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L O W L A N D S - L - 19 March - Volume 03<br>
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<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal">From: <span class="gd"><span style="color: rgb(91, 16, 148);"><a href="mailto:heatherrendall@tiscali.co.uk">heatherrendall@tiscali.co.uk</a></span></span><span class="gi"> </span><span class="go"><<a href="mailto:heatherrendall@tiscali.co.uk">heatherrendall@tiscali.co.uk</a>></span><br>
Subject: <span class="gi">LL-L "Grammar" 2011.03.19 (02) [EN]</span><br>
<br>
from heather Rendall <a href="mailto:heatherrendall@tiscali.co.uk">heatherrendall@tiscali.co.uk</a><br style="">
<br style="">
</p>
<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal">Ron/ Reinhard wrote</p>
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<span style="color: navy;">That is exactly my point: as life gets more
complicated the language<br>
gets more analytical and grammatically simpler, in order to cope. Even<br>
our brains can only hold so much!<br style="">
<br style="">
</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">I
wonder whether it is a case of 'life getting more complicated' rather<br>
a language becoming less isolated.<br>
<br>
As different languages come into contact with each other, they create a<br>
'working language' i.e. a stilted (grammatically) but fluent ( of<br>
expression and thought) means of communication. Think of the sailors'<br>
languages that have arisen among the merchant navies of the world or<br>
the trading 'pidgins' many of which have developed into permanent<br>
creoles.<br>
<br>
I take Sandy's
point that English is not the global lingua franca<br>
through reason of its simplicity - but through its imperial history<br>
..... HOWEVER it may well have remained in post-imperial situations<br>
because of the ease of learning / speaking simple English. Despite the<br>
difficulties with orthography simple English is more easily attained<br>
than most other languages ( Higher level English or literary English<br>
are something else!)<br>
<br>
The reason is that English has moved a long way but not totally from an<br>
inflected language towards an invariable<br>
<br>
so that any one can learn to describe any object very quickly just by<br>
learning the vocabulary<br>
<br>
a big clock a small clock the small clock a round
clock my new<br>
clock except for the possibility of adding an 's' to clock to make<br>
it plural, all these are invariable: no gender no number agreements<br>
we don;t say mys news clocks<br>
<br>
The verb system is more difficult to handle hence the number of errors<br>
made by learners: an over use of I do ....<br>
<br>
as a result of learning through question and answer maybe " Do you<br>
like singing?" " Yes I do like singing" What do you do in
your spare<br>
time?" " I do like singing"<br>
<br>
But even the English verb system is an improvement on say most Germanic<br>
or Romance systems:<br>
<br>
look looks looking looked + auxiliaries very simple to
learn:<br>
horrendously difficult to apply correctly in every circumstance<br>
<br>
write writes wrote written + auxiliaries still not too hard
to<br>
learn<br>
<br>
I believe languages simplify in or after contact with other languages<br>
especially if one or the other is dominant and of a different<br>
grammatical system.<br>
<br>
Heather<br>
<br>
Worcester UK<br>
<br>
after a long absence / silence</p>
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<p style="margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">----------</p>
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<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal">From: R. F. Hahn <<a href="mailto:sassisch@yahoo.com" target="_blank">sassisch@yahoo.com</a>><br>
Subject: Grammar</p>
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<p style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;" class="MsoNormal">Hi, Heather!<br>
<br>
It’s great to hear from you again, and those are thought-provoking points you make
above.<br>
<br>
However, please let me point out that the person you quoted was not I but our trusty
friend Paul Finlow-Bates.<br>
<br>
Regards,<br>
Reinhard/Ron<br>
Seattle, USA (where genuine springtime abounds this
Purim weekend)</p>
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