Date:  Tue, 17 Oct 1995 04:20:50 -0400

From:  Bob Haas <rahaas[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]HAMLET.UNCG.EDU>

Subject: Re: might could



On Tue, 17 Oct 1995, Aaron Drews wrote:



>     Well, I know Scots and non-standard Scottish dialects of English

> use double modals. And there were one or two Lowlanders that settled in

> the southern States. My guess is that it got started back when could was

> a full lexical verb.... 17th century, maybe, I don't know. My HEL is a

> wee bit rusty.



Aaron,



Thanks for the info, I always wondered what constructions like "might

could" were called. I reckon I might should'a looked it up.



Bob Haas

University of North Carolina at Greensboro

rahaas[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]hamlet.uncg.edu