@article{jbp:/content/journals/10.1075/eww.22.1.02and, author = "Anderwald, Lieselotte", title = "Was/Were-variation in non-standard British English today", journal= "English World-Wide", year = "2001", volume = "22", number = "1", pages = "1-21", doi = "https://doi.org/10.1075/eww.22.1.02and", url = "https://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/eww.22.1.02and", publisher = "John Benjamins", issn = "0172-8865", type = "Journal Article", abstract = "In this article, the past tense system of the verb to be in modern informal spoken British English is investigated. Variation is endemic, but an in-depth investigation across individual dialect areas shows that three generalization strategies can be distinguished. Of these, two lead to a straightforward simplification of the system (was-generalization and were-generalization respectively), whereas the dominant mixed type has remorphologized the Standard English (StE) number distinction and replaced it by a distinction according to polarity. A cognitive explanation is advanced for the pervasiveness of this at first glance rather complicated system.", }