Give some examples of phrases where grammatical change is used
- ‘go fun yourself’. ‘Fun’ appears to be acting as a verb rather than a noun (e.g. a fun time was had by all)
- ‘drive confident’. ‘Confident’ acts as an adverb, it should have the suffix ‘-ly’ at the end.
How is grammatical change different compared to semantic or lexical change?
- grammatical change occurs more slowly than semantic and lexical change and is often the source of anger, especially for older, more conservative speakers.
What was a particular cause of grammatical change? (C18th - 19th)
- the establishment of a standard form of English meant attention turned to grammar rules in the C18th and C19th.
- ‘correct’ grammar began to be associated with social status.
- ‘bad’ grammar was seen as a sign of lower social status.
- desire for correct grammar led to the increase of grammar guides.
Who was Robert Lowth?
- wrote ‘a Short introduction to English Grammar’ in 1762
- prescriptivist
- grounded his grammar rules in Latin
- an example of change from above (a person/organisation of people who have power trying to fix/change language
What are some examples of the rules Robert Lowth established in his dictionary?
- the pronoun ‘though’ / ‘thou?’should no longer be used.
- prepositions should be before the noun to which they are applied.
- infinitive verb should not be split, e.g. ‘to boldly go where no one has gone before’ adverb ‘boldly’ should be after ‘go’ (Descriptivists say this rule is pointless as the meaning conveyed is unaffected).
- multiple negation and multiple comparison is illogical.
List examples of grammatical change:
- double negations
- syntax had simplified
- contractions
- changes in word order
- changes in word function
- loss of thou/thee
- multiple comparatives
- lost superlatives
What are double negations?
- used to be common in the English language. Now considered non-standard.
- e.g. ‘I don’t want nothing’
- arguments vs prescriptivists: lang change is constant, how can double negations be incorrect if people used this 100s of years ago.
How is syntax being simplified an example of grammatical change?
- sentences used to contain a lot more subordinate clauses.
- present day English tends towards shorter sentences and fewer commas and semi-colons.
How has the changing of word order an example of grammatical change?
- Increased use of auxiliary verbs (do, have, be) impacted word order.
- Early Modern English: Spake you with him? (Interrogatives start with a verb).
- Present Day English: Did you speak with him?
-> past tense auxiliary verb ‘did’
What are contractions?
- shortening a phrase, using an apostrophe, to one word.
-> e.g. ‘isn’t’, aren’t’ etc. - Common in the early C18th (poetry, printers) including proclitic contractions no longer used (‘twas, ‘tis), ‘it’s to ‘it’s.
- arguments vs prescriptivists: examples of ‘lazy lang’ around for centuries before and people spoke this way for ages.
How are changes in word function an example of grammatical change? (functional shift)
- Tech: nouns (text, email, Facebook) become verbs
- Americanisms: adjectives used instead of adverbs: I’m good!
- Contemporary English:
• Adverb ‘well’ used as an intensifying adverb: ‘That was well good!’
• Tag question ‘isn’t it’ is often shortened to the slang, ‘innit’.
• 1990s: intensifying adverb ‘so’ used with ‘not’: ‘I’m so not OK’.
What are lost superlatives?
- In the C19th, superlatives such as ‘properest’ were grammatically acceptable.
- In Present Day English, you’d use ‘most proper’ instead.
How was the introduction of multiple comparatives an example of grammatical change?
- In the C19th, double comparatives like ‘more cleverer’ were used.
- In Present Day English, you’d use ‘more clever’ or ‘cleverer’.
How is the loss of thou/thee an example of grammatical change.
- Mostly obsolete by the
C18th.
-Dropped in favour of the more polite and formal ‘you’.
Give examples of prescriptivists against grammatical change
- the Queen’s English society
- Jacob Rees-Mogg
Who are the Queen’s English Society?
- established in 1972
- Provide what they deem to be a ‘useful guide to English’ on their website.
- They treat English as though it is an object to be defended and owned (metaphor with dangerous implications of nationalism).
Give 2 rules given by the Queen’s English Society
- double negatives such as ‘He didn’t say nothing’ are regarded as an illogical error.
- analogy to maths is made here, where 2 negatives create a positive so that ‘he didn’t say nothing’ means ‘he said something’.
- personal pronouns should be in ‘correct form and order’, e.g. ‘my husband and I’ and not ‘me and my husband’.
- in 2nd example, ‘me’ is functioning as the subject, but English grammar only allows it to function as the Object.
List the arguments you can use against the Queen’s English Society’s rule of double negatives:
• Language is not maths! The analogy is irrelevant.
• Many regional varieties of English (e.g. Lancashire and Yorkshire) use double and even triple, negatives. They are an important marker of linguistic identity.
• In actual communication, double negatives aren’t interpreted as meaning the opposite and therefore don’t lead to a communication breakdown.
• We adapt and shape our language according to context.
• Many languages (including Spanish and French from which we ‘borrowed’ many words) use double negatives. Many writers (including Chaucer and Shakespeare) make extensive use of double negatives.
List the arguments you can use against the Queen’s English Society’s rule of personal pronouns:
• more of a ‘politeness rule’ rather than a ‘grammatical rule’. Not all contexts require language use which is polite and formal.
• ‘Incorrectly’ using the first person personal pronoun ‘me’ in place of ‘I’ does not affect meaning in any way – the listener or reader’s understanding is not impacted. No communication breakdown.
• We adapt and shape our language according to context.
Give some examples of Jacob Rees-Moggs’ banned words/phrases and rules:
Banned words/phrases:
- very
- due to
- ongoing
- hopefully
- unacceptable
Rules
- all non-titled males addressed as Esq. (esquire)
- no comma after ‘and’
- there is no full stop (.) after Miss or Ms
What is a grammar pedant?
- a person highly concerned with minor grammatical details and rules. Someone concerned with language ‘errors’ other people make.
- e.g. 15 year old grammar pedant (Tesco), Jacob Rees-Mogg.
