Evolution of Language

[hells_half_acre]

I'm a language geek. Always have been, though I've never studied linguistics in any official capacity. I love the fact that Icelandic has Irish loan-words and that "sauna" is the only Finnish loan-word in the English language and we all pronounce it wrong.

I'm not a traditionalist though, the thing I love about language is that it is constantly evolving. It's true, some accents/dialects I like more than others...some changes I like and some I don't...but over all, I know that languages are living things and all living things ever do is change.

Most recently though, I've discovered my love for the new contraction: "Imma"

...or "I'mma" or however you want to write it. Popularized most recently by Kanye West - unwittingly. I've started noticing it more in things I read...and I've also noticed that even I occassionally say it. Usually my own speech is a bit antiquicated in comparison to North American standard English (I still use "shall" in everyday speech), but then again, I've always loved contractions.

I just love that the four words "I am going to" have been whittled down to four letters slurred together.

It comes close to my own personally favorite of "I'd've" which I use instead of saying "I would have" in sentences like, "I'd've done it, if you'd've reminded me!" ...see, it even has a nice little partner in "you'd've" (or "you'da", as I most often pronounce it)..."I'mma" doesn't have that.

Anyway...this post is pointless. I just felt like saying that I like "Imma"

P.S. Hehehe...I love this moodtheme image.

Comments

[traveling-storm.livejournal.com]

I only notice these things because I have to teach my students how to sound like fluent native English speakers, and that's hard to do when they say a sentence like: "Do! You! Want! A! Cup! Of! Coffee?" trying to enunciate every single word.

'Imma' would probably give them fits, even if I do find myself using it. :D

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Ha! (nice icon!)

Yeah, I always had difficulty learning French, and would go into these huge rants about how it'd be much easier to learn if they didn't slur together all their goddamn words...then I realized I was being a crazy hypocrit. :P

[mizzykitty.livejournal.com]

Guess it'd be hard to explain to them "you wanna cuppa joe?" XD

[traveling-storm.livejournal.com]

That certainly would have made Joe sit up and look nervous - and would have dissolved the rest of the class into complete hysterics! :D

[mizzykitty.livejournal.com]

My brain is thinking dirty thoughts. Poor Joe!

[jillsjourney.livejournal.com]

I was introduced to "Imma" by reading Jensen/Jared RPF. Many writers seem to have them saying it a lot; I don't know if they actually do in real life. I wonder if it's a Texas thing, or if writers think it's a Texas thing.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've noticed that too. I think I may have heard them say it in an interview (or at least Jared, he's lazier in his speech than Jensen)...so maybe it's not just a fanon thing.

[mizzykitty.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's a Texas thing, but probably people think it is.

[claudiapriscus.livejournal.com]

'imma' drives me nuts, just like, 'I seen/been". I always want to grab people by their figurative lapels and shake them while shouting "for the love of God, it's I'VE! I'VE" or "I'm GONNA!". It's not the contraction so much; it's just that missing words (or seemingly missing words) drive my inner editor insane.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

And "gonna" doesn't drive you nuts?

"I seen/been" drives me nuts too though, because it's pour grammar rather than some new word made by too many contractions. Maybe I'm splitting hairs too though.

[claudiapriscus.livejournal.com]

I guess because I'm used to "gonna", and to me, I'm used to "imma" as "I'm" slurred- that is, "immagonna run down to the store" or perhaps "i'm uh gonna run down to the store". So it still strikes me as missing a word.

[hells-half-acre.livejournal.com]

I think technically in that example it'd be an extra word, but I get what you are saying...it's all about how pervasive it is in our everyday language, and gonna has YEARS on Imma.

I have a strange relationship with gonna, because it actually DOES annoy me, but I think it's because as a kid whenever I said "gonna" I had some teacher making me repeat it with "going to" all pronounced properly...and god forbid if I should ever write it. :P