I have me some questions
I have gotten into a discussion about what I call benefactive me in Standard-ish North American English over at Suzette Haden Elgin’s place. This is the “me” (or whichever other pronoun) in a sentence like “I like me some chocolate”.
Before you go and see what I think, I have some questions about grammaticality and felicity (is this otherwise grammatical sentence okay to say in this context?).
First, can you say these sentences in an approximately neutral context? (Say, not write. These are in an informal context, too.)
- I got me some candy.
- Sam caught him a mouse.
- Matilda wants her some catnip.
Let’s say you went to the market and bought all the carrots because you want to make a lifetime supply of carrot bread right now. (Good choice! I love carrot bread.)
- I bought me some carrots.
- I bought me all the carrots.
- I bought up all the carrots.
- I bought me up all the carrots.
What about these (very short) discourses?
- I caught me some fish. I’m going to give them to a friend for dinner — I do not eat fish.
- I got me a new book. Well, actually, I asked my friend to pick it up for me.
- I got me a new book. Well, actually, I got it as a gift.
I am way out of practice at making up good data sets. Oh well. Still, I’m really curious, so I’d love responses; I would welcome more examples of things which are good or bad. If you’re willing, the dialect of English you speak (probably where you grew up) adn your age would be interesting, because I think there is an age factor.
October 24th, 2005 at 5:18 pm
No, I can’t say 1, 2, or 3 without affecting a country twang for comic edge; the sentence structure is “folksy” and rural sounding to me.
I’d say 4 and 6 and 8, 9, and 10 (with the same affectation) but not 5 or 7 at all.
I’m 37 and grew up in Arkansas.
October 24th, 2005 at 8:21 pm
I can’t say 1, 2, or 3, but I tend to associate the construction with urban/African-American English rather than country twang. Actually, I think the only one I’d be able to say naturally would be 6. And somehow, I can maybe see saying 8, but not very often. Basically, no, I don’t get me no nothing. :-)
36, grew up outside of Boston, my mom’s British (which may make a difference for all I know).
October 24th, 2005 at 8:37 pm
I’m from central and western Massachusetts. I was born in 1956 and my friend Cindy who was born in 1956 just had a birthday and now she is 35. I am a little older than that but I think that’s because I was born earlier in the year.
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I got myself some candy.
Sam caught himself a mouse.
Matilda wants some catnip for herself.
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I bought up all the carrots works for me. Or I bought myself some carrots, of course.
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Discourses:
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8 I caught myself some fish. I’m going to give them to a friend — well, then I didn’t really catch them for myself, did I? So I wouldn’t say that. I would say I caught my friend some fish.
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9 My friend got me a new book.
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10 Somebody gave me a new book. Or I could say I got a new book and not specify how I got it, but I would not say I got myself a new book unless I got it myself.
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Once you captioned a picture “Sam loves him some water fresh from the faucet” and I thought that was really weird. I had to puzzle at it for a while.
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Now my question: Does “me” add any information for those who use it? Does “I got me a new book” have a different meaning than just “I got a new book” — does it mean I’m happier about it, or more possessive about it, or something?
(Don’t you dare ask to borrow my new book, I got it for ME!)
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I hear “I got me” sometimes, though I don’t use it myself. I had never heard “Sam loves him” before you captioned that picture.
October 24th, 2005 at 8:53 pm
I found the picture:
http://wolfangel.calltherain.net/archives/2005/02/01/the-cats-they-are-a-posing/
It’s fresh out of a tap, not a faucet. I guess that sink must not be in Massachusetts.
October 24th, 2005 at 8:57 pm
I can say 1 and 2, but not 3; admittedly, my educational level would make it sound a little odd for me to say even 1 and 2, but it could be done.
In the “carrots” sentences, I can imagine saying 4-6, but not 7; 6 would sound quite natural from me.
Re. the books, I could imagine saying 9; 10 would sound unremarkable to me, but 8 scans oddly, probably b/c the informal “me” seems to imply the need for a contraction at the end of the discourse.
I grew up on the west coast, in an agricultural region; my age is late 30s.
October 25th, 2005 at 12:39 am
I could say 6. I probably could say 1, too, but never would do so. I grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and am in my late 20s.
I never say “gots” but have heard it in similar sentence contexts (only on tv/film, though): “I gots to get me one of those.” I wonder if that’s natural to anyone?
October 25th, 2005 at 1:01 am
I have a post it note about something to say about this tomorrow.
October 25th, 2005 at 3:09 am
I could say 1, though it would be unlikely except in an excited mode (say I was at a pinata party, and managed to catch some candy flying through the air). I would only say 2 or 3 if “him” and “her” did not mean Sam and Matilda, respectively.
Of the next set, I would only say 6, which is perfectly fine. 4, 5, and 7 would be very unnatural.
I would never say 8, 9, or 10.
mid-30’s, grew up near Seattle, have lived in the San Francisco Bay Area since age 18.
October 25th, 2005 at 6:06 am
Yeah, I could say some of those in the right context (but not entirely seriously). I couldn’t say #8 though; it doesn’t work if you’re giving it away. To me it means: I got me some [eg: chocolate]. All mine! All for me! Nobody else is getting even a little bit! And it has to be something you do for yourself, so 9 & 10 don’t work either.
(Southern British, late 30s.)