atw: Re: Humbled [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]
- From: "Michael Lewis" <Michael.Lewis@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 09 Sep 2008 13:59:52 +1000
Of course language follows democratic rules. It's called evolution. Why do you
think we no longer speak (or write) like Dickens, or Austen, or Shakespeare, or
Chaucer? Language is the "property" of its users. Grammar is merely the
agreed-on principles -- the patterns -- that have evolved to enable users of
the language to consistently encode and decode meanings. When the communicative
needs of the users change, the language changes. Old irregular forms fall out
of use as the majority of users make "mistakes" by using regular forms.
Do you imagine that some god-like "authority" decreed that we would stop saying
"Methinks he is a scurvy knave" and start saying "I think he's a creep"?
- Michael Lewis
>>> <brianclarke01@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> 2008-09-09 13:45 >>>
I think that some of us have not noticed that 'humble', which started life as
an adjective, has now Pam Petered its way into the kingdom of verbs. One does
not add 'ed' to adjectives - only to verbs to form past participles.
One of the major problems with the Macquarie dictionary is that it seldom shows
etymology. And when pressed, its authors refer to the 'corpus' of deposited
usage, as though in some strange way, use of a language follows democratic, or
even statistical rules. I suppose with the Boards of Studies in each state
having eschewed their students' needing to learn grammar, we can no longer
point to any possible known 'first cause' for changes in the language. It just
happens by magic, or osmosis - or bastardry?
Or am I being too old fashioned to believe that there is such a thing as
grammar?
Brian.
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