A regionalism is a characteristic, usually pertaining to speech, of a geographic area. Most regionalisms that come to mind are differences in vocabulary. This might be pop vs. soda vs. coke or tennis shoe vs. sneaker. But did you know that some regionalisms are grammatical? I recently shared a tip on my social media pages about semicolon usage, and it contained a sentence with a regional grammatical construction that caught a lot of people's attention. The crucial part of the sentence in question is "the brakes needed replaced." Some people commented that it should have been "the brakes needed to be replaced." I've been doing some research on regional grammatical constructions, and it seems that "needs replaced" is a construction wholeheartedly accepted by some and vehemently rejected by others. Some researchers at Yale did a study in North America on what they call the need + V-en construction (need followed by a verb with a passive participle ending). In standard English, they say, this construction is deemed unacceptable. Yet they found that pockets of people throughout the US take no issue with this construction at all. You can read the full article on their findings here. Have a look at their map of average acceptability of the sentence "My car needs fixed." There's also an interactive map at the bottom of the article with more details about the raw data used in their research. The regions where this sentence is fairly or wholeheartedly accepted cover quite a bit of the country, and not all of these areas are contiguous. I notice that Kansas and Northwest Arkansas (where I grew up and where I live now, respectively) are among the regions most accepting of this construction. The discussion about this particular grammatical regionalism brings up a couple of larger questions: Should regionalisms be excluded from formal writing? And, if a significant portion of a population uses a certain construction, should it still be considered unacceptable? I'm not attempting to answer these questions here, but they are worth thinking about.
Language changes constantly. Just last month, Merriam-Webster added over five hundred words to the dictionary to reflect new terms being used in the English lexicon. Not everyone will have heard of all of these words, but enough people are using them that they warrant entries in a prominent dictionary. And I'm willing to bet that not everyone is using these words in the same way. My point is that there is a difference between how language ought to be used and how language is actually used. In formal writing, those differences matter more. In informal writing, they may not matter as much. Ultimately, it's the writer who gets to decide where each piece of writing falls on that spectrum. As a proofreader, it's my job to fix what's wrong—and leave what's not wrong alone. While some people might not agree with the need + V-en construction, others use it regularly. If something "needs fixed," the "to be" is implied. The truncated construction might be scoffed at by some, but no one is going to misunderstand the sentence. What about you? If you live in the US, how has your region influenced your acceptance of the need + V-en construction? What about those of you who don't live in the US? Is this construction acceptable in your country or region? Let me know in the comments! If you want to learn a bit more about regionalisms from an expert, check out Grammar Girl's article here. And if you'd like to have some fun and take a regional dialect quiz, this one shows you a heat map of your personal dialect. (Unsurprisingly, mine was centered around Kansas, as shown above.)
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I talk about confidence a lot. I want to help writers be bold and overcome their fears. I want them to be confident in their skills and brave enough to tell their stories to the world. But can I let you in on a little secret? Helping others be confident is one of my primary goals because confidence is something I've struggled with a lot. I know what it's like to second-guess my own opinions, abilities, or knowledge. The primary result of having low confidence is inaction. People who are not confident will freeze up in crises, avoid difficult problems, and delay chasing their dreams. They don't take action, nothing in their life changes, and their confidence plunges even lower. So how do you get out of this downward spiral, boost your confidence, and see positive change in your life? There's a simple solution: you take action. Last year, to my utmost surprise, I became a runner. (And that's a whole other discussion for another time.) As a newbie runner, I've become a fan of the Nike guided runs, which help motivate and inspire me as well as teach me how to run better. On one of my recent guided runs, Head Coach Bennett gave me some food for thought every few minutes in order to work out my mind as well as my body. One of these thoughts struck a chord with me: "Courage lies just beyond the reach of confidence." Many thoughts and discussions could come from this one sentence, but what resonated with me was an idea I've been ruminating on for a while. Confidence doesn't come before you take action; confidence comes because you take action. And how do you take action with no confidence? Courage. Courage gets you past the limit of your certainty. You have to be brave and take the first step, like Indiana Jones and his leap of faith, knowing that confidence will follow and give you a bridge to stand on. Can you think of a time when you were scared to do something but you did it anyway? How did you feel afterward? If you succeeded, I'd be willing to bet that you felt fantastic. There's nothing that boosts your confidence like accomplishing something you didn't think you could do. And even if you failed, you still accomplished something. You took action and practiced ignoring your insecurities. You pushed forward through the fear and crossed the proverbial finish line. That builds confidence too, because now you know that you can do hard things and still survive. This concept of courage before confidence can lead to growth in so many areas of our lives. But specifically for your writing life, I'd encourage you to take that leap of faith. What is it that you've been avoiding? Do you hesitate to begin writing your story, thinking that you lack the skill to put what's in your head onto the page? Have a little courage and begin anyway. Skill comes with practice. Are you afraid to share your writing with the world or even your closest friends, worried by the criticism that might come? Take a deep breath and share it anyway. The more you share, the easier it will be. The only way to build confidence is to have the courage to go beyond your comfort zone. And you know what? That zone will grow with every step you take. |
AuthorErica is a full-service book editor and writer seeking to help other writers polish their work with confidence. Archives
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