Episode 55: To Be or Not To Be
The History of English Podcast
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I Ain't, Am Not, and Are Not
Am not evolved into ant and then to ant. Originally it was only used as a shortened version of the first person am not. The major culprit here appears to be cockney english. In london, the expanded use of aint was very prevalent in that dialect. And if you've ever read charles dickens, you'll know that he used it a lot in the voices of his characters.
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