atw: Re: Particular past tense (now O.T.) - Branching off again...

James Hunt:

> Ah, that was fun - threads like this always seem to bring out the
> folks who resent that the usage of the unwashed masses is what
> determines the shape of the language... :-)

But we need to distinguish between "usage" and the technical terminology we
use to describe that usage. Terms like "perfect" and "continuous" are
technical terms in the field of grammar, and misuse by the laity doesn't
change the meaning assumed by the specialists.

As a descriptive linguist, I am totally committed to the primacy of common
usage _as far as the common language is concerned_. As an academic and
theoretician, I object when non-specialists throw technical words around in
entirely inappropriate ways.

Perhaps the IT people on this list might care to comment on how they feel
when "RAM" is used to apply to disk storage. I know how I feel when
"Internet" is used to refer to the World Wide Web.

> On a slightly different topic: I have noticed recently that the
> pronunciation of the word "known" is changing to something like "no-
> uhn" [substitute schwa symbol]. I first picked it up in commentaries
> by Michelle Grattan on the ABC, but once I noticed it, it seemed to
> be everywhere. The estimable/execrable Phillip Ruddock does it too.
> The phenomenon of an intrusive, unwritten schwa sound occurs with
> other words as well.
>
> Has anyone else noticed this? Is it important?

Yes, some of us have noticed. No, it's not important. The Irish (some of
'em, anyway) have been referring to motion pictures as fillums for decades.
The way I (a Pom) pronounce some words might differ wildly from the way that
James Hunt or Uncle Tom Cobbleigh pronounce the same words. So?

> Should we adjust our spelling checkers?

Only if we subscribe to the discredited hypothesis that spelling reflects
pronunciation.

Michael Lewis
-------------------
Brandle Pty Limited
Sydney, Australia
-------------------

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