How Grammaticality Eludes

[Robert Hartwell Fiske]

A Preview -- A Vocabula article to warm your hearts and stir  your souls?

_http://www.vocabula.com/2006/VRMAR06Dyer.asp_
(http://www.vocabula.com/2006/VRMAR06Dyer.asp)


Numerous undeniable facts about languages and the way they behave cause
society great consternation, among which are that languages change, they change
constantly, and they can change rather quickly.
Certain things cloud the reality of language and tend to diminish the
grandeur of its infinitely varied and intertwined forms. Not the least of which  are
commonly held though wrong-headed views on the relationship between language
use and intelligence and misguided attitudes toward language variation and
educational standards. In this article, using examples from a selection of
contemporary languages, for the most part English, I make the claim that many
instances of nonstandard language use have little to do with a lack of one's
intelligence or one's educational background. Instead, the forms in question are
 examples of natural language evolution, which far from deserving societal
ridicule should be accepted as forerunners of a future grammar, which in their
turn some day will frame the standard.
_http://www.vocabula.com/2006/VRMAR06Dyer.asp_
(http://www.vocabula.com/2006/VRMAR06Dyer.asp)
The Vocabula Review battles nonstandard, careless English and embraces
clear, expressive English. We hope we can encourage our readers to do as much.
The Vocabula Review, however, is not meant to be solely a forum for  our
prejudices. We also are eager to publish articles by people whose views of  the
English language may differ somewhat from those we hold.

Robert  Hartwell Fiske
Editor and Publisher
The Vocabula  Review
www.vocabula.com

5A Holbrook Court
Rockport, MA  01966
_________________________

Available Now:
101 Wordy Phrases *  101 Foolish Phrases * 101 Elegant Paragraphs
Vocabula Books:

http://www.vocabula.com/VocabulaBooks.asp

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org