Convergent explanation and alternative regularization patterns:<i>Were/weren't</i>leveling in a vernacular English variety

Abstract

ABSTRACT Although the process of analogical leveling seems relatively straightforward and its directionality readily predictable, the existence of cross-dialectal leveling alternatives suggests that the processes that actuate and embed analogical leveling can actually be quite complex. Using the case of a vernacular variety spoken on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, we demonstrate how linguistic-systemic principles such as remorphologization, psycholinguistic principles of perceptual saliency, and sociolinguistic processes of symbolic identity converge to account for the development and maintenance of leveling to weren't ( I/you/(s)he/we/ you/they weren't here ) in this post-insular island community.