The focus of this article is zero copula use in Sri Lankan English
speech. Zero copula use has been at the heart of variationist studies, but
has received little attention in New English studies because of its
limited use in these varieties. In this article I look at zero copula in
Sri Lankan English to determine whether the patterns of use parallel those
of AAVE, Caribbean Creoles, or other copula studies on varieties of
English including New Englishes. The theoretical issue raised in this
article is whether zero copula use in Sri Lankan English can be seen as
both a creole-like feature and an optional syntactic feature of those who
use English a lot, but for whom it is not a native language, or as a
substratal influence in language shift. The variable findings for present
tense BE demonstrate that speakers of Sri Lankan English make only limited
use of BE absence. BE absence appears to be optional in certain
environments where Standard English would require the are
copula/auxiliary. Zero copula use in Sri Lankan English speech is
especially interesting because Sri Lankan English emerged from an
educational background and not from a creole setting. However, the
linguistic data for zero copula use in Sri Lankan English suggests that
the type of complement and the preceding phonological environment play a
significant role on zero copula use, which is comparable to that of other
varieties of English, focusing on the study of BE absence.A shorter version of this article was presented
under a different title at the Triangle Colloquium on Literature and
Linguistics held at the University of Sheffield, UK on September 30, 2000.
I wish to gratefully acknowledge the excellent comments and insights
provided by the two journal reviewers on earlier drafts of this article.
Any shortcomings that exist are my own. I would like to dedicate this work
to Dr. Anthea Fraser Gupta (University of Leeds) and Prof. Siromi Fernando
(University of Colombo).