HIGHACRES COLLEGIAN
Ain’t nothing wrong with ain’t (cont.)
says, ”1 do not know not” (Je ne sais
pas)* and the modern Spaniard, ”1 don’t
see nobody” (No veo nadie), And what’s .
wrong with cur own Tin Tan Alley lyric
ists, who defy Lowth's dictum with "I
Ain’b Got Nobody P ”
The I.Bth century speech dictators also
lv.v anted the still-observed silly locution,
.' ! ?t is I” Again, the French - and most of
obe English - speaking world - say ”it
Lh me."
No wonder Edward J. Gordon, Yale lectu
re! # says, "Most grammar teaching has
iii tie relation to the way the English
language really works," and that Henry
Sweety another scholar, observed, "Most
grammar has neither usefulness or validity
outside the classroom,"
The verb "shall," says our textbook, ap
plies to future action, as I shall start
on my trip tomorrow. The verb "will,"
on the other hand is concerned with dec
ision and determination, as I will start
on my trip tomorrow. See the difference?
You don’t?
Then you can blame your density on a chap
named John Willis, a "mathematician,
logician and grammarian" of the 1600 s
wac was disturbed to discover that the
Latin "shall" and "will" had just about
the same meaning. So, all on his own, he
set them apart, to the consternation of
defenseless pupils ever sins e*
There are indignant teachers who will
accuse me of debasing our language and
avow that so-called grammar based on usage
will corrupt English and lead to slovenly
speech*
Lebase our language? Language has no fix
ed bases. Like everything else in life,
it is a process, and while purists argue,
the language pattern changes*’ Ungramm
atical expressions often are clearer and
more forceful than their grammatical sup
eriors, As Will Rogers once said, "May
be ain’t ain’t correct, but I notice a
lot of folks who ain’t using ain’t ain't
There’s nothing new about my views on gr
ammar, "language," said the old Roman
rhetorician Quintilian around the first
century B« C,, "is like money, which oe- ■■
comes current when it receives the pub.iv
stamp," And Charles Carpenter Fries... : :..
his American English Grammar, declare.-; -
"There is no necessary connection berree/.
a knowledge of systematic grammar and a
practical control of English^"
A short while ago I got hold of an Btn
grade grammar used in our schools, ana
prepared an examination paper of 15 qu
estions for some of my business associ
ates* Here’s what I threw at them?
Define and illustrate (1) a compound
predicatej (2) a copulative verb? (3)
expletives? (4) demonstrative pronouns*
(5) homonyms? (6) correlative conjun
ctions? (7) a prepositional phrase? (8)
noun clauses? (9) gerunds? (10) a sub—
stantive phrase? (ll) an appositive;;
(12) a co-ordinate clause? (13) a past-'
perfect participle? (14) a predicate
nominative, and (15) a subordinating
conjunction.
I got one right - homonyms*' My collea
gues did better, but flunked miserably.,
Yet we'er all authors, making our living
writing, editing and publishing.
Today’s professional writer pays no at
tention to grammatical gobbledegook- He's
too busy writing his thoughts clearly and
forcefully. Why not apply his technique
to the schools, at least to the upper
elementary grades and certainly high
school? Let pupils see the fun in writing
and invite them to think of reading as a
great experience*
The few accepted formal language patterns
can come in little by littie $ largely
through exposure and imitation.
Let’s throw the old textbooks out the
window, along with the words "correct"
and "incorrect," because there’s, real-y
no such thing as "grammar," but only an
ever changing language pattern formed by
everyday usage,
•#•'*#*##*##** #***#*'***i
FEB, 28, 1958