126 New quasi-modals: aspectual meanings

A - feature is pervasive or obligatory9
B - feature is neither pervasive nor extremely rare7
C - feature exists, but is extremely rare6
D - attested absence of feature40
X - feature is not applicable (given the structural make-up of the variety/P/C)11
? - no information on feature is available4

Feature area:
Verb phrase II: modal verbs
Typical example:
Theyʼre fixinʼ to leave town ‘theyʼre about to leave’; Iʼm finna go‘Iʼm about to go’; It useta didnʼt matter whether you walked in late or not ‘[Formerly] it didnʼt matter...’
Example source:
Southern AmE (Hickey 2004: 606); AAVE (Wolfram 2008b: 521); OzE (Murray/Smith 2008: 416)
Variety World Region Type Value
Id Primary text Variety Variety Type