ottawa Valley (Trudgill 1986: 150) display the feature, too. The origin of the Irish English (IrE) after construction has been explained as “a clear case of substratum transfer” (Filppula 1999: 106; see also Hartog and Hayden 1909: 933; Joyce 1910: 85; van Hamel 1912: 276; Bliss 1979: 300; Harris 1984: 319; Ó hÚrdail 1997: 193; Tristram 1999: 259; Siemund 2006: 285, etc.) as it is caused by language contact (Lehiste 1988: 15). In the 1650s the Cromwellian settlements in Ireland created a language contact situation in the course of which a shift to superstrate English took place (Ó hÚrdail 1997: 181). It led to syntactic interference, i.e. some Irish structures were carried over into English (Thomason 2001: 78f). The be after V-ing construction is based on the Irish structure tar éis (> tréis) followed by a verbal noun which translates literally into ‘be after doing’: 1 (2) Ir: Tá sé tréis imeacht IrE: is he after going StE: ‘He has just gone.’ (Filppula 1999: 101) While the origin of be after V-ing has been established quite clearly, the answer to the question of meaning is less straightforward. Early literature as well as some recent accounts state that the construction takes the function ‘There’s after being changes’ 97 of a perfect form and conveys the notion of recency. Thus, to be after doing would be interchangeable with the Standard English (StE) perfect form ‘to have just done’ (see e.g. Hume 1878: 25; van Hamel 1912: 276; Curme 1931: 361; Henry 1957: 177; Greene 1966: 49; Bliss 1984: 144; Harris 1993: 160; Ó hÚrdail 1997: 193; Hickey 2001: 15). When used with past be it was found to express pluperfect meaning as well (see, e.g. Hume 1878: 25; Joyce 1910: 84; Curme 1931: 362; Bliss 1984: 143). Next to accounts emphasizing the recency semantics of be after V-ing, there are others allowing for a broader meaning. Filppula (1999: 100) remarks “the time of speaking and the time of the event reported can be more remote from each other than what the label ‘hot news’ presupposes.” Taking into consideration the diachronic development of be after V-ing McCafferty (2006: 146) argues that the construction has never been used exclusively as a perfect of recency in IrE. According to him the construction has conveyed a range of perfect meanings (e.g. resultative, continuative; recency) throughout its history. Ronan (2005: 265f), too, opts for a broader meaning, emphasizing the predominance of resultative semantics. Whether the strong resultative component of meaning is a retention of a historical dialect pattern or a more recent development remains open to discussion. A very detailed empirical study of the use of be after V-ing in Dublin is provided by Kallen (1989, 1991). He analyzed 114 after tokens for their semantics ascribing each token one of the meanings the StE have perfect encompasses. Kallen used a model set up by McCawley (1973: 263), in which the categories of StE perfect use are defined as follows: Universal: “to indicate that a state of affairs prevailed throughout some interval stretching from the past into the present” Existential: “to indicate the existence of past events” Stative: “to indicate that the direct effect of a past event still continues” Hot News: “to report hot news” Having analyzed all examples of be after V-ing, Kallen arrives at the conclusion that the construction “is not found only in recent or completed contexts, and [that] it is well distributed across McCawley’s categories of usage” (Kallen 1989: 10). Nevertheless, Kallen’s results still show that be after V-ing is “favoured for use in contexts where the relationship between the time of the designated event/ state of affairs and the time of speaking [...] is fairly recent” (Kallen 1991: 71f). Thus, it seems that in Ireland be after V-ing is not restricted to the use as a perfect of recency, although this kind of use was found to be favored. Christina Bismark 98 3. Be after V-ing in Newfoundland 3.1 From Ireland to Newfoundland Irish immigration to Newfoundland started in the late 17 th century (Mannion 1977: 7) and reached its peak between 1715 and 1835 (Paddock 1991: 73). The immigrants were mainly fishermen attracted to the area by its prospering cod fishery. They came “from within thirty miles radius of Waterford city, specifically from southwest Wexford, south Kilkenny, southeast Tipperary, southeast Cork and County Waterford” (Mannion 1977: 8). As a place to settle they chose the Avalon Peninsula, from St. John’s to Placentia and some areas north of St. John’s to Fogo Island (Mannion 1977: 8). Here the IrE dialect came to be spoken. The Irish were one of the two main groups of settlers coming to Newfoundland. Already around 1500 fishermen from the southwest of England had started frequenting the shores of what was to become a colony in 1538 (Clarke 2004b: 242). At the beginning they came to Newfoundland on a seasonal basis, fishing in summer and leaving in the fall. This slowly changed from 1700 onwards when the first people decided to stay. Coming from Devon, Dorset, Hampshire and Somerset (Handcock 1996: 1f), these immigrants settled the northern Avalon Peninsula and the mainland of the province (Paddock 1991: 73). In the course of the following 300 years, the varieties spoken by the two groups of settlers developed under linguistically interesting conditions. First of all, the rough climate and a poor sea-based transportation system contributed strongly to cutting off communities from one another. In addition, religious tension made communication difficult between the Roman Catholic Irish and the Protestant English (Clarke 1997a: 279). Thus, the two groups of settlers tended to keep to themselves in either Irish or English settled parts of the island. This helped to preserve traditional features inherent in the source dialects (Clarke 1997b: 210). Nevertheless, isolation and the resulting linguistic conservatism were not absolute. Varieties of English spoken in Newfoundland have also been determined by “innovation and change” (Story 1967: 559), as next to well defined Irish and English settled focal areas there have always been transitional zones with less clear cut boundaries. Here the proximity of the two settler groups to one another brought IrE and southwestern English (SWE) dialects into contact and led to the mixing of the two (Paddock 1984: 94). Paddock’s (1981: 617) division of Newfoundland into focal and transitional dialect areas illustrates this fact: ‘There’s after being changes’ 99 2 The letter D denotes focal dialect areas. TA stands for transitional areas. D1 2 English-North TA1 Conception Bay and/ or St. John’s Area D2 Irishized Avalon Peninsula TA2 Placentia Bay D3 English-South D4 Southern West Coast TA3 Corner Brook Area D5 Northern West Coast Map 1: Newfoundland dialect patterns (after Paddock 1981: 617) Also, seasonal work like the seal hunt, the Labrador and Bank fisheries and the wood industry have brought together men from all parts of the province. Over the years dialect mixing has resulted in the development of new varieties characteristic of Newfoundland rather than Ireland or southwest England. These new dialects preserve many traditional features of both input varieties and at the same time display innovations (Story 1965: 130). Another factor determining the character of Newfoundland English dialects was the long standing isolation from the rest of Canada. Until the mid 20 th century the province was politically, economically and geographically cut off from North America (Shorrocks 1997: 321). Only after Confederation with Canada in 1949 did Newfoundland start opening up. However, the loss of its isolated status in connection with modernization led to the loss of dialect diversity (Shorrocks 1997: 326f). Dialect leveling and North American linguistic norms have now started to gain ground (Clarke 2004b: 247). Against the described historical background the development of be after V-ing can be summed up as follows: the construction was transported to Newfoundland by Irish fishermen in the 17 th and 18 th centuries. When immigration dried up in the mid 19 th century (Shorrocks 1997: 360) the construction developed in isolation from linguistic influences other than the dialect spoken by the second large group of immigrants from the southwest of Christina Bismark 100 3 Examples of be after V-ing stem from two different studies in different areas. 62 tokens were produced by speakers with Irish background living in St. Johns. Another 29 were collected in Burin, where speakers of English and Irish descent mix. The speaker sample is not further characterized. Thus, generalizations about the use of be after V-ing are problematic, as the question arises which speakers and areas the reported use of be after V-ing is representative for. England. Being subject to conditions of linguistic “conservatism and innovation” (Story 1967: 559) be after V-ing is likely to have undergone a different development in Newfoundland than it has in Ireland. Based on this assumption the question arises in which direction the after construction has changed and in which way it is used after 300 years in Newfoundland. 3.2 Meaning Accounts of be after V-ing as it is used in Newfoundland confirm what was to be expected. In the Canadian province the construction is used differently than in Ireland. Whereas for the IrE construction recency semantics is reported to be prominent, be after V-ing in Newfoundland is used to express the full range of StE have perfect meanings. The Dictionary of Newfoundland English (DNE) lists the following: “to have (done), to have completed an action, to have already (done), to have just (done)” (DNE 1990, s.v. after). Being mentioned last, recency does not appear to be predominant. Although there is general agreement that be after V-ing is used like the StE perfect (see e.g. Story 1967: 560; Trudgill 1986: 151; Kirwin 1993: 73; Clarke 2004a: 306), this assumption has no empirical basis. Be after V-ing as a syntactic variable is not well researched just as in general “[t]here are no specialist studies devoted to the syntax of Newfoundland English” (Shorrocks 1997: 361). Accounts of Newfoundland English have so far been overviews of traditional dialect features. Such overviews merely mention be after V-ing without going into too much detail (see e.g. Paddock 1981: 620, Clarke 1997a: 280; Clarke 2004b: 252). The only more substantial study dealing with the construction on the basis of empirical data was carried out by Sandra Clarke (1997b: 216-218). However, this account is not set up as a study of be after V-ing in particular, but is again embedded in a greater discussion of several dialect features based on mixed data. 3 Given this more general nature of her study, Clarke does not go into too much detail about the meaning of be after V-ing and the categories of perfect use covered by the construction. Nevertheless, she attests meanings that go beyond the perfect of recency (Clarke 1997b: 216). All in all it seems to be beyond doubt that be after V-ing has undergone a semantic development in Newfoundland. It is generally held that it may refer to the whole range of perfect meanings. However, this assumption has not convincingly been proven by empirical studies. Thus, it is still to be estab- ‘There’s after being changes’ 101 4 For a more detailed account of the study see Bismark (2006). 5 Examples of a chosen syntactic feature do not occur in speech as frequently as examples of a phonological feature. Hence, long passages of speech are needed to obtain as many tokens as possible (Cheshire 1982: 7f). lished which categories of perfect use be after V-ing expresses most often. Also, an explanation for the semantic shift needs to be provided. The following empirical study was set up and carried out in an attempt to shed light on these issues. 4. The Placentia Bay study 4 4.1 Data collection The aim of the following study is to determine the semantics of be after V-ing in an area of Newfoundland where dialect contact might have led to changes in the meaning of the construction. The Placentia Bay region constitutes such a transition zone between IrE and West Country English based dialects (Paddock 1981: 617). Speech material from this area stems from The Memorial University of Newfoundland Folklore and Language Archive (MUNFLA). The archives host a collection of files set up on the basis of students’ research projects. Including tape-recorded interviews about various folklore topics complemented by transcripts of the interviews, speaker information and research papers the files are a valuable source of speech material. My choice of files was determined by two criteria. First of all I was looking for data from a transition area. Secondly, I needed material which was likely to yield many examples of a syntactic variable. Thus, I came to work with files including oral history or accounts of culture and customs as they provided long stretches of speech. 5 My source of data was an extensive file (number 70-8) compiled between December 1968 and November 1969 in the course of a folklore project. Over one year a 26 year old university student from St. John’s had conducted oral history interviews on beliefs, material culture, customs, songs and music of the Placentia Bay area. The material he collected turned out to be of great value for linguistic research, as the conditions under which it was recorded were such as to overcome the observer’s paradox common in attempts to gather natural speech. Being born and raised in the Placentia Bay area (Butler 1975: xi, 3), the fieldworker was an insider known to many of his informants. He recorded them in their homes while their friends and family were present. Thus, the interviews took on the character of informal social gatherings that involved drinking, joking, singing and playing the accordion. The material was collected for a folklore study, which is an advantage insofar as the attention of the speakers was drawn to this topic rather than to the Christina Bismark 102 6 Source of speaker information: for the most part MUNFLA files included a questionnaire filled in by the respective informant (name, age, place of birth/ residence, religion, education, profession, origin of ancestors). Nevertheless if such a form was filled in incompletely or not at all, there are gaps. Conclusive statements can of course only be made about the information available. 7 There is no equal division between female and male informants in this sample. However, such a division is not essential here as my study is not a sociolinguistic one and does not aim at correlating gender with the occurrence of be after V-ing in Placentia Bay. dialect they spoke. This way people talked freely about topics they were interested in without monitoring their speech. A final important characteristic of the data was that it stems from networks of informants which often constitute homogeneous groups of speakers with respect to non-linguistic variables like age, sex, social class and so on (Chambers 1996: 69). The disadvantage of my major source of information lies in the fact that the files are dated. Therefore I needed to check the present relevance of the older data against more recent material. Files from 1972, 1975, 1982, 1984 and 1996 provided me with this kind of data. They too included accounts of history, folk belief and folk medicine as well as tales and songs. Again the interviewers were folklore students and the interviews took place in the homes of the informants. However, the setting was a very formal one in most cases. 4.2 Area and informants Placentia Bay is an area in the southwest of the Avalon Peninsula. It was first colonized by the French in 1662. In 1713 the French lost the colony due to the regulations imposed on them through the Treaty of Utrecht (Butler 1975: 10). Their place was taken by “ethnically mixed” immigrants (Clarke 2004b: 246) coming from the southeast of Ireland and the southwest of England. As mentioned before, the Irish settled along the southern shore of the Avalon Peninsula and up to Placentia, constituting the main portion of the population (Handcock 1996: 3). The islands in the region were settled by the English (Butler 1975: 10). Although religion and dialect of the two groups of settlers differed, their way of working and living as well as their customs were similar. Consequently, a specific social character of Placentia Bay as a whole developed (ENL IV, s.v. Placentia Bay). In linguistic terms Placentia Bay was defined as a transition area by Paddock (1981: 617). Here IrE and SWE come into contact and mix, which is why the area “is naturally of linguistic interest” (Hickey 2002: 291). My speaker sample 6 consists of one woman and eighteen men 7 from communities in the Placentia Bay area. The mobility of the informants is not very high. Most of them were born and raised in the area but only six ever left and spent time somewhere else. With the exception of two younger speak- ‘There’s after being changes’ 103 8 See the Appendix for a complete list of examples and their semantic classification. 9 The numbers are an approximation based on the following calculation: the total of words is the number of pages every transcript consisted of times an average number of 320 words per page. 10 70 tokens in 219,000 words. ers, who were 19 and 26 years old at the time of recording, the informants’ ages lie between 56 and 84, concentrating in the 65 to 76 range. Information as to the level of education was only given by six speakers. Four of them received higher education (i.e. grade nine or eleven and a degree of some kind), one person had three months of schooling and another one received education till the age of twelve. Among the twelve speakers who gave details about their jobs there were a teacher, a university student, a person working in business, one working in an office, a self-taught engineer, a fish inspector, a maid and five fishermen. With respect to the ethnic origin of the speakers a strongly English background can be attested. Nine out of ten Protestants could trace their ancestors back to the southwest of England. The two Roman Catholic speakers are very likely to be of Irish descent. Another seven stated that their parents are Newfoundlanders from the Placentia Bay area. Regarding the speaker sample as a whole, it has to be taken into consideration that information is often incomplete. Therefore it appears to be difficult to make general statements. On the other hand, at least in the case of the main source of examples, the group of speakers constitutes a close-knit and apparently homogeneous social network. Thus, I make the general assumption that the informants are for the most part non-mobile, older, rural males (NORMS) with an English background. 4.3 Analysis and findings The selected MUNFLA files yielded 96 examples 8 of be after V-ing in an estimated total of 290,000 words. 9 All of these examples were to be classified in terms of the meanings the StE have perfect can express. As a prerequisite for such a categorization some kind of model is needed which categorizes the various have perfect meanings. Following Kallen (1989, 1991), who had applied McCawley’s model in his Dublin study, I chose to analyze my material according to McCawley’s categories of perfect use as well. My major data base, file 70-8, was analyzed separately from the more recent material and yielded 70 tokens 10 of be after V-ing. They included examples of all four of McCawley’s categories: Christina Bismark 104 11 26 tokens in 69,000 words. Universal: “to indicate that a state of affairs prevailed throughout some interval stretching from the past into the present” (3) He’s after doin’ good now since Confederation (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C654, ts p. 7) Existential: “to indicate the existence of past events” (4) one of em out on Jude now, he got a couple a months out of it now the winter he’s after bein’ out there before (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C646, ts p. 8) Stative: “to indicate that the direct effect of a past event still continues” (5) but I don’t know the names of ... you know, I’m after forgettin’ you know (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C771, ts p. 11) Hot News: “to report hot news” (6) I said I’m after insultin your wife (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C687, ts p. 12) The additional files included 26 tokens 11 of be after V-ing which this time only covered three of the semantic categories: (7) Universal: no examples (8) Existential: Charlie said I’m after learnin’ a French song while I was in there (MUNFLA Tape 75-127/ C2052, ts p. 2) (9) Stative: Government is after taking a lot of those things from men (MUNFLA Tape 82-214/ C9803) (10) Hot News: They were after breaking into the liquor store (MUNFLA Tape 96-577/ C-16380, ts p. 22) ‘There’s after being changes’ 105 12 These results skew the overall distribution as 8 of the 13 tokens stem from the same informant using the be after forgetting phrase eight times in a row. 13 Examples in this category could not clearly be characterized in terms of one category of use. Due to lack of contextual information two readings are possible in these cases: a) Universal or Existential where it is unclear whether a repeated event/ ongoing state in the past persists into the present b) Hot News or Existential where the length of time span between the moment of speaking and the event spoken about cannot be determined. The tokens were distributed as follows: Category File 70-8 Add. Files Total Tokens % Tokens % Tokens % Universal 4 6 0 0 4 4 Existential 41 58 7 27 48 50 Stative 13 19 13 50 12 27 28 Hot News 8 11 3 11,5 11 11 Not classified 13 4 6 3 11,5 7 7 The numbers show that for the examples drawn from file 70-8 existential meaning is predominant, accounting for half of the tokens. Stative semantics is expressed by one fifth of them, whereas hot news and especially universal uses are lowest in frequency. The results for the additional files have to be treated with caution as the percentage for the stative category is not representative. Considering that it should have been lower (see footnote 12), the additional material then confirms the present relevance of the tendencies established for the older data. All in all existential meaning is the most prominent semantic category, followed by stative use, while hot news and universal semantics fall behind. 4.4 Discussion of findings From the speech material I analyzed I drew examples of be after V-ing for every of McCawley’s four categories. The results show hot news meaning to be one possible category of use. However, in contrast to the construction as it is reported to be used in Ireland, reference to recency is not prominent. About half of the examples were classified as conveying existential semantics. Thus, be after V-ing as it is used in Placentia Bay tends to express mainly existential meaning, i.e. it denotes the existence of past events. In some examples this kind of reference is emphasized formally by the use of existential there, e.g.: Christina Bismark 106 14 I refers to Charlie, who reports what happened to him on the ship. 15 See the initial example in chapter 2 where the presenter comments on something that just happened to him on stage (I’m after getting whacked in the back and smacked in the face). (11) there’s some women after shiftin’ out (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C664 ts p. 11) (12) there’s different people after askin’ me (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C658 ts p. 27) In terms of use, another assumption can be made, namely that in some cases existential be after V-ing is applied in a past-tense-like manner. According to Quirk et al. (1985), past tense is defined by two main criteria. First of all, “[t]he event/ state must have taken place in the past with a gap between its completion and the present moment” (Quirk et al. 1985: 183). This condition holds for several examples in the corpus which were classified as existential, e.g.: (13) Oh there’s after bein’ divers over there about that (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C646, ts p. 20) (14) He was after haulin me house for me (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C692, ts p. 8) (15) Charlie said I’m after learnin’ a French song while I was in there 14 (MUNFLA Tape 75-127/ C2052, ts p. 2) In these examples be after V-ing tends to refer to events that are usually completed with a longer time span between completion and the moment of speaking. The second characteristic of the past tense is that “[t]he speaker or writer must have in mind a definite time at which the event/ state took place” (Quirk et al. 1985: 183). In the corpus there is a token of existential be after V-ing which is specified in this respect by the momentary adverbial in mid-winter: (16) I’m after coming across the bay in mid-winter in my skiff to Little Harbour (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C662, ts p. 6) Another observation supports the past tense hypothesis. One informant uses be after V-ing in the sentence I’m after learnin’ the Crabfish song now (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C674, ts p. 7). This sentence triggers the reply: “Oh, did ya? ” (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C674, ts p. 7), which indicates a past tense understanding of the first sentence. In contrast to the high frequency of existential semantics, examples of be after V-ing with hot news reference are few. This finding could be interpreted as a complete change of meaning. However, it has to be taken into consideration that the tokens of be after V-ing are drawn mainly from narrative contexts. In such contexts speakers do not tend to bring up things that just happened. Spontaneous speech, however, that refers to the situation the speaker is in 15 would very likely have produced more hot news examples. ‘There’s after being changes’ 107 16 Tense locates the verb action in time relative to the moment of speaking (Quirk et al. 1985: 175). 17 The stative and hot news categories classify the event spoken about as news or still relevant with respect to the moment of speaking. Thus, an aspect like characterization of the verb action takes place (Quirk et al. 1985: 188). 18 Philip Hiscock teaches Folklore at Memorial University of Newfoundland and used to be head of MUNFLA. Thus, I do not interpret the results as a complete change of meaning. Instead I suggest that existential semantics is predominant being complemented by solid stative and hot news uses. I further suggest that be after V-ing splits semantically. In existential contexts it develops a tense 16 component while stative and hot news categories remain related more strongly to aspect 17 . The last important point to be mentioned is that be after V-ing has in the course of time lost its status as being an exclusively IrE dialect feature. My study shows that the majority of speakers in the sample are of West Country English origin. This means that the construction has spread to become part of the grammar of all speakers in the area irrespective of their ethnic background. 4.5 Explaining the changes The analysis of my Placentia Bay data led to the conclusion that be after Ving is used somewhat differently in this area of Newfoundland than in the source country. Also, the originally IrE dialect feature is used by speakers with a West Country English background. In explaining these phenomena two points are of importance. As mentioned before, Placentia Bay is a transition area (Paddock 1981: 617), i.e. immigrants from southwest England and southeast Ireland settled there close to one another. Proximity and shared work experience eventually led to interaction so that in contrast to other regions in Newfoundland Irish and English settlers mixed well (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C646, 647). The second important factor contributing to the development of be after V-ing is that in Newfoundland IrE has been more prestigious than SWE, as it is the kind of English spoken in the capital city of St. John’s (Philip Hiscock 18 , p.c. 2005). According to Peter Trudgill (1986: 6), in a dialect contact situation interaction of two groups of dialect speakers is likely to lead to transfer of linguistic features from one variety to the other. What Trudgill terms linguistic accommodation then gives rise to interdialectal forms “which were not actually present in any of the dialects contributing to the mixture” (Trudgill 2004: 86). There are different possibilities as to how exactly these forms develop. One of them is hyperadaptation. In the course of this process a feature of a more prestigious variety is adopted and used according to the understanding of the speakers who take it over. Misor reanalysis then leads to the feature Christina Bismark 108 being applied in a different way than in the source dialect (Trudgill 2004: 87, 94). Based on this model the development of be after V-ing in Placentia Bay can be summarized as follows: in the course of dialect contact between speakers of SWE origin and speakers of IrE origin the former took over the be after V-ing construction from the more prestigious IrE variety. They started to use the construction as they understood it, i.e. they added the semantics of the general have perfect, which is part of their own dialect. The result of this process of hyperadaptation is the interdialectal form be after V-ing with StE perfect meaning. Thus, my empirical study confirms for one region of Newfoundland a so far unproven assumption by Trudgill (1986) about be after V-ing in Newfoundland as a whole: […] this construction has spread, through dialect contact, from basically Irish dialects to others which are basically English English in origin [...] In acquiring this form, however, these dialects have extended its function to include relatively remote past events as well as hot-news. That is, they use the Irish English form in a hyperadaptive, non-Irish-English manner (1986: 152). However, the study of be after V-ing as it is used in one region of Newfoundland can at best be a starting point. My findings are representative for Placentia Bay and it may be expected that the characteristics of the construction are basically the same throughout the province. Nevertheless, replication studies of other regions are definitely necessary in order to arrive at a general conclusion. As my research focused on a transition area it might be reasonable to study the semantic properties of be after V-ing in regions with a solely Irish or a solely English background. Results similar to those of my study would further support the tendencies I established and constitute additional evidence for Trudgill’s general assumption. 5. Be after V-ing and identity According to Trudgill (2004: 27), “colonial dialect mixture situations involving adults speaking many different dialects of the same language will eventually and inevitably lead to the production of a new, unitary dialect.” The development of such a dialect or rather several varieties of this kind has been described for Newfoundland (cf. Widdowson 1964: 46, Story 1965: 130, Story 1967: 562, Paddock 1981: 616). Especially in transition areas like Placentia Bay SWE and IrE blend to form varieties that display characteristics of their own. At the same time they include retentions of the two source dialects (Story 1965: 130). The same holds for the way Newfoundlanders perceive themselves. When settlement started in the 17 th century, the population consisted of people who were either Irish or English. Over the 300 years, ‘There’s after being changes’ 109 19 See Eckert (2005) for a similar approach. however, a sense of belonging to the province developed and brought with it the concept of an independent Newfoundland identity. The way people speak is one way to express this identity. In being used by Newfoundlanders throughout the province irrespectively of their ethnic background (Clarke 1997b: 216) be after V-ing is part of their linguistic identity. It is a feature of a general Newfoundland English dialect and as such it indicates belonging to the province or, as Philip Hiscock (p.c. 2005) put it, it is “a flag people are waving” in order to show that they are Newfoundlanders. Indeed, be after V-ing at least in Placentia Bay does not appear to be stigmatized as, according to Filppula (2004: 76), it is in Ireland. This assumption is based on two observations. Firstly, the construction is used by all speakers in the sample. In this respect young, educated, mobile informants do not differ from NORMS. Also, people with an English background use be after V-ing just the same as speakers of Irish origin. Secondly, examples of the after construction were numerous in the files, i.e. they occurred in short intervals during the conversation. Thus, it can be assumed that in Placentia Bay be after V-ing is used frequently by all speakers regardless of social constraints. However plausible the concept of be after V-ing as a marker of Newfoundland identity might appear, it has so far just been an assumption. Further research in this area needs to provide evidence of how much substance there is to this idea. Attitude studies might help to find out whether be after Ving really bears a positive marking. Another possible approach to the identity aspect of the construction would be to follow the model recently established by Johnstone, Andrus and Danielson (2006). Their study describes a development in the status of dialect features caused by increasing geographic mobility. It is shown how unnoticed linguistic variables come to be used and heard first as markers of socioeconomic class and then linked to place, so that they become part of a vernacular termed ‘Pittsburghese’ (2006: 77). 19 This idea is very much in keeping with what has been suggested for the development of be after V-ing and might therefore constitute a valuable pattern for further research. 6. Conclusion The subject of the present paper has been the syntactic feature be after Ving. This IrE construction was taken to Newfoundland by Irish settlers beginning in the late 17 th century. The question was raised whether the characteristics of be after V-ing might have changed in the course of its development in the New World. In order to answer this question an empirical case study Christina Bismark 110 on the semantics of the feature was carried out. The results of the study led to the following insights about be after V-ing in the Placentia Bay area of Newfoundland. Firstly, its use is not restricted to the perfect of recency category, which is traditionally associated with the IrE source construction. Rather, be after Ving in Placentia Bay was found to convey all four StE perfect meanings with an emphasis on existential semantics. In connection to the change of meaning it was suggested that in existential contexts be after V-ing displays specific past tense characteristics. A second conclusion drawn from the findings is that the new characteristics of the feature are a result of processes caused by dialect contact between the IrE and SWE varieties in a transition area. Based on the results of this study perspectives for future research were opened. Additional studies will have to test the representativeness of my findings for the whole of Newfoundland. Further research should also take a new angle by approaching the notion of be after V-ing as an identity marker. References Bismark, C. (2006). “Two hundred years after going west: The be after V-ing construction in the Placentia Bay area of Newfoundland”. Unpublished M.A. thesis: Potsdam University. Bliss, A. (1979). Spoken English in Ireland 1600-1740. Dublin: The Cadenus Press. Bliss, A. (1984). “English in the South of Ireland”. In: Trudgill, P. (ed.). Language in the British Isles. Cambridge: CUP. 135-151. Butler, V. (1975). The Little Nord Easter: Reminiscences of a Placentia Bayman. 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(2002). “The Atlantic Edge: The Relationship between Irish English and Newfoundland English”. English World-Wide 23: 2. 283-316. Hume, A. (1878). Remarks on the Irish Dialect of the English Language. Liverpool: Thomas Brakell. Johnstone, B., J. Andrus & A.E. Danielson (2006). “Mobility, Indexicality, and the Enregisterment of ‘Pittsburghese’”. Journal of English Linguistics 34. 77-104. Joyce, P.W. (1988/ originally 1910). English as We Speak it in Ireland. Dublin: Wolfhound Press. Kallen, J.L. (1989). “Tense and Aspect Categories in Irish English”. English World-Wide 10. 1-39. Kallen, J.L. (1991). “Sociolinguistic Variation and Methodology: After as a Dublin Variable”. In: Cheshire, J. (ed.). English around the World: Sociolinguistic Perspectives. Cambridge: CUP. 61-74. Kirwin, W.J. (1993). “The Planting of Anglo-Irish in Newfoundland”. In: Clarke, S. (ed.). Focus on Canada. Amsterdam & Philadelphia: John Benjamins. 65-84. Kirwin, W.J. (2001). “Newfoundland English”. In: Algeo, J. (ed.). The Cambridge History of the English Language. Vol. 6. Cambridge: CUP. 441-455. Kortmann, B. & B. Szmrecsanyi (2004). “Global synopsis: Morphological and syntactic variation in English”. In: Kortmann et al. (eds.). 1142-1202. Kortmann, B., et al. (eds.) (2004). A Handbook of Varieties of English. Vol. 2: Morphology and Syntax. Berlin & New York: Mouton de Gruyter. Lehiste, I. (1988). Lectures on Language Contact. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Mannion, J. (1977). The Peopling of Newfoundland: Essays in Historical Geography. St. John’s NL: Institute of Social and Economic Research. Memorial University of Newfoundland. McCafferty, K. (2006). “Be After V-ing on the Past Grammaticalisation Path: How far Is It after Coming”. In: Tristram (ed.). 130-151. Christina Bismark 112 McCawley, J.D. (1973). Grammar and Meaning: Papers on Syntactic and Semantic Topics. Tokyo: Taishukan Publishing Company. MUNFLA website: http: / / www.mun.ca/ folklore/ munfla/ index.php; accessed: 04.08.06; 19: 04. Ó hÚrdail, R. (1997). “Hiberno-English: Historical Background and Synchronic Features and Variation”. In: Tristram (ed.). 180-200. Paddock, H.J. (1984). “Mapping Lexical Variants in Newfoundland English”. In: Zobl, H. (ed.). Papers from the Seventh Annual Meeting of the Atlantic Provinces Linguistics Association. Moncton: University of Moncton. 84-103. Paddock, H.J. (1991). “Linguistic vs. Non-Linguistic Conditioning of Linguistic Variables”. Journal of the Atlantic Provinces Linguistic Association 13. 71-83. Pratt, T.K. (1988). Dictionary of Prince Edward Island English. Toronto. Buffalo & London: University of Toronto Press. Quirk, R., S. Greenbaum, J. Svartvik & G. Leech (1985). A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. London: Longman. Ronan, P. (2005). “The After-perfect in Irish English”. In: Filppula, J., et al. (eds.). Dialects Across Borders. Selected Papers from the 11 th International Conference on Methods in Dialectology (Methods XI), Joensuu, August 2002. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 253-270. Sabban, A. (1982). Gälisch-englischer Sprachkontakt: Zur Variabilität des Englischen im Gälischsprachigen Gebiet Schottlands. Groos: Heidelberg. Shorrocks, G. (1997). “Celtic Influences on the English of Newfoundland and Labrador”. In: Tristram (ed.). 320-361. Siemund, P. (2006). “Independent Developments in the Genesis of Irish English”. In: Tristram (ed.). 283-305. Story, G.M. (1965). “Newfoundland Dialect: An Historical View”. Canadian Geographical Journal 70: 4. 126-131. Story, G.M. (1967). “The Dialects of Newfoundland”. In: Smallwood, J.R. (ed.). The Book of Newfoundland. St. John’s NL: Newfoundland Book Publishers. 559-563. Thomason, S.G. (2001). Language Contact: An Introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Tristram, H.L.C. (ed.) (1997). The Celtic Englishes. Heidelberg: Winter. Tristram, H.L.C. (1999). “‘The Celtic Englishes’ - Zwei grammatikalische Beispiele zum Problem des Sprachkontaktes zwischen dem Englischen und den keltischen Sprachen”. In: Zimmermann, S., R. Ködderitzsch & A. Wigger (eds.). Akten des zweiten deutschen Keltologen-Symposiums, Bonn, 2.-4. April 1997. Tübingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag. 254-276. Tristram, H.L.C. (ed.) (2006). The Celtic Englishes IV. Potsdam: Universitätsverlag. Trudgill, P. (1986). Dialects in Contact. Oxford, New York: Blackwell. Trudgill, P. (2004). New-Dialect Formation: The Inevitability of Colonial Englishes. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. Widdowson, J.D.A. (1964). “Some Items of a Central Newfoundland Dialect”. The Canadian Journal of Linguistics 10: 1. 37-46. Christina Bismark Universität Freiburg Englisches Seminar ‘There’s after being changes’ 113 Appendix: List of examples (I) F ILE 70-8 Universal 1. Well, we’re after goin’ through a good bit aren’t... (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C769, ts p. 13)U 2. … said their [they’re CB] after gettin’ right “high brow” (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C688, ts p. 13) 3. Well here I am I’m after dealing a good bit in the 45 year (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C647, ts p. 32) 4. He’s after doin’ good now since Confederation (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C654, ts p. 7) Existential 5. You sang a lot a songs though last summer but you never, that’s two you’re after singin’ tonight you never sung for me before (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C776, ts p. 3) 6. I daresay you’re after hearin’ this yourself (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C664, ts p. 5) 7. [There’s CB] Some awful queer stuff after happening isn’t it? (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C668, ts p. 12) 8. I’m after learnin’ the Crabfish song now. (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C674, ts p. 7) 9. Good many fellers after tellin me stuff like that (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C708, ts p. 4) 10. one of em out on Jude now, he got a couple a months out of it now the winter he’s after bein’ out there before (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C646, ts p. 8) 11. And I was after gettin’ it from me father and from the old people where twas too (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C646, ts p. 17) 12. and this machine what he had, you’re after seein’ these fer findin’ out about where there’s water [...] (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C646, ts p. 18) 13. something like a fountain pen, you’re after seein’ them, isn’t ya? (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C646, ts p. 19) 14. Oh there’s after bein’ divers over there about that (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C646, ts p. 20) 15. and they’re after bein’ there two or three times (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C646, ts p. 20) Christina Bismark 114 16. But any rate, they were pretty much interested in it, they’re after bein’ over there divin’ (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C646, ts p. 20f) 17. they’re after bein’ out off a the lower end a the Island between Emberley’s Island, (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C646, ts p. 21) 18. [they’re after bein’ CB] back of Emberley’s Island (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C646, ts p. 21) 19. and they’re after bein out there the other way (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C646, ts p. 21) 20. this is the story [that CB] was handed down to me, you know, I’m after gettin’ it pretty good from different old fellers. (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C647, ts p. 2) 21. I knows the routine of it pretty good, I’m after being up agin it, but I never done any smuggeling. (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C647, ts p. 27) 22. that’s how twas always, after arguin’ pretty good with a good many, specially with these cod net men and the jigger men (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C648, ts p. 10) 23. - Why is that - I’m after, I always kept up that end and I’m always going to and I think I’m after, after reading it on the papers there now too (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C648, ts p. 10) 24. [...] when you get in on the Southern Shore [...] and you were after bein’ into St. Pierre on the way along (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C770, ts p. 12) 25. I’m after havin a dozen letters from different places people wanted me (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C683, ts p. 1) 26. I: Dey sing that very often? S: Oh, I’m after hearin’ it a lot of times. (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C766, ts p. 9) 27. I’m after hearin’ it a lot of times. (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C766, ts p. 9) 28. Oh, I’m after hearing a lot of ol’ fellers sing it. (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C766, ts p. 9) 29. Yes boy, … got them, I’m after hearin’ dat. (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C766, ts p. 19) 30. I’m after hearin ? at it. (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C766, ts p. 19) 31. Oh I forgits it now but I’m after hearin it a dozen times on da tape recorder (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C767, ts p. 9) 32. I’m after coming across the bay in mid-winter in my skiff to Little Harbour (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C662, ts p. 6) ‘There’s after being changes’ 115 33. and [after CB] contactin’ Doctor … (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C662, ts p. 6) 34. but I’ll tell ya there’s some women after shiftin’ out of Davis’ Cove and Prowseton and Clattice Harbour and St. Kyrans that never saw the sun rise over St. John’s in their lives. (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C664, ts p. 11) 35. there’s different people after askin’ me (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C658, ts p. 27) 36. I: Can’t sing it. S: I don’t know ah you’re after hearin’ it anyway. (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C672, ts p. 15) 37. Sure in Harbour Buffett sure that’s after changin’ hands sure a dozen times (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C660, ts p. 10) 38. I’m after hearin’ a lot of those songs (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C689, ts p. 11) 39. after learnin a lot of em, (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C689, ts p. 11) 40. pose [suppose CB] after singin a lot of them (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C689, ts p. 11) 41. He was after haulin me house for me (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C692, ts p. 8) 42. I said you might be after doing twice as much fuckin’ as … (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C677, ts p. 8) 43. I asked her one morning what was she at, what was her work, She said borning babies sir. I don’t know how many she told me then she was after borning. (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C645, ts p. 15) 44. Well, I thought he was after tellin’ ya dat one (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C773, ts p. 4) 45. S: You heard that one sure. I: No, I never heard that one. S: Yes, you did, I’m after tellin’ you about six times (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C773, ts p. 9) Stative 46. What about the fishery there, now in the old days of course there’s big changes after takin’ place in the kind of boats people used... (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C768, ts p. 19) 47. [...] but I don’t know the names of ... you know, I’m after forgettin’ you know. (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C771, ts p. 11) 48. I’m after forgettin’ an awful lot a songs. (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C775, ts p. 19) Christina Bismark 116 49. Look you’re after forgettin’ ten times as much as you remembers now. (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C775, ts p. 19) 50. He’s after forgetting so much of it you know. (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C664, ts p. 19) 51. But there’s one principle thing I’m after losin’ (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C646, ts p. 27) 52. Now I don’t know whether anybody knows, somebody do I suppose cause I’m after tellin’ em (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C647, ts p. 10) 53. I’m after forgettin’, so long since, I never sung dat (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C766, ts p. 14) 54. he’s goin’ to git credit, he says, fer what dis man is after doin’ (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C658, ts p. 10) 55. I said, … what’s funny? I said, are you after hearin’ something? I said, you’re laughin’ (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C658, ts p. 13) 56. A good many a the people is after leavin’ the Island now (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C659, ts p. 10) 57. Dere is a couple I’m after forgettin’. (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C671, ts p. 14) 58. I don’t know what they’re done with yer church in Harbour Buffett, they’re after wreckin’ that up. (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C644, ts p. 20f) Hot News 59. But … said once too you know, Jesus the wind is after changin’ right around. (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C679, ts p. 24) 60. He was after asking, telling me to bring over some picketts he had (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C647, ts p. 22) 61. There was after raining you know there was puddles of water all over the ice (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C681, ts p. 3) 62. Somebody come down and siad [said CB] to me my lard, your after cuttin all th[e] stuff around the grave yard. (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C682, ts p. 8) 63. this is where basterd was after goin up and got this and put it on this boom (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C682, ts p. 9) 64. Well, how much did he laugh when he found out he was after gettin it off on us. (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C682, ts p. 9) 65. I’m after insultin her. [...] (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C687, ts p. 11) ‘There’s after being changes’ 117 66. I said I’m after insultin your wife. (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C687, ts p. 11) Not classified 67. Well I’m tellin’ you, I’m after speakin’ about them. (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C655, ts p. 8) 68. I was after, I was after usin’ up me grammer a lot in that length a time (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C664, ts p. 16) 69. Now Jack got in wit his heart’s desire, Sure he could please her as well as a squire De squire come dere fer to pull de string, And Jack was after haulin’ it in (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C672, ts p. 12) 70. ...and when they told me they were after takin’ the doors out of it... (MUNFLA Tape 70-8/ C644, ts p. 21) (II) A DDITIONAL F ILES Existential 71. do you have any little stories that your father is after passing on down to you (MUNFLA Tape 84-191/ C11340, ts p. 15) 72. How many songs would you say he’s after makin’ up to you (MUNFLA Tape 74-91/ C13774) 73. Oh yea when did Maritime Packers come to Buffett, and I’m after asking Tom and he’s not able to tell me. (MUNFLA Tape 75-127/ C2047, ts p. 4) 74. Charlie said I’m after learnin’ a French song while I was in there (MUNFLA Tape 75-127/ C2052, ts p. 2) 75. and she said, look, I’m after readin’ your stories (MUNFLA Tape 75-127/ C2053, ts p. 1) 76. We were after bein’ that way for twenty two hours (MUNFLA Tape 75-127/ C2056, ts p. 5) 77. He’s after hearing all this old trash (MUNFLA Tape 74-91/ C13776) Stative 78. and here was five or six big doughballs floating about [...] After washing down the drain and got out of the garden out on the road (MUNFLA Tape 96-577/ C16379, ts p. 24) 79. I don’t know what band it was or anything like that. I did know but I’m after forgetting. (MUNFLA Tape 96-577/ C16380, ts p. 23) Christina Bismark 118 80. We’re after going, I suppose, to hell the other way [...] (MUNFLA Tape 82-214/ C-9803) 81. We’re after going too far (MUNFLA Tape 82-214/ C-9803) 82. Government is after taking a lot of those things from men (MUNFLA Tape 82-214/ C-9803) 83. [But] I’m after forgettin’ (MUNFLA Tape 74-91/ C13774) 84. I’m after forgettin’ that (MUNFLA Tape 74-91/ C13774) 85. But I’m after forgettin’ (MUNFLA Tape 74-91/ C13774) 86. I had every goddamn bit but I’m after forgettin’ (MUNFLA Tape 74-91/ C13774) 87. I’m after forgettin’ (MUNFLA Tape 74-91/ C13774) 88. I’m after forgettn (MUNFLA Tape 74-91/ C13774) 89. I’m gonna try [? ? ? ] I’m after forgettn (MUNFLA Tape 74-91/ C13774) 90. I’m gonna sing it to you ‘f course I’m after forgettn (MUNFLA Tape 74-91/ C13774) Hot News 91. But now the water was after rising (MUNFLA Tape 84-191/ C11340, ts p. 16) 92. they are after callin’ the police (MUNFLA Tape 75-127/ C2051, ts p. 1) 93. They were after breaking into the liquor store (MUNFLA Tape 96-577/ C16380, ts p. 22) Not classified 94. I went to Argentia so … her brother, was home, see his father, his father wadn’t very well, he was after havin’ operation and he be goin’ back to St. John’s (MUNFLA Tape 75-127/ C2053, ts p. 2) 95. I was after meetin’ the girl, that was kind of a... [end of tape] (MUNFLA Tape 75-127/ C2053, ts p. 10) 96. Well now, … he was a businessman there for years and he was after leavin’ it up on the point you know the place there (MUNFLA Tape 75-127/ C-2054, ts p. 1)