verbs - Central Pennsylvanian English speakers: what are the limitations on the "needs washed" construction?


In the Central Pennsylvania dialect of English (and possibly elsewhere), the following construction is possible:




  • This car needs washed. (=needs to be washed)

  • The room needs cleaned. (=needs to be cleaned)



It appears that, if a verb like needs is followed by a passive construction in the infinitive, the "to be" portion is left out.


This construction sounds so unnatural to my ear that I have no intuition as to the extent to which it can be extended to other words and contexts. If anyone here is a native speaker of this dialect of English, perhaps they can help to explain the limits on its use.


My basic question is: how productive is this particular construction among those who use it?


To be more specific, can this construction be used with any verb (if that verb can be immediately followed by a passive construction, of course)? That is, would (any of) the following be acceptable, for example?




  • At this restaurant, we always wait seated. (=wait to be seated)

  • My kid hates picked last in sports. (=hates to be picked)

  • We all want loved. (=want to be loved)



If this construction is restricted, then which verbs can be used, aside from need?


Edit: What I am really hoping for here is that there is someone who happens across this question that can say, "I actively use this construction, and here's what I can and can't say."



Answer



I've heard the "needs washed" construction so many times that it sounds completely normal to me.


Your other three examples, however, don't sound familiar.


I'm having a tough time thinking of a set rule for dropping "to be." I think it could work with want in addition to need, e.g. "The baby wants changed." But I can't think of other verbs that it would work with.


Edit: I actively use this construction. I was just telling my roommate the other day that "That lightbulb needs changed," and he understood me because he grew up in south central Pennsylvania, too.


I know it works with need, and I'm pretty sure it can work with want, too. (E.g., The dog wants fed.)


I'm heading back to my hometown this weekend, so I'll try to remember to ask people while I'm there. But it's kind of hard to talk about this sort of thing with people who've spoken that way their whole life and don't even know that other people talk differently. A lot of folks I know from there don't understand that most people would find the following very grating: "We're going to the mall. Do you want to come with?"


Update: I polled a few friends while I was back in Pennsylvania Dutch Country. They confirmed the construction with needs and wants, but they couldn't think of any other verbs it could work with.


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