Third-person singular zero in Norfolk English: An addendum

Abstract

An article published in 2014 argued that the third-person singular present tense indicative zero was already present in Norfolk English before the arrival of Dutch- and French-speaking immigrants in Norwich in the middle of the sixteenth century. This position differs from that of Trudgill, who has argued that zero-marking in Norfolk English arose as a result of language contact between the immigrants (or ‘Strangers’) and local English people. One response to the earlier article is that it relies on examples involving the verb have, and that this verb is something of an exception as it is found with zero-marking in other varieties of English. The present article addresses that concern by providing further evidence that zero-marking was already used in Norfolk English for verbs other than have before the arrival of the Strangers in Norwich. It then evaluates whether, although zero-marking was present prior to 1565, Trudgill’s language contact thesis may nevertheless help to explain how zero-marking became a common feature of Norfolk English and indeed of varieties of English elsewhere in East Anglia. In short, this article aims to shed further light on the interesting question of how and when zero-marking developed in Norfolk English.

Regional Variation in Early Modern English: The Case of the Third-Person Present Tense Singular Verb Ending in Norfolk Correspondence

“…Zero-marking has been recorded in Norfolk English in other studies (Holmqvist 1922:115-117; Trudgill 2010; Joby 2014, 2016). 11 This may have influenced Sir John in his use of have , although he only uses the -s ending for other verbs.…”

“…Several authors have written specifically about third-person singular present tense verb endings in Middle and Early Modern Norfolk English, notably Holmqvist (1922), Wright (2001), Trudgill (2010), and Joby (2014, 2016).…”

“…He writes that “in using the language as a lingua franca amongst themselves and with the native population, [the immigrants] failed to master, as non-native speakers often do, the irregular person-marking system of English verbs” (Trudgill 2013:19). Joby (2014, 2016) disputes this, arguing that there is substantial evidence for the use of zero-marking in the indicative prior to the arrival of the Flemish and Walloon immigrants. This is a variant that has persisted until the present day in East Anglian English and is analyzed separately in this article (Trudgill 2010:52).…”

“…However, gaps remain in our knowledge. One gap concerns the final stages of the recession of -th in East Anglian English, a variety of the language used in Norfolk and Suffolk that has been the subject of several publications, notably Nevalainen, Raumolin-Brunberg, and Trudgill (2001), Wright (2001), and Joby (2014, 2016). It is important to fill this particular gap in our knowledge as it has previously been observed that -th persisted longer in East Anglia varieties of EModE than in other varieties (Nevalainen, Raumolin-Brunberg & Trudgill 2001).…”

French in early modern Norwich

“…Trudgill (2010: 36–60) argues that a feature of Norfolk English, zero-marking in the third-person singular present indicative (e.g., ‘he go’ rather than ‘he goes’), is a result of language contact between the Walloon and Dutch Strangers and local English people. Joby (2014b (and 2016)) provides evidence that there was zero-marking in Norfolk English before the Strangers arrived in Norwich. However, he does leave open the possibility that the Strangers helped to spread zero-marking by adopting it as they shifted to English.…”