You have people with an imagination that don’t think about what they going to say first, they just shout out a response or phrase; even though they are fully capable of holding a conversation or writing a detailed story or verse. They even might be able to describe an object in great deal, in a short amount of time; however, they take ten minutes instead. There are many people like this in the world; I happen to know a few, when describing an event that happened they take forever and by the time they are done you want to kill yourself or wish your phone would ring.
Responses to historical chapter 2: Question 5 Examine the quotation on page 32 from Marsh A)What does pillory mean? A Pillory is a punnishment device very similar to the stacks, where a person's head and limbs are locked into wooden devices and they are then placed on public display to be ridiculed and humiliated. Unlike the stacks a persons hands and feet are locked in a pillory and a person placed in a pillory was often thought to have commited a worse crime than someone in the stacks. As a result these people were often subjected to worse punnishments and were often seriously maimed or stoned to death. However, today the word generally has a much softer meaning, it is usually associated with being publically scolded or reprimanded for your mistakes. This is often seen in classrooms when a teacher specifically calls out a student for their mistakes. When and by whom were pillories used in American History? Pillories were used in American history to humiliate and punnish people in a public setting. These punnishment devices were used during the colonial times of America when much of the law was based on adhereance to Biblical rule. What does obliquity mean? Obliquity means exposing the perversion or difference between one thing and something else, usually used in astrological settings. Here it probably means the difference between pure language and some sort of perverse or inaccurate use of the pure language. What does rectitude mean? Rectitude means being honest and forthright, knowing and doing what is correct. What Marsh is saying here "rectitude of action" is that purity of language and being correct has a direct link to how people act. Discuss how this passage illustrates Finegan's claim that for Marsh, "lingusitic propriety was chiefly a moral question." What Finegan was saying, and Marsh enforces that with this statement, is that that if a person can use language correctly he will also know how to act correctly, or act in a sociably acceptable mannor.
5. Examine the quotation on page 32 from Marsh. a. What does pillory mean? When, and by whom, were pillories used in American history? Pillory means to punish.
b. What does obliquity mean? I think in this text it means that some people aren’t standing firm when it comes to their morals.
c. What does rectitude mean? Uprightness
d. Discuss how this passage illustrates Finegan’s claim that for Marsh, “Linguistic property was chiefly a moral question” (p. 67) I think that the passage is referring to people who don’t take linguistic seriously. The people who are writing this are obviously very passionate about their work. People claim to have morals and to be passionate about things, but when it comes down to it, they really don’t care enough.
Explain how the following forms illustrate "confusion" of past tense and past participle forms.
a) have spoken b)The Bard begun c)Mr. Milton has wrote d)had not arose e)was took
These forms can be confusing because it is an example of a merger of past tense and past participle. It’s called Prescriptive grammar. When you see "Mr. Milton has wrote" your first impulse is to change the “wrote”, to written. So it says “Mr. Milton has written”. You may think that Dryden, Dafoe, and Pope were all early 18th century nut balls, but they made the English language and poetry what it is today.
Question 4 Priestley believes that grammar rules are created by forming them around what writers write. Writers are the benchmark of grammar, they do it right, if they do something against the "rules" then the rules must be changed to abide them. The quote in the question says writers often make grammar mistakes nowadays. According to Priestly, writers can never make grammar mistakes, because whatever they do should become correct grammar. Lowth is probably the author of the quote because he believes grammararians make rules and writers have to follow them.
Exercise B: a)What do you think Dryden means by the phrase "certainty of words"? ~In referencing the Italians and French, I would believe that Dryden is referring to philosophical precision. Educated people of the day were interested in philosophical argument that can only be accomplished with precision of terms. One common fallacy of logic is to use a term in one sense in an argument and subtly change the sense of usage to come up with a conclusion that is somewhat dubious. b)What do you think Defoe means by "the Irregular Additions that Ignorance and Affectation have introduc'd"? ~I believe his position is in line with many Americans today. There is a value for speech that is elevated by a certain degree of education, not too working class and yet not too "high-fallutin.'" Some of the affectations that garner disgruntled grumbling today are slang usage and legalese. By over-use, standard speech deviations can result in making a statement oblique to an outside group as it makes it clear to others. The desire seems to be for an even playing field. c)Swift states, "it is better a language should not be wholly perfect, than that it should be perpetually changing." What do you think is more important to Swift: to "refine" or to "ascertain" the language? ~ I think that Swift fall on the sife of "ascertainment" in this argument. In stead of "cleaning" up the irregularities of English, he would be more inclined to standardize the English of his day. The knowlege of language was limited then. We know much more today and will know more tomorrow. Languages are in constant flux as are the cultures that they represent. Language is a tool of thought and expression and you can no more freeze usage than you can any living thing. Greek that was studied in England at the time was Classical Greek which is as different from Modern Greek as Latin is from Italian. There is evidence that even in the classical period spoken language was not represented by the formal educated languages of Homer and Ovid. Language is a tool, to be used and modified by speakers not to tyranize them.
Question 3 a) What does Lowth mean when he states, "It is not the language, but the practice that is in fault"? -Many people may believe that English is a hard language to learn (maybe not as hard as others but hard enough)and I believe that it is due to the way we are taught to learn it. People put such a big emphasis on aspects of language that are not as important as others. I do not think it is anyone's fault in particular, I just feel that it is the way we have all been taught so that practice will carry on. There is nothing wrong with our language, only the way we practice it.
b) What does Lowth mean when he states, "it is not the difficulty of the language, but...the simplicity and facility of it, that occasions this neglect"? -We make speaking and writing harder than it really should be. Language is such a simply thing that people try and make into something difficult. Think about all the rules and regulations that go into forming one simple sentence. If the sentence was not grammatically correct, I think people would still understand the point. People always make things harder than what they should be. Maybe it makes them feel more intelligent.
Exercise G. A&B “Significations, derivations, and combinations of words”+ Not a perscriptivist Campbell sees the language and the rules thereof as an evolution of the languages before. Each word in the vocabulary has roots as something different (derivations) or something more specific (significations). The combination of words is most evident in the example used in class on Tuesday “Alphabet”. This word is a combination of two derivatives in Greek, Alpha and Beta. The contractions that are used today are obviously all combinations of words. The possessive pronouns that have been used since the advent of English have been combined with so many words that they have disappeared from sentences, leaving only the apostrophe and S behind. A sentence that was correct in the old English, “Edward his book is on the table,” is not only incorrect now, but the average reader might think that the sentence was written to Edward and the owner of the book is unknown. The reader might believe that the sentence is flawed because there is no comma or semicolon between Edward and what information Edward is meant to receive. The sentence “Edward’s book is on the table,” is a correct sentence in modern grammar and now portrays the same message as the sentence in the old English grammar meant. Campbell says that “It is of no consequence” Where the words come from. All that matters is that the grammarians of the present time can classify them. To view the history of a word is folly to Campbell because the meaning of any word can be drawn from the context of the sentence or entry. Therefore, finding what a word is a derivative of is erroneous.
A. What does pillory mean? Pillory means to be punished or get a punishment. the pillory (punishment) consisted of hinged wooden boards that formed holes through which the head and/or various limbs were inserted.
B.What does obliquity mean? It means here the difference between one thing and another. Here it may mean the difference between a good language to another bad use of a language.
C.What does rectitude mean? Rectitude means, to be right to know what is right and knowing the right things to do.
D. Discuss how this passage illustrates Finegan's claim that for Marsh, "lingusitic propriety was chiefly a moral question." I think this means that this is for people who have morals, people who want to use language right. People who have morals will act right and go through life in the right way.
Supplementary Exercise 1: Which of the following quotations displays an attitude most sympathetic to Defoe's position on the English Academy?
b. Since grammar is a science, it must describe and analyze the basic facts of speech, and explain and interpret laws governing the behavior of language.
On pg. 24 the text includes a quote from Daniel Defoe concerning his feelings about the English Academy that reads, "[An Academy is needed] to polish and refine the English tongue, and advance the so much neglected Faculty of Correct Language, to establish Purity and Propreity of Style, and to purge it from all the irregular additions that ignorance and affectation have introduced." I feel that this quote parallels the above quote in the sense that they both reference English as somewhat of a finite science with a set of established rules. Daniel Defoe's main concern with the Academy was establishing concrete rules to refine and correct the language. Through the act of making English rule-governed, the language became a science.
In 1747 Johnson stated that he believed that there should be a fixed English language, its meanings and its rules and not be changed over time. In 1755 Johnson stated that he realized that in time people come up with better ways of doing things and that everything needs to be updated when necessary.
11 comments:
Activity G
You have people with an imagination that don’t think about what they going to say first, they just shout out a response or phrase; even though they are fully capable of holding a conversation or writing a detailed story or verse. They even might be able to describe an object in great deal, in a short amount of time; however, they take ten minutes instead. There are many people like this in the world; I happen to know a few, when describing an event that happened they take forever and by the time they are done you want to kill yourself or wish your phone would ring.
Responses to historical chapter 2:
Question 5
Examine the quotation on page 32 from Marsh
A)What does pillory mean?
A Pillory is a punnishment device very similar to the stacks, where a person's head and limbs are locked into wooden devices and they are then placed on public display to be ridiculed and humiliated. Unlike the stacks a persons hands and feet are locked in a pillory and a person placed in a pillory was often thought to have commited a worse crime than someone in the stacks. As a result these people were often subjected to worse punnishments and were often seriously maimed or stoned to death.
However, today the word generally has a much softer meaning, it is usually associated with being publically scolded or reprimanded for your mistakes. This is often seen in classrooms when a teacher specifically calls out a student for their mistakes.
When and by whom were pillories used in American History?
Pillories were used in American history to humiliate and punnish people in a public setting. These punnishment devices were used during the colonial times of America when much of the law was based on adhereance to Biblical rule.
What does obliquity mean?
Obliquity means exposing the perversion or difference between one thing and something else, usually used in astrological settings. Here it probably means the difference between pure language and some sort of perverse or inaccurate use of the pure language.
What does rectitude mean?
Rectitude means being honest and forthright, knowing and doing what is correct. What Marsh is saying here "rectitude of action" is that purity of language and being correct has a direct link to how people act.
Discuss how this passage illustrates Finegan's claim that for Marsh, "lingusitic propriety was chiefly a moral question."
What Finegan was saying, and Marsh enforces that with this statement, is that that if a person can use language correctly he will also know how to act correctly, or act in a sociably acceptable mannor.
5. Examine the quotation on page 32 from Marsh.
a. What does pillory mean? When, and by whom, were pillories used in American history? Pillory means to punish.
b. What does obliquity mean? I think in this text it means that some people aren’t standing firm when it comes to their morals.
c. What does rectitude mean? Uprightness
d. Discuss how this passage illustrates Finegan’s claim that for Marsh, “Linguistic property was chiefly a moral question” (p. 67) I think that the passage is referring to people who don’t take linguistic seriously. The people who are writing this are obviously very passionate about their work. People claim to have morals and to be passionate about things, but when it comes down to it, they really don’t care enough.
Exercise E:
Explain how the following forms illustrate "confusion" of past tense and past participle forms.
a) have spoken
b)The Bard begun
c)Mr. Milton has wrote
d)had not arose
e)was took
These forms can be confusing because it is an example of a merger of past tense and past participle. It’s called Prescriptive grammar. When you see "Mr. Milton has wrote" your first impulse is to change the “wrote”, to written. So it says “Mr. Milton has written”. You may think that Dryden, Dafoe, and Pope were all early 18th century nut balls, but they made the English language and poetry what it is today.
Question 4
Priestley believes that grammar rules are created by forming them around what writers write. Writers are the benchmark of grammar, they do it right, if they do something against the "rules" then the rules must be changed to abide them. The quote in the question says writers often make grammar mistakes nowadays. According to Priestly, writers can never make grammar mistakes, because whatever they do should become correct grammar. Lowth is probably the author of the quote because he believes grammararians make rules and writers have to follow them.
Exercise B:
a)What do you think Dryden means by the phrase "certainty of words"?
~In referencing the Italians and French, I would believe that Dryden is referring to philosophical precision. Educated people of the day were interested in philosophical argument that can only be accomplished with precision of terms. One common fallacy of logic is to use a term in one sense in an argument and subtly change the sense of usage to come up with a conclusion that is somewhat dubious.
b)What do you think Defoe means by "the Irregular Additions that Ignorance and Affectation have introduc'd"?
~I believe his position is in line with many Americans today. There is a value for speech that is elevated by a certain degree of education, not too working class and yet not too "high-fallutin.'" Some of the affectations that garner disgruntled grumbling today are slang usage and legalese. By over-use, standard speech deviations can result in making a statement oblique to an outside group as it makes it clear to others. The desire seems to be for an even playing field.
c)Swift states, "it is better a language should not be wholly perfect, than that it should be perpetually changing." What do you think is more important to Swift: to "refine" or to "ascertain" the language?
~ I think that Swift fall on the sife of "ascertainment" in this argument. In stead of "cleaning" up the irregularities of English, he would be more inclined to standardize the English of his day. The knowlege of language was limited then. We know much more today and will know more tomorrow. Languages are in constant flux as are the cultures that they represent. Language is a tool of thought and expression and you can no more freeze usage than you can any living thing. Greek that was studied in England at the time was Classical Greek which is as different from Modern Greek as Latin is from Italian. There is evidence that even in the classical period spoken language was not represented by the formal educated languages of Homer and Ovid. Language is a tool, to be used and modified by speakers not to tyranize them.
by Bobbi:
Question 3
a) What does Lowth mean when he states, "It is not the
language, but the practice that is in fault"?
-Many people may believe that English is a hard language to
learn (maybe not as hard as others but hard enough)and I
believe that it is due to the way we are taught to learn it.
People put such a big emphasis on aspects of language that are
not as important as others. I do not think it is anyone's
fault in particular, I just feel that it is the way we have all
been taught so that practice will carry on. There is nothing
wrong with our language, only the way we practice it.
b) What does Lowth mean when he states, "it is not the
difficulty of the language, but...the simplicity and facility
of it, that occasions this neglect"?
-We make speaking and writing harder than it really should be.
Language is such a simply thing that people try and make into
something difficult. Think about all the rules and regulations
that go into forming one simple sentence. If the sentence was
not grammatically correct, I think people would still
understand the point. People always make things harder than
what they should be. Maybe it makes them feel more
intelligent.
by J'sun:
Exercise G.
A&B “Significations, derivations, and combinations of words”+ Not a perscriptivist
Campbell sees the language and the rules thereof as an evolution of the languages before. Each word in the vocabulary has roots as something different (derivations) or something more specific (significations). The combination of words is most evident in the example used in class on Tuesday “Alphabet”. This word is a combination of two derivatives in Greek, Alpha and Beta. The contractions that are used today are obviously all combinations of words. The possessive pronouns that have been used since the advent of English have been combined with so many words that they have disappeared from sentences, leaving only the apostrophe and S behind. A sentence that was correct in the old English, “Edward his book is on the table,” is not only incorrect now, but the average reader might think that the sentence was written to Edward and the owner of the book is unknown. The reader might believe that the sentence is flawed because there is no comma or semicolon between Edward and what information Edward is meant to receive. The sentence “Edward’s book is on the table,” is a correct sentence in modern grammar and now portrays the same message as the sentence in the old English grammar meant.
Campbell says that “It is of no consequence” Where the words come from. All that matters is that the grammarians of the present time can classify them. To view the history of a word is folly to Campbell because the meaning of any word can be drawn from the context of the sentence or entry. Therefore, finding what a word is a derivative of is erroneous.
In Response to Chapter 2 Question #5
A. What does pillory mean?
Pillory means to be punished or get a punishment. the pillory (punishment) consisted of hinged wooden boards that formed holes through which the head and/or various limbs were inserted.
B.What does obliquity mean?
It means here the difference between one thing and another. Here it may mean the difference between a good language to another bad use of a language.
C.What does rectitude mean?
Rectitude means, to be right to know what is right and knowing the right things to do.
D. Discuss how this passage illustrates Finegan's claim that for Marsh, "lingusitic propriety was chiefly a moral question."
I think this means that this is for people who have morals, people who want to use language right. People who have morals will act right and go through life in the right way.
Supplementary Exercise 1:
Which of the following quotations displays an attitude most sympathetic to Defoe's position on the English Academy?
b. Since grammar is a science, it must describe and analyze the basic facts of speech, and explain and interpret laws governing the behavior of language.
On pg. 24 the text includes a quote from Daniel Defoe concerning his feelings about the English Academy that reads, "[An Academy is needed] to polish and refine the English tongue, and advance the so much neglected Faculty of Correct Language, to establish Purity and Propreity of Style, and to purge it from all the irregular additions that ignorance and affectation have introduced." I feel that this quote parallels the above quote in the sense that they both reference English as somewhat of a finite science with a set of established rules. Daniel Defoe's main concern with the Academy was establishing concrete rules to refine and correct the language. Through the act of making English rule-governed, the language became a science.
Exercise D/a
In 1747 Johnson stated that he believed that there should be a fixed English language, its meanings and its rules and not be changed over time.
In 1755 Johnson stated that he realized that in time people come up with better ways of doing things and that everything needs to be updated when necessary.
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