Date:  Wed, 2 Apr 1997 21:18:22 -0500
From:  "Bethany K. Dumas" <dumasb[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]UTK.EDU>
Subject: Re: For to ....

On Wed, 2 Apr 1997, Ditra Henry wrote:

>     I've heard this construction among many African Americans in the
> Chicago area and I'm wondering if this is an AAVE construction or
> hypercorrection or is it just a Southern construction?
> examples: May I use your phone?
>      Why do you need to use the phone?
>      for to call my insurance company for a question.

There's a note on the construction in one of the old t-g textbooks, maybe
Jacobs & Rosenbaum, if memory serves me as well as I think it does. Think
also of the spiritual that contains the words, "Coming for to carry me
home." I think it is an older, possibly Southern pattern.

Bethany

Bethany K. Dumas, J.D., Ph.D.  Applied Linguistics, Language & Law
Department of English      EMAIL: dumasb[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]utk.edu
415 McClung Tower        (423) 974-6965, (423) 974-6926 (FAX)
University of Tennessee     Editor, Language in the Judicial Process
Knoxville, TN 37996-0430 USA  <http://ljp.la.utk.edu>