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Can the word "be" ever be substituted for the word "is", as in : "She be coming" Is this archaism, colloquialism, or just not anything at all?
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"She be coming" Is this archaism, colloquialism,
Hmmmmm, a holdover from the earlier English that came to us in the 1700s and is still used in more remote pockets of habitation ? Phrases similar to "she be" are sometimes heard in old Bluegrass Music that are based on early English songs.
Musick : can you help us out here? Would this be a colloquialism ? I don't think that'd be the exact appelation?
And how'd you contract "she be?" She'b ????
Oh,dear! another disappointment from Enigma ..thought it'd want esoteric Sheba for "she'b" but instead got plain old "she'd." [sigh]
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I'm sure I've heard "she be" following such words as lest, if, though, etc., although I be hard pressed to come up with one at the moment.
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This is also quite common in African-American Vernacular English, sometimes called Ebonics. This is pretty controversial an' I ain't gonna comment on it (unless provoked, maybe ), except to provide you with an example and some links: I think the be form establishes long-term as in: "she staying" = temporary or immediate: she's staying there at the moment. "she be staying": she lives (in that neighborhood) the origin of the Ebonics issue: http://www.linguistlist.org/topics/ebonics/ebonics-res1.htmla discussion of it: http://www.stanford.edu/~rickford/ebonics/LingAnthro1.html
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It is imperative that you be there.
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i could be wrong, but my immediate feeling is that "be" can substitute for "is" when the "will" is omitted.
"he'll be down the pub, most likely" means the same as "he's down the pub, most likely" and "he be down the pub, most likely"
what francais posted was a subjunctive (if i be correct), so perhaps omitting the "will" inflection gives a more potential rather than definite feel to the phrase.
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WOW - Sorry, someday I'll have access to my music library again. Thanks for the links AnnaS.
Although now familiar with the context in which Ebonics had "surfaced" then and some of the issues, I know first hand that the language they are speaking of is not African-American specific. Here I hear the same "useages" from Latin-Americans as well as Euro-Americans, with the exception of some Slavic-American groups who isolate themselves geographically as well as allow their language to continue to do so.
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>that "be" can substitute for "is" when the "will" is omitted.
Then is the phrase "Life be silent" necessarily an order and should be punctuated: "Life be Silent!" Or can it be other things?
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In the Hamshire and Dorset dialects (and presumably several others in UK) as well as "ee be" you find "I be" instead of "I am", as in: Be I Hampshire? Be I buggery, I comes up from Wareham, Where all the girls wear calico drawers, and I knows 'ow to tear 'em.
In Bristol area dialect, you find "ee" used for "you" as in: "Why duzn't ee speak proper, if ee cuz ee duzn't ut" (Why don't you speak properly. If you could you wouldn't, would you?)
If you listen hard enough you will find people saying anything!
Rod
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In Standard W(ritten, hite) English (hereinafter abbreviated SWE) there are two main issues here.
A) Be can be the infinitive (yes, Virginia, there are forms of the infinitive in which the to is absent as it is in this sentence (the third word in this sentence to be specific).
2) It can also be an example of the subjunctive in what is known in Latin grammar (valid here for English also) as the hortatory subjunctive, often used with the periphrastic let. This is the normal form of the polite command. Other examples of the subjunctive would be if he be here he can defend himself. This use of the subjunctive normally requires that the clause in which the subjunctive is used is known to be contrary to fact. Thus, if it is known that he is here or if it is not known whether he is or not, the proper usage would be If he is here he can defend himself
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