Perceptions of perfective done: a study of language attitudes

Abstract

Since the early 1970s, linguists have studied the syntactic feature perfective done, as in "I done told you," as a marker of nonstandard English dialects. These studies have investigated done's origin, meanings, and grammatical contexts, have identified various speech groups that use the form (such as African Americans), and have suggested numerous labels for the form. This present study explores this history and adds new information to the research on perfective done by investigating done in the context of a study of language attitudes. By analyzing both quantitatively and qualitatively survey data collected from approximately 200 students at Texas A&M University, this study examines what attitudes Texas speakers hold about perfective done and about speakers they believe use the form. This study also discusses the larger implications that assessments of a single feature of a nonstandard dialect indicate about perceptions of individuals and longstanding language ideologies. Overall, this study demonstrates that strong stereotypes and stigmas accompany perceptions of perfective done and the individuals that speakers believe use the form. This study also reveals significant information about reported current perfective done usage in that most participants claiming to use perfective done report that this usage does not reflect a dialect they believe to be their primary dialect, but instead functions as a tool of humor and mockery of individuals they believe use the form in everyday language-primarily individuals identified as Southerners, less educated, and/or belonging to a lower socioeconomic class. Ultimately, a study such as this allows for not only an examination of perfective done usage and the form's history, but also allows for an analysis of current attitudes associated with perfective done and nonstandard dialects (particularly Southern dialect) and a prediction for perfective done's future in American English.