Jean-Paul G. POTET wrote:

>"Also, it's my understanding that {shippin'} is really {shippen} -- that is,
>a remnant of a dialect that generalized a different form, so there is no {g}
>to be dropped." I K PEYLOUGH, SOUTH FLORIDA
>
>Sorry, I am quite at sea here.
>
>I have often heard English people pronounce the verbal ending -ing [In] or
>even [@n] : dancing > dancin' etc., and I thought this form what just
>regarded as colloquial.
>
>If they didn't drop a /g/, what would make them replace /N/ by /n/?
>
>

The -in' (or -en) form comes from the Old English present participle
(-inde in early Middle English), whereas the -ing form comes from the
Old English gerund (-inge in EME). In the standard language, the -ing
form was generalised to both the pres. part. and the gerund, whereas in
non-standard dialects, the -ind form was (and formerly in some standard
dialects). In speech, the final consonants of both dropped off both, and
the orthography reflects that in -in', but the second last consonants
didn't change, so that /Ing/ [INg] > /IN/ and /Ind/ > /In/ > /@n/.

A similar tale is told in the third person common generic and pl
pronoun, 'them', where the standard form derives from a Scandinavian
borrowing but the non-standard form (i.e. 'em) comes from the Old
English 'hem'. There is no process dropping initial /D/; it's simply
that they come from two different sources.

Tristan.