caa a22 4500 388058595 CHVBK 20180307125114.0 cr unu---uuuuu 161130e199810 xx s 000 0 eng 10.1017/S0954394500001319 doi S0954394500001319 pii (NATIONALLICENCE)cambridge-10.1017/S0954394500001319 Hazen Kirk West Virginia University The birth of a variant: Evidence for a tripartite negative past be paradigm [Elektronische Daten] [Kirk Hazen] In the study of past be, most researchers have assumed a two variant distinction for negative forms (i.e., wasn't and weren't). In Warren County, North Carolina, evidence suggests a three variant distinction (i.e., wasn't, weren't, and wont). Throughout the history of sociolinguistic investigation, two types of variants have been noted: a sociolinguistic variant and a linguistic variant. In Warren County, wont functions as both types, as demonstrated through acoustic, morphophonological, and sociolinguistic evidence. Through the analysis of negative past be, guidelines are suggested for determining a particular form as a separate linguistic and sociolinguistic variant. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1998 Language Variation and Change Cambridge University Press 10/3(1998-10), 221-244 0954-3945 10:3<221 1998 10 LVC https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954394500001319 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI 1 research-article jats NATIONALLICENCE 856 40 https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954394500001319 text/html Onlinezugriff via DOI NATIONALLICENCE 100 1- Hazen Kirk West Virginia University NATIONALLICENCE 773 0- Language Variation and Change Cambridge University Press 10/3(1998-10), 221-244 0954-3945 10:3<221 1998 10 LVC CC0 http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0 nationallicence BK010053 XK010053 XK010000 NATIONALLICENCE NATIONALLICENCE NL-cambridge