[B-Greek] Ancient Greek-Grammar war?
Donald Vance
donaldrvance at mac.com
Tue Feb 28 21:21:47 EST 2006
Would you trap such speakers in the economic stratum that such language
use will almost certainly put them? What are the chances of someone who
speaks or writes like that getting a job at Washington University?
Correcting such language is not looking down one's nose; it is enabling
them to join the mainstream! Why was so much effort expended in
antiquity to mimic "proper" speach, rhetoric, etc., if not for the same
reason?
Don Vance
donaldrvance at mac.com
On Feb 28, 2006, at 6:43 PM, Carl W. Conrad wrote:
>
snip
> I'm not referring to a listener deciphering what he or she knows is
> improper grammatical usage. If you haven't heard "I done that
> yesterday" or "I seen him last week," then your regional or social
> intercourse has been restricted somewhat narrowly." I don't know the
> history of this; it may be simply a matter of dialectal omission of an
> auxiliary with a participle, but I think I've encountered something
> like that in colloquial German too.
> Upper middle-class white parents may coax their children to say "I am"
> but there have been and still are English dialects where "I be" is not
> at all exceptional. While I may not talk or write that myself, I don't
> think I have any business looking down my nose at those who do.
>
> Carl W. Conrad
> Department of Classics, Washington University (Emeritus)
> 1989 Grindstaff Road/Burnsville, NC 28714/(828) 675-4243
> cwconrad2 at mac.com
> WWW: http://www.ioa.com/~cwconrad/
>
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