American English Official Grammar Reference Book

[Paul B. Gallagher]

Deborah Hoffman wrote:

[replying to me without attribution:]
>> I did a cursory review of several dozen entries and found them 
>> generally superficial and uninsightful, missing obvious points that
>> would be of interest to the reader. Moreover, the purpose seemed
>> more descriptive than prescriptive, and they often took the
>> position that whatever a lot of people did was fine by them, even
>> if a literate reader should know better.
> 
> What is superficial, uninsightful, and obvious to the native speaker
> may be less so to a non-native seeking an authorative reference to
> replace the native speaker's intuition or feel. I expect the asker
> will be the one to determine whether this resource meets his
> particular needs.

The original poster requested something authoritative and official, 
which I take to mean (in large part) prescriptive. From what I've seen 
of Huddleston and Pullum on line, the book is not especially 
prescriptive, so it fails to meet the spec on this ground alone. 
Moreover, a work that is not insightful would be distinctly less helpful 
to a foreigner who cannot supply his own intuitions than it would be to 
a native who can see which of the authors' advice comports with his own 
intuition and which does not. I find such works good entertainment and 
interesting cocktail party conversation pieces, but not good references.

I would be interested to hear the comments of other native speakers who 
have actually visited and reviewed the linked site. Do you find it 
authoritative, official, prescriptive, etc.? Is it a good description of 
contemporary American English? A foreigner will not be in a position to 
answer the latter of these.

I reproduce the link below.
<http://www.bartleby.com/68/>


-- 
War doesn't determine who's right, just who's left.
--
Paul B. Gallagher
pbg translations, inc.
"Russian Translations That Read Like Originals"
http://pbg-translations.com

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------