Re: Grammar

Holger Dansk wrote:
> 
> On Tue, 02 Dec 2003 16:01:40 -0500, Bob LeChevalier <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> wrote:
> 
> >Holger Dansk <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >>On Tue, 02 Dec 2003 12:19:53 -0500, Bob LeChevalier <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >>wrote:
> >>
> >>>It has nothing to do with being black, or with mouth structure.  It is
> >>>simply another dialectal pronunciation of English.  Yours is no more
> >>>correct than theirs.
> >>
> >>Hog dodo.
> >>
> >>It's as incorrect as anything can bet you nitwit.
> >
> >Your English is incorrect for this context.
> >
> >>Don't you know right from wrong?
> >
> >I am a linguist; there is no morality in language.  There are many
> >dialects and each is appropriate to its own context, so that there is
> >no "correct" or "incorrect" language, except with regards to a
> >specific context.
> 
> We are not talking about local dialects here.  We are talking about the
> English language in the entire world
>
There certainly isn't one world standard English. People in India, the
UK, the US, Australia, all sound different. I don't believe most
dictionaries tell you how to make each sound. In other words, the
dictionary might say that you should use a 'short a' in some word but it
won't exactly specify what a 'short a' actually is. This allows for
vowel rotations and other shifts that obviously exist in various
dialects.


> and what is right or wrong in the
> use of it.  You seem to be confused.  Just because there is a dialect in
> east Tennessee where people say "tar" for a tire, "far" for fire, "war"
> for wire, "diddle" for baby chicken instead of biddy, etc., does not
> mean that this is correct English.  Correct English conforms to correct
> pronunciation.  Otherwise, why have dictionaries giving the correct
> pronunciation?
> 
Actually, dictionaries exist with 'correct' pronunciations for various
standards, say British English, American English, etc. but have you
looked to see if they explain in detail how to make the letter 't' sound
and explain in detail its various allophones and where they are
'correctly' used?



> >>What's the matter with you?
> >
> >I'm more educated than you are about the nature of language in
> >general, and about the English language in particular.
> 
> You, evidently, have become too educated about language and have become
> confused about the basic and fundamental rules of speaking and
> pronouncing English correctly as it should be today in the United States
> and not how it is pronounced in strange ways by people is certain areas
> of the United States and the world.  Even worse, you strive to find out
> some excuse for many negroes having pronouncing it wrong for a few
> hundred years 
>
There is evidence that various African American dialects retain features
from older forms of the English language than those current in vogue in
the United States as 'standards'. It might be you who speaks funny and
they had it correct all the time!


-- 
"Throw me that lipstick, darling, I wanna redo my stigmata."
+-Jennifer Saunders, "Absolutely Fabulous"