Talk:don't

Formatting of quotations and example sentences.
(Moved from User talk:TAKASUGI Shinji)

Hi,

This edit had some problems. We format quotations differently from example sentences, because they're very different things. If you'll take a look at the first few senses at parrot, you'll see how we do it. (Full details of quotation formatting are at Quotations.)

Thanks! —Ruakh TALK 00:20, 29 December 2008 (UTC)


 * Okay, so it's different from French Wiktionary. I'll follow the convention here.  However, I don't think the two other sections I added were wrong, specifically the negative imperative and the informal negation of let's. &mdash; T AKASUGI Shinji 02:27, 29 December 2008 (UTC)


 * Re: negative imperative: That's still a contraction of "do not". The point about explicit undefined: is an interesting one (since you can say "Don't you dare!", but not *"Do not you dare!"), but it also applies to questions ("Don't you see?" = "Do you not see?", not *"Do not you see?"), as well as to other contractions in -n't:, so it seems like fodder for a usage note, not a separate sense.
 * Re: informal negation of undefined:: That's definitely worth mentioning at [[let's]], but I don't see why you consider it a separate sense of [[don't]]. Also, I'm not sure about the labeling of "let's don't" as US and "don't let's" as UK. (I'm not sure it's wrong, but I'd be happier with the claim if we had some evidence for it.)
 * Maybe we should move this discussion to [[Talk:don't]] or to [[Wiktionary:Tea room]]?
 * —Ruakh TALK 18:43, 29 December 2008 (UTC)

(End of the move)

I think the following thesis by Zwicky and Pullum is one of the most important analyses on n't:
 * Zwicky, Arnold M. & Pullum, Geoffrey K. (1983), "Cliticization vs. Inflection: English n't", Language 59(3): 502-513.

They have shown that don't is not just a contraction of do not but an inflectional form of do for negation. If you can't replace don't with do not, they are separate words. Just saying "Same as do not" is okay, but saying "Contraction of do not" is against the findings by Zwicky and Pullum.

For the US and UK labels for let's don't and don't let's, I have sources only in Japanese and actually I'm not completely sure about the dialectical difference. There's no problem to move them to let's. - T AKASUGI Shinji 08:22, 2 January 2009 (UTC)
 * I have written the informal negation of let's in let's with two sources in English. The reason why I wrote it in don't is because it replaces not rather than do not.
 * Let's { not / don't / *do not } talk about it.
 * &mdash; T AKASUGI Shinji 03:40, 5 January 2009 (UTC)


 * Re: contraction vs. "same as": So you're not really arguing for a separate sense of don't: — you're not arguing that don't: is sometimes a contraction of undefined: and sometimes something else — but rather, you're arguing that we not define any of the -n't: terms as contractions. Right? In that case, maybe we should define undefined: as do: + -n't:, and write a good usage note for -n't: explaining how it's used. Or, maybe we should just stick with "contraction", which is the standard term, even if it's a bit wrong. :-/
 * Re: "let's not" &rarr; "let's don't": well, gets more hits than you might expect.
 * —Ruakh TALK 16:24, 5 January 2009 (UTC)


 * you're arguing that we not define any of the -n't: terms as contractions. Right?
 * Right. But I'm afraid there would be more cons than pros here.  Anyway, I believe it is a consensus among linguists that don't is a single word rather than a contraction of two words.
 * Re: "let's not" &rarr; "let's don't": well, gets more hits than you might expect.
 * Actually, it is as few as I expect.
 * 7 hits
 * 680 hits
 * 1113 hits
 * 3250 hits
 * 9460 hits
 * An ordinary Google search gives you 24,800 hits for "let's do not", which is not so few as I expected. &mdash; T AKASUGI Shinji 00:40, 6 January 2009 (UTC)


 * That's weird, your numbers are way less than the numbers I get for those same searches. B.g.c. gives me 212 hits for . I wonder if you have some weird restriction set in your Google preferences? —Ruakh TALK 01:36, 6 January 2009 (UTC)
 * I haven't set any preference. It was like a default setting difference. Now I get 213 hits, which is much fewer than others but not so few as to be considered wrong. &mdash; T AKASUGI Shinji 02:05, 6 January 2009 (UTC)

Why don't you [tʃʊ]
What phonological processes take place in the pronunciation of Why don't you as as just [tʃʊ]? --Backinstadiums (talk) 10:11, 9 March 2020 (UTC)
 * whyn't --Backinstadiums (talk) 10:53, 5 June 2021 (UTC)

AAVE [oʊn]
AAVE speakers usually pronounce it [oʊn]. Mainly in the sentence "I'on't know", e.g. here, here, here, here, and even y'on't --Backinstadiums (talk) 01:59, 20 May 2020 (UTC)
 * Academic theory --Backinstadiums (talk) 18:06, 22 May 2020 (UTC)


 * Loose/sloppy pronunciation; compare ; not exclusively AAVE. Equinox ◑ 18:08, 22 May 2020 (UTC)

/dʌn/
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/dun#Verb_2 --Backinstadiums (talk) 18:33, 7 August 2021 (UTC)
 * As in iunno --Backinstadiums (talk) 09:00, 26 August 2021 (UTC)

Pronunciation
Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (BrE ǁ AmE) dəʊnt ǁ doʊnt —also, non-finally, especially before a consonant sound, dəʊn ‖ doʊn, as in ˌdon’t ˈknows. This word has no weak form except occasionally də in don’t mind/know (cf. dunno də ˈnəʊ (ˌ)dʌ- ǁ -ˈnoʊ). Phrasal stresses --Backinstadiums (talk) 11:38, 29 August 2021 (UTC)

"So don't I!"
I had never thought of this as a regionalism, but seeing it not listed here made me curious, and apparently it's associated with New England. Essentially, it means the opposite of what it should .... it's synonymous with "so do I!" but certainly more colloquial. I would like to add it here either as a page on its own (since it's really just one fixed expression) or with a usage note on this page. Thoughts? — Soap — 01:16, 24 October 2022 (UTC)
 * Ive posted a usage note here for now, but I've also realized after reading this that it's not just this one word. They give an example sentence
 * Went here the other night with a girlfriend. Sure it’s trendy, but so aren’t most NYC clubs.
 * and many other examples that show that this positive negative is a feature of the particular construction style, not of any particular word. — Soap — 00:35, 17 November 2023 (UTC)

Why don't you be a good boy and sit down?
In an informal style, people sometimes use do with be in one or two other structures which have a similar meaning to imperative sentences.

Why don't you be a good boy and sit down? If you don't be quiet you'll go straight to bed JMGN (talk) 09:24, 26 October 2023 (UTC)