In Grammar^x, Dialects^x

Hey Dex 17, I'm so glad you told that 14 year old all of that. I was wanting to after reading that racist drivel. I couldn't agree more, intelligence is not really race specific as it is people specific, and even then it's touch and go. There is a reason why they dropped that system of testing...

I have always wondered at the fact that people around the world like to distinguish themselves from other groups although they have so much in common between them and in some cases, even speak the same language! Yes, I'm talking about the variants of the same language which for mostly political...

Dialect is what makes language interesting. Some I love, some I frankly dislike, but they are all interesting, and all contribute to the colour of language. On the other hand, I suppose each language has its own "received pronounciation", which is neither better nor worse than dialects, but...

"But even within a particular regional dialect there is variety. What we describe here is Standard English. Which dialect of English is considered Standard English is really more the result of historical sociopolitical factors than linguistic ones. Thus, there is no inherently superior...

Here's one American's opinion -- 1. I would say, "If I had known about the party, I would have gone to it." The sentence as written strikes me as unnecessarily wordy, but not as blatantly incorrect as some of the others. I wouldn't cringe to hear it. 2. Definitely substandard. 3. What's...

Hello Mav My understanding about the historical development of the English language is like this: English basically belongs to Teutonic languages along with German, Dutch, and Scandinavian languages. The oldest form of English (Old English/Anglo-Saxon) had been quite similar to present day...

I'm sorry for the faulty design of the last part of my post. It's supposed to be as follows Let's take some element of language: 1. Since most of the speakers use ------------------------------------------------ 1. thesis it, grammar books describe it as a standard and correct form...

My apologies, MrP (your post was clear) That's interesting. Actually, artificial encouragement can be in its own way 'prescriptive.' Creating a chic idea you influence speaker's choices prescribing a particular usage of the infinitive. You may not be successful overnight, but as an increasingly...

In several American movies I've heard (perhaps I've misunderstood) expressions like "She don't know", "He don't live here". The contexts were quite familiar or informal. I know this must be speaking English, but I would like to know what you think about this. I think it's wonderful. No doubt if...

I can't agree more with you, Casi. Purists may call this speech pattern non-standard English, but all said and done, it is English. All varieties of English, any language for that matter, including this one, have their own set of established standards and are governed by their linguistic and...