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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290 |
A discussion I was having on another board, led to my reading a book on Shakespeare's grammar ( link). The opening paragraph of the Introduction gave me pause to laugh out loud: Elizabethan English, on a superficial view, appears to present this great point of difference from the English of modern times, that in the former any irregularities whatever, whether in the formation of words or in the combination of words into sentences, are allowable. In the first place, almost any part of speech can be used as any other part of speech. An adverb can be used as a verb,"They askance their eyes" (R. of L.); as a noun, "the backward and abysm of time" (Sonn.); or as an adjective, "a seldom pleasure" {Sonn.). Any noun, adjective, or neuter verb can be used as an active verb. You can "happy" your friend, "malice" or "foot" your enemy, or "fall" an axe on his neck. An adjective can be used as an adverb; and you can speak and act "easy," "free," "excellent:" or as a noun, and you can talk of "fair" instead of "beauty," and "a pale" instead of "a paleness." Even the pronouns are not exempt from these metamorphoses. A "he" is used for a man, and a lady is described by a gentleman as "the fairest she he has yet beheld." Spenser asks us to
"Come down and learne the little what
That Thomalin can sayne."—Calend. Jul. v. 31 (Nares).
And Heywood, after dividing human diners into three classes thus—
"Some with small fare they be not pleased,
Some with much fare they be diseased,
Some with mean fare be scant appeased,"
adds with truly Elizabethan freedom—
"But of all somes none is displeased." And it just keeps on getting better. You cannot be faulted for reading or skimming the book yourself. I wonder if there is some peever who has taken Shakespeare to task for his grammar or spelling. I also wonder if their is a grammar nazi who has produced anything nearly so fine as Chaucer or Shakespeare has writ. Come to think of it, some in the Early Modern English period began to criticize Chaucer for his not scanning well, and the first instance of Shakespearian criticism extant, towards the end of the 17th century by Thomas Rhymer (an historian, not a literateur) savages him for not writing Neo-Classical tragedies à la The then-in-vogue French. [And, it just dawned on me that the Edwin Abbott Abbott who penned Shakespearian Grammar (linked to above) is none other than the very author of Flatland.]
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Joined: Jun 2002
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
formerly known as etaoin...
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Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,290 |
And this marvellous paragraph from Canby et al. English Composition in Theory and Practice ( link): Participles are equally dangerous. Sometimes, as is the case with pronouns, their reference is vague.
Hastening up the steps, the door opened.
On entering'the room, the eye is struck by a huge chandelier.
After eating a hearty dinner, our carriages were brought to the door.
Lost in meditation, the minutes fleeted past.
Each sentence above illustrates what is called the "dangling participle." There is no one word to which the participle definitely refers. In each sentence except the third, they refer presumably to words in a preceding sentence. In the third, the participle refers to the antecedent of our. Errors of this sort are especially common. Participles much be watched; they cannot be trusted without strict surveillance. Make your participles refer to some definite person, thing, or idea. Moreover, see that they refer to some particular person, thing, or idea. Make it clear that they modify one word, and only one; see that they are not ambiguous. This animus toward the natural and genial aspects of language would be laughable if it were not so frightening.
Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
seriously, give people a little credit!
formerly known as etaoin...
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
As for the second one, hopefully when I enter a room at least one of my eyes will enter, also.
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Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 5,295 |
Yet it's hard to make a wrong one on purpose. I can't.
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
Thinking about it a little, dangling participles come quite easily.
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Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 724
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jun 2000
Posts: 724 |
Dangling a participle, you cannot expect to get by the grammar police.
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Posts: 876
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 876 |
My best friend once got me two buttons. One said "Grammar Police" and the other "Grammar Police enforce the Syntax"...
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