FEEDBACK 30 Report

Some of the questions in Feedback 30 (2007/8) matched those used in earlier (2002/3 surveys of variable verb forms (Feedbacks 19 and 20), so it is particularly interesting to see whether the results are much the same or different. Here we focus especially on those where there are notable differences across the age range, ones that suggest ongoing trends in Australia are slightly different from those in northern hemisphere Englishes.

Feedback 30 asked about the past forms of several of the shrink/shrank/shrunk, spring/sprang/sprung group of verbs, which in standard English present those three forms.  But there is a lot of evidence from C18 and C19 that people were using just two forms for them: shrink/shrunk, so that shrunk was used instead of shrank for the past tense.  Fowler’s (1926) Dictionary of Modern English Usage notes with several of them that the third form has been reaffirmed for the past tense from C19 to C20, and this accounts for their status in current written English.  But the use of shrunk, sprung, sung, sunk etc. for the past tense is noted as a variant in Webster’s Third New International Dictionary (1961), and its survival in American and Australian English may be explained as the speech forms transported by C19 immigrants.

Table 1 below presents the results from Feedback 30 (n =428CMS) which can be compared with those from Feedback 19 (n = 1101).  First let’s put the spotlight on the use of shrunk, sprung for the past tense instead of shrank/sprang. In each case the total percentage for the u forms is below 50%, though closer to it in the earlier, larger survey.  But in both surveys the use of u forms is relatively greater among younger citizens (Age 1 + 2, i.e. those under 45), which declines among the over 45s.  In both sets of data the usage of those under and over 45 is differentiated, though it is more pronounced in the results from Feedback 19, where continuous stratification can be seen across all three age groups. Yet the level of acceptance is relatively higher in Age 4 (over 65s) in Feedbank 30 than in Feedback 19, especially for sprung.

These results show that there is ongoing use of the u past forms in the Australian community which would move verbs like shrink and spring into the set to which cling, fling, sling, slink, sting,  wring etc. already belong.

Feedback 30 also questioned Australian preferences on the spelling of past forms of verbs such as burn etc. for which both burned and burnt are current.  Here the –ed forms are quite regular, and the –t forms are “irregularized”.  Research shows that CMS their use in the northern hemisphere has fluctuated over the last 300 years, but  as the –ed form became established in the US, the –t form gained the upper hand in the UK, especially during C20.  Gowers, in his 1966 edition of Fowler’s Modern English Usage commented on this. In Australia too, it seems that –t is a popular spelling, though not the dominant one except for spoil, as shown in Table 2 below.

The data here again from FB 30 (n = 1101) and FB20 (n = 731) show that preference for –t spellings for the past forms is stronger among the younger respondents (under 45), except in the case of leant (FB30) and spoilt (FB20). Older Australians are less inclined to use –t spellings, except for spoilt, where their level of  endorsement is not very different from that of younger Australians.  There is noticeable age stratification in all instances but leant (FB 30) and spoilt (FB30), and the two sets of data are aligned in this respect.

With only 5 years between Feedback 30 and Feedbacks 19 and 20, we shouldn’t make too much of differences in the levels of endorsement of u and –t forms in the two data sets.  In fact they are quite comparable. What is more significant is the fact that in both surveys there is substantial, acknowledged use of these alternative past forms, and that they are the majority usage for the under 45s in 7 of the 12 data sets.  The use of u for the past tense of verbs like spring contrasts with standard written English, while the use of –t goes against the linguistically regular spelling for the past form. In both cases younger Australians seem to reserve the right to diverge, and their usage is shared by older Australians as well.  

Feedback Acknowledgements

Many thanks to the following, who sent in batches of Feedback questionnaires on behalf of others.
Judy Allen, NSW (33);  Stephanie Holt, RMIT professional writing and editing, VIC (22); Maggy Ragless, Mitcham Heritage Research Centre, SA (21); Sieta van der Hoeven, UniSA School of Education, SA (18); Julia Ermert, ACT (15); Ann Noble, SA (14); Hans Colla, Nuts, Bolts and Washers of English - U3A, VIC (13); Ian Robinson, Chisholm Institute, VIC (11); Sunset Coast Literati, WA (9); Bill Smith, NSW (8); Gilbert Case, Aspley Classes for Seniors Writing Group, QLD (8); R. McWhinney, QLD (6); Jan Knight, QLD (6); R.G.Kitchenn, VIC (6); Andrew Morgan, NMIT writing and editing, VIC (5); Tom Johnson, NSW (5); Ann Tracey, QLD (5); Clive Tucker, VIC (5); Jillian Dellit, SA (5)

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