Contraction of I am.
Our Living Language Speakers of some scattered varieties of American English sometimes use I'm instead of I've or I have in present perfect constructions, as in I'm forgot to do it for I've forgotten to do it. This usage, sometimes called perfective I'm, has been noted in the Chesapeake Bay area, particularly among older speakers, and it has been found to be prevalent in the speech of the Lumbee Indians of southeastern North Carolina. Interestingly, although the Lumbee community has existed historically side by side with communities of people of African and European descent, neither of these other groups uses this construction. In this regard, I'm parallels other language features that set the Lumbee apart from surrounding communities. For example, African Americans in the area commonly use be in sentences such as He be talking all the time; however, the Lumbee sometimes use bees, as in He bees talking. Similarly, the Lumbee often use weren't for wasn't, as in She weren't home, while their non-Lumbee neighbors rarely use this feature. • The use of a form of be rather than have in present perfect contexts was widespread in earlier forms of English. It is well documented in Early Modern English in the works of Shakespeare (“The gentleman is happily arriv'd” in The Taming of the Shrew) and in the King James Bible (“their memoriall is perished with them” in Psalm 9, verse 6). It can also be found in present-day Scots English and Irish English. It is rare in the United States, and when it does occur, it tends to be used in first person singular contexts and in contracted form: speakers do not say I am forgot but I'm forgot. Forms such as we're for we've or they're for they've are rare, but they do occur in the vernacular of the Lumbee. Thus, Lumbee English is unique among other historically isolated dialects that retain some features of earlier varieties of English.
