Variation in the past tense paradigm of the verb be (e.g., I were , you was , we was ) is widespread amongst English dialects, and is often considered to be the result of analogical levelling. Through an analysis of non‐standard was in Buckie English, a variety spoken in a small fishing town in north‐east Scotland, we show that the historical record provides the most relevant perspective on the variation. 2nd person singular you , 1st person plural we , plural NPs and existentials highly favour was , however, 3rd person plural they demonstrates categorical use of were . The constraint hierarchy across grammatical person and subject type reflect the most widely‐cited patterns mentioned in the historical literature. These findings demonstrate that a relatively isolated community provides an imprint of the past in the present, the tracks of which have been strikingly preserved by longitudinal continuity of the idiosyncrasies of the verb be .
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Smith et al. (1998) studied this question.