I don't know what Pinker says (haven't checked the links), but 'gotten' is a perfectly acceptable form of 'got'. And as you say, it is the older of the two variants -- kept alive by the immigrants in the early days of the populating of North America. Meantime, England evolved towards the new form of 'got'. (My use of the word 'evolve' isn't a judgement call! I personally have no problem with either variant although I tend to use 'got'.)
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branchandroot
(no subject)
Date: 2005-03-02 05:46 am (UTC)