Comments on: English is Dumb… er, Dum!

By: Pathfinder

Pathfinder — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 00:06:00 +0000

Phonics, ebonics, shmonix. Leave English alone and master it. Like the poet below it, I too mastered it when I was five. It's weird because it consists of words from many languages.

By: Pathfinder

Pathfinder — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 00:06:00 +0000

Phonics, ebonics, shmonix. Leave English alone and master it. Like the poet below it, I too mastered it when I was five. It’s weird because it consists of words from many languages.

By: Ronnie

Ronnie — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 18:05:00 +0000

Those are good points. I think that the fact English has never had any academy structuring it is a strength of it. As time's gone on it's been open to adapting words and grammar from wherever it's most useful. I've read where some linguist believe that English becoming the primary or strong secondary language for so many people combined with the internet allowing all these people to communicate is likely to make today's English morph into something more of a Panglish. English may be sloppy from a structure standpoint, but it's multiplicity when it comes to methods of conjugation gives it a flexibility languages that try to remain pure don't have.

By: Ronnie

Ronnie — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 18:05:00 +0000

Those are good points. I think that the fact English has never had any academy structuring it is a strength of it. As time’s gone on it’s been open to adapting words and grammar from wherever it’s most useful. I’ve read where some linguist believe that English becoming the primary or strong secondary language for so many people combined with the internet allowing all these people to communicate is likely to make today’s English morph into something more of a Panglish. English may be sloppy from a structure standpoint, but it’s multiplicity when it comes to methods of conjugation gives it a flexibility languages that try to remain pure don’t have.

By: Mickey Blue Eyes

Mickey Blue Eyes — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:00:00 +0000

Based on having seen the documentary series "The Adventure of English" (but not read the book yet), the English language is a mongrel language, in the best sense of the word. It started with Saxon (who invaded and chased the Celts to Wales and Scotland), added Danish from the Viking invaders, and added French from the Norman invaders. Along the way, it included Italian and Arabic words. Latin and Greek were included as they were the languages of the church and of academia.

However, English never really had an "academy" like they have for French, Spanish, and Italian.

Oh, lest us not forget the early Americans wanting to differentiate themselves from England by changing "-re" to "-er" (centre vs center), and changing "-our" to "-or" (colour vs color), and removing extra letters (waggon vs wagon).

By: Mickey Blue Eyes

Mickey Blue Eyes — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:00:00 +0000

Based on having seen the documentary series “The Adventure of English” (but not read the book yet), the English language is a mongrel language, in the best sense of the word. It started with Saxon (who invaded and chased the Celts to Wales and Scotland), added Danish from the Viking invaders, and added French from the Norman invaders. Along the way, it included Italian and Arabic words. Latin and Greek were included as they were the languages of the church and of academia.

However, English never really had an “academy” like they have for French, Spanish, and Italian.

Oh, lest us not forget the early Americans wanting to differentiate themselves from England by changing “-re” to “-er” (centre vs center), and changing “-our” to “-or” (colour vs color), and removing extra letters (waggon vs wagon).

By: mrtnclzd

mrtnclzd — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:18:00 +0000

I don't know about other languages but it sure is easier to learn how to write in spanish than in english.

By: mrtnclzd

mrtnclzd — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:18:00 +0000

I don’t know about other languages but it sure is easier to learn how to write in spanish than in english.

By: Ronnie

Ronnie — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 02:18:00 +0000

While there are a great many problems with the English language with spelling and pronunciation inconsistency, I really would hate to see it moved toward a phonetic spelling. Every language has some way of twisting or playing on a feature of itself to impart extra meaning to it's phrases, and in English one of the most important ways of doing this is through different pronunciations. English has also become a de-facto lingua franca for international business, and as such it's cross-pollinating with other languages world-wide on a regular basis. Trying to set up a council like the one that manages the Spanish language would be a nightmare since there is no one country that holds power or is seen as linguistically superior that other countries would listen to.

I think it's best to simply allow nature to take it's course. If over time it becomes needed for English to pare down it's more arcane features then it will be done as it's needed organically. Trying to shove such things onto the world-wide stage it working against too much momentum to be practical.

By: Ronnie

Ronnie — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 02:18:00 +0000

While there are a great many problems with the English language with spelling and pronunciation inconsistency, I really would hate to see it moved toward a phonetic spelling. Every language has some way of twisting or playing on a feature of itself to impart extra meaning to it’s phrases, and in English one of the most important ways of doing this is through different pronunciations. English has also become a de-facto lingua franca for international business, and as such it’s cross-pollinating with other languages world-wide on a regular basis. Trying to set up a council like the one that manages the Spanish language would be a nightmare since there is no one country that holds power or is seen as linguistically superior that other countries would listen to.

I think it’s best to simply allow nature to take it’s course. If over time it becomes needed for English to pare down it’s more arcane features then it will be done as it’s needed organically. Trying to shove such things onto the world-wide stage it working against too much momentum to be practical.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 18:04:00 +0000

"Cum" isn't really an English word, so I don't know why people spell it that way. Even if you're talking about ejaculating it should still be spelled "come." If you look up the word "come" in the dictionary you'll see that one of its meanings is a vulgar slang meaning "to experience an orgasm."

It's a shame that the internet has made this misspelling so widespread that "cum" may as well be a word now, since it has been assigned a meaning that seems to be understood by many people. But at least use the word "came" for the past-tense, I beg of you. When people say "cummed" I get just about as angry as when they say "all of the sudden" or "should of." If you don't know what's wrong with those, sign off of MSN and read a book, please.

Of course, "cum" is also a Latin word.

By: Ryan

Ryan — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 18:04:00 +0000

“Cum” isn’t really an English word, so I don’t know why people spell it that way. Even if you’re talking about ejaculating it should still be spelled “come.” If you look up the word “come” in the dictionary you’ll see that one of its meanings is a vulgar slang meaning “to experience an orgasm.”

It’s a shame that the internet has made this misspelling so widespread that “cum” may as well be a word now, since it has been assigned a meaning that seems to be understood by many people. But at least use the word “came” for the past-tense, I beg of you. When people say “cummed” I get just about as angry as when they say “all of the sudden” or “should of.” If you don’t know what’s wrong with those, sign off of MSN and read a book, please.

Of course, “cum” is also a Latin word.