A common feature of non-standard Englishes of all types is the omission of elements that are present in the standard varieties. Examples include plural marking on time and money words in regional English dialects (It cost five pound), articles and other functional words in ‘headlinese’ (Dog Found in Local Park!), and subjects in spoken or informal language and diary writing (Going to work now, home soon).

In this talk, I present an overview of my recent research on two different types of non-standard English: ‘internetese’, and the regional variety spoken around the south-east.

In Southeast English, prepositions are frequently omitted in certain contexts (I’m going work). This is a pattern found in identical form in some other regions (e.g. Manchester) but very differently in others (e.g. Liverpool). I present a range of studies revealing some of the subtleties of the restrictions on this ‘p-dropping’, which I argue show that we are dealing with ellipsis of the preposition rather than an alternative, non-elliptical syntax.

Conversely, if we turn to ‘internetese’ (and beyond), there is a novel construction known as ‘because X’ (Right, because misogyny) which some people have claimed is ellipsis. I present evidence that this is not the case, including a comparison with a much older construction which I term ‘adjective because adjective’: He was fastest because tallest.

These two instances thus contrast in their analysis, despite both of them on the face of things involving the non-pronouncing of material that may optionally be present.