Try and

Summary

I'm gonna try and change the course of hip hop again. Typically, try can be followed by three kinds of phrases: a noun phrase (1a), an infinitival verb phrase with to (1b), or a verb phrase with -ing (1c). 1) a. I'll try the salad. b. I'll try to eat this horrible salad. c. I'll try adding vinegar to the salad, to improve the taste. However, try can also combine with the conjunction and, followed by a bare verb form: 2) I’ll try and eat the salad. This usage is very similar in meaning to try to, if not identical, but is deemed prescriptively incorrect (Routledge 1864:579 in D. Ross 2013a:120; Partridge 1947:338, Crews et al. 1989:656 in Brook & Tagliamonte 2016:320). In the next few sections, we will see that it has a number of interesting properties. Who says this? Try and is described as more prevalent in British English than American English, but is common in both varieties (Hommerberg & Tottie 2007). Brook & Tagliamonte (2016) show that Canadian speakers pattern with American speakers in their usage of the construction. Try and is not a recent innovation – it first emerged in the late 1500s, although the earliest textual attestion is from 1390 (Tottie 2012, D. Ross 2013a). Tottie (2012) provides some examples of try and from EEBO-TCP corpus, including this one: 3) ...howe and by what certaine and generall rule I mighte trye and throughly discerne the veritie of the catholike faithe, from the falsehood of wicked heresye... (1554) 4) You maie (saide I) trie and bring him in, and shewe him to her. (1569) Webster’s Dictionary (1989:919) suggests that try and in fact predates try to, and this conclusion is supported by Hommerberg & Tottie (2007:60), Tottie & Hoffman (2011) and Tottie (2012). However, D. Ross (2013a) disputes this, saying that “[t]ry and and try to developed simultaneously and independently”. What is clear is that try and has been around for at least as long as try to. Syntactic Properties Carden & Pesetsky (1977:86) note that try and does not behave ...