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In the wake of the not-so-recent "I'ma let you finish … ," I noticed that my wife of 20+ years says I'ma. I don't make this contraction: I'm more of an "Um gunna" kind of guy. I never noticed my wife's "I'ma" before. Now I hear her say it about once a week. I suppose I just ignored it before, and now I'm noticing it.
My wife is from a small town in Ohio. Her background is about as different from Kanye's as two people's backgrounds can be. As a result, my guess is that this contraction cuts across many cultures and a wide geographic area. Still, it missed me.
What do you do and hear?
I'm very prissily correct in pronouncing this phrase: Ahm gunna.
There are times I actually say, "I (fully dropped jaw, eyebrows raised, full diphthong) am going to", but it's not consistent, and it may be reserved for circumstances in which I'm trying to convey determination or resolution, or to ingrain something in my memory: "Next time I'm in this restaurant I am going to try THAT." "I am going to march into her office and..." Otherwise, ahm gunna.
Peter
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Grant Barrett
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