atw: Re: Harumble for Geoffrey Pullum

Geoffrey Marnell:
You wrote:
> Daryl,
>
> Your comment "[Pullum's is] a technical textbook and in no wise a competitor 
> to EOS" is
> spot on, but a couple of correspondents to the thread assumed that it was, 
> and then
> used the apparently soporific denseness of its prose as an argument against 
> Pullum's
> review of EoS. The style of a writer has nothing to do with the truth or 
> otherwise of
> what the writer writes. A critique of the grammar recommendations in EoS was 
> the
> primary subject matter of Pullum's review, and the style of Pullum's writing, 
> whether
> in the review itself or in some other of his writings, is utterly irrelevant 
> to the
> truth or otherwise of his critique. Argumentum ad hominem.
>

Actually, I've heard some of his talks on Lingua Franca for the ABC, and they 
were nicely written for radio.
Checking back on the transcripts is a worthwhile exercise. I remembered his 
pieces on the interpretation of the Second Amendment of the US constitution 
(right to bear arms), on Blenkinsop's complaint and on the rules for using "un" 
verbs, but I had missed or forgotten his delight at finding "bush" as a 
preposition in Australian English, and his explanation of that categorization, 
as well as his enumerations of the various forms Australian abbreviations can 
take (ute, Aussie, roo, scrip).

More to the point is his outline of the language development of minority groups 
with grammar variations such as those used in black communities in the US cites 
interesting ways in which languages can develop, but may have their new usages 
derided as "slang".   Sounds familiar.

Worth reading.


> -----Original Message-----
> From: austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Daryl Colquhoun Sent:
> Saturday, April 18, 2009 11:58 PM To: austechwriter list Subject: atw: 
> Harumble for
> Geoffrey Pullum
>
> Howard Silcock says
>> Looking through the book A Student's Introduction to English Grammar by
>>
> Pullum and Rodney Huddleston, I find it hard to imagine anyone would even 
> think of
> using it to improve their writing. That would be like trying to improve your 
> singing
> ability by studying a music theory book.
>
>
> If you want to read something _entertaining_ from Geoffrey Pullum, my 
> favourite
> grammarian*, see his 'The Great Eskimo Vocabulary Hoax and Other Irreverent 
> Essays on
> the Study of Language'. (One of them is called 'Here come the linguistic 
> fascists', but
> despite the promising title, it says nothing about so-called split 
> infinitives.)
>
> Or check him out at http://www.abc.net.au/rn/linguafranca/index/. 
> Unfortunately the
> podcasts have gone but you can still read the transcripts.
>
> * because he used to be a rock musician
> (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvQ6U-M6e8A) but says
> (http://www.abc.net.au/rn/linguafranca/stories/1998/693377.htm) 'I craved 
> excitement.
> So I turned to grammar.'
>
>
> Emails sent to this address are deleted unread as an anti-spam measure.
>
> ************************************************** To view the austechwriter 
> archives,
> go to www.freelists.org/archives/austechwriter
>
> To unsubscribe, send a message to austechwriter-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with
> "unsubscribe" in the Subject field (without quotes).
>
> To manage your subscription (e.g., set and unset DIGEST and VACATION modes) 
> go to
> www.freelists.org/list/austechwriter
>
> To contact the list administrator, send a message to 
> austechwriter-admins@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> **************************************************
>
>
> ************************************************** To view the austechwriter 
> archives,
> go to www.freelists.org/archives/austechwriter
>
> To unsubscribe, send a message to austechwriter-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with
> "unsubscribe" in the Subject field (without quotes).
>
> To manage your subscription (e.g., set and unset DIGEST and VACATION modes) 
> go to
> www.freelists.org/list/austechwriter
>
> To contact the list administrator, send a message to 
> austechwriter-admins@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> **************************************************


-PeterM
peterm_5@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
**************************************************
To view the austechwriter archives, go to 
www.freelists.org/archives/austechwriter

To unsubscribe, send a message to austechwriter-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 
"unsubscribe" in the Subject field (without quotes).

To manage your subscription (e.g., set and unset DIGEST and VACATION modes) go 
to www.freelists.org/list/austechwriter

To contact the list administrator, send a message to 
austechwriter-admins@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
**************************************************

Other related posts: