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Spelling and Grammar - lost in today's generation?
General Discussions » Spelling and Grammar - lost in today's generation? (Posts 61 to 64 of 64)
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- CommentAuthorMartijn
- CommentTimeJun 25th 2010
PawelStroinski wrote
The usability of a phrase is often the reason to make a formerly bad phrase correct. It's called usus.
That's how language evolves, and I have no quarrel with that (and even if I had, a fat lot of good would it do me). The problem I have is not so much with oversimplification, but with inconsistency.
If we move, as increasingly seems to be the case, towards a "oh, you know what I mean anyway (therefore I don't have to do it correctly)" attitude, the logical consistency of a language -and worse: the consistency between languages- gets damaged!
How the hell are you supposed to learn a language, if you cannot understand (or relate to) its rules?
The only reason I am able to understand French, Italian and Spanish is because I can relate a huge part to Latin as (one of) its root(s)! Therein lies the basis, which gives me an enormous starting advantage over -say- learning Bantu, where I wouldn't know the first thing about where to start.
As long as the underlying rules (declensions; formal formats; plural; you name it) remain as consistent and logical as possible, I don't mind a language evolving at all.'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn -
- CommentAuthorAnthony
- CommentTimeJun 25th 2010
PawelStroinski wrote
The usability of a phrase is often the reason to make a formerly bad phrase correct. It's called usus. I don't know about the English correctness rules, but in Poland we accepted that there is the usable norm and the formal norm. In everyday language a phrase like "different than" would be perfectly seen as correct, but as incorrect in, say, a parliament speech, press conference and things like that. There is a duality of norms, one used for formal situations, one of informal and this is what people probably mean by "language is (d)evolving". Simplification of language is regarded as one of the main processes. Polish language, in course of historical development, lost about 2-3 tenses, because of the simplification, also lost some language things due to preference of dual divisions to other types (consonants and vowels to consonants, half-vowels and vowels, and so on).
All these processes are very interesting.
*Wooooosh*
<<< over my head
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- CommentAuthorMartijn
- CommentTimeJun 25th 2010
Or, in other words: u dont givez sh1tz0rs.
Right?
'no passion nor excitement here, despite all the notes and musicians' ~ Falkirkbairn -
- CommentAuthorsdtom
- CommentTimeJun 25th 2010
Martijn wrote
Or, in other words: u dont givez sh1tz0rs.
Right?
listen to more classical music!