I revere the English language. My parents taught it to me early on, and I still like the way it sounds. I wish I spoke other languages, but I’m lucky to have English, since almost everyone around the world speaks it well enough to get by. I do have adequate Spanish, Italian or French to trot out briefly, just long enough for the other person to take pity on me and continue in English, happy with my attempt.
(I
believe African Americans have had a greater influence on our contemporary language
than any other group. Though that’s a
subject for another essay.)
France
has an old and venerated institution called the Académie Française which is charged with anchoring
the French language somewhere in the 19th century. Which is one reason why the Lingua Franca of
the world’s academic, commercial and governmental interactions is now, ah, the
Lingua Anglaise.
A
central principle of linguistics is that languages evolve. If you don’t think that’s the case with
English, you’re backing a losing proposition.
All you need to do is sample 16th, 17th, 18th,
19th and 20th century literature to see how true this
is.
That’s
why efforts by English purists are not only absurd, but completely
doomed to failure. You may as well
decide that a particular bacterium, currently occupying a petri dish, is the
ultimate expression of the species and inviolable in that form forever. Wait a few minutes.
It
also saves us from the vast majority of unworthy alterations and contributions
that are instead left to whither and die as the flood of variations are
created, with only the sturdiest able to survive.
Contrary
to my haphazard application of proper grammar, syntax and usage, I belong to
this volunteer cadre of English defenders.
I hold firm to “Those people love my wife and me.” As opposed to “Those
people love my wife and I.” In my world,
a business downturn will never impact the economy. Though it will have an impact. Those dogs are never different than
mine. They’re different from mine.
A
new trend I’ve noticed is to forego the plural form of there are, or there’re,
for the singular, however many items follow along. “There’s hundreds of people showing up every
day.” Versus, “There’re hundreds of
people showing up every day.” I’ve caught myself doing this as well, appalled. Though what it teaches me is that common
parlance is a powerful thing, creeping into our minds and words despite efforts
to keep it at bay.
I apply these faltering principles to my speech and writing, but never in correcting others. All they’re doing is participating in the relentless, unstoppable march of language evolution. Nobody’s fault and no ones responsibility to police (except in France).
Thoughtful essay. I resist change, primarily because it eventually tends to render literature written in the past difficult to appreciate. On the other hand, we have the Vikings to thank for making English an uninflected language.
ReplyDeleteEdward Lodi
I was once speaking with a well-educated European man who said to me, "Many of us, from all classes, speak two or more languages here. We don't understand why you English can't master the grammar of one."
ReplyDeleteI know, I know. I try to use correct grammar whenever I'm writing from an authorial point of view. However, my characters use slang, bad grammar, etc., as would befit them. Sometimes it gets VERY bad.
ReplyDeleteAnd Melodie, what a GREAT comment from that European!
Great post. I love that language changes over time. Spice of life stuff.
ReplyDeleteRe: Europeans, etc., it's darn impressive to be facile in multiple languages vs. being dogmatic about one. I wish I'd mastered this versus just being the overseas muddler that I am.
My greatest regret is failing to hold on to the Spanish I learned from my mother and brother, who learned it mostly from a Mexican uncle who helped raise my mom. Europeans have it all over us on this front, though I think we're handicapped by lack of necessity, since English really is the universal tongue
Delete"There's" type structures show up in my writing, but I usually manage to edit them out. Ugh!
ReplyDeleteA couple of comments about français: French visitors to Quebec have commented their language truly is rooted in the 18th and 19th centuries. But French shines in the United Nations. Because it's more precise than English, UN source documents are written in French. In case of disputes, authorities turn to the French version.
Viva la pedagogues!
ReplyDelete