Pat’s Polemics

Reading Matthew’s Morphology inspires observations such as the following:
The -s of 3rd p. sg. present is deleted or not present in the subjunctive. However, the subjunctive is not always employed as is to be seen in reading older writing where it is found even in ‘if’ clauses. But when it is used, it seems to cause no confusion.
VanPatten suggests teaching a FL by focusing on the way the brain processes non-acquired language, e.g. first noun = subject or even first word = subject. Work must be done for English speakers processing languages that don’t work like that.
However, how crucial is that -s? When coming across a typo where the -s is missing we react strongly and with some confusion, indicating some salience for the -s.
What dialects of English renounce the -s altogether, kind of test cases? There are 2 I know of, one commonly heard and the other almost unknown. The latter is, if I recall accurately, a Nova Scotia dialect which goes all out for -s, putting it on all persons of present tense indicative verb, when “I says to him, I says” and “says you!.’
The other is Black English in its basilect and even mesolect varieties where -s is routinely deleted, as in “there he go”, “she buy the groceries and he cook them.” The fact is, that seems to cause no confusion other than the social stigma attached to Black dialect.