I was just joking around more than anything with my diagram attempt.
It is an interesting problem though. One way to approach it might be to diagram the same thought in standard grammar: Are you, or are you not, my baby? (Which has a funny courtroom sort of ring to it.) It might be more accurate to translate it as Are you indeed (or truly), or are you not, my sweeheart?
The song lyric is doing three things as far as I can tell that make it deviate from standard grammar:
(1) subject-verb disagreement ("you is")
(2) use of "ain't" for aren't (A-okay in my book)
(3) inserting "is" as an affirmative counterpoint to the negative modifier: "is you is or is you ain't..." You could also say that this "is" is substituting for any of the following: indeed, truly, sincerely, really, seriously or honestly.
So try diagramming "Are you [indeed], or are you not my baby?" However you dealt with the "not" is how you could deal with the bracketed affirmative. Then just translate everything back to the nonstandard grammar of the song lyric. By the time you finish, you may come to the conclusion that the original lyric expresses the thought quite well, and the more formal expressions ain't got nothin' to offer in terms of improvement.
Last edited by Alex Williams; 05/31/06 03:20 PM.
