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A DIFFERING VIEW: Rosen misleads readers in his grammar lesson

The Rocky

Published February 7, 2008 at midnight

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Mike Rosen is quite correct (“The trouble with English,” Feb. 1) that there is nothing grammatically incorrect about a “split infinitive,” despite what Mrs. Wellington used to say in my seventh-grade English class, back in the prehistoric era when teachers still believed that it was a good idea for children to be taught the basics of English grammar.

However, the example he generously allows himself, “have lately taken,” is not an infinitive of any kind, just a verb form containing more than one word, and an adverb in its usual and customary place after the first of them.

An infinitive expresses the part of the meaning of a verb that is independent of the person, number, gender and tense, as you likely know if there was a Mrs. Wellington in your past. Like “to take,” or “to be,” as infinitives are written in English. In Latin, they're single words — esse — whence cometh the peculiar idea that they shouldn’t be split in English.

The rest of Rosen's column illustrates another peculiar phenomenon — that people who know nothing at all about linguistics assume they do because they speak and write a language, and in absence of actual knowledge they just make stuff up.

There are principles that govern the alternation of “a” and “an,” but they’re phonetic, not grammatical as Rosen describes them. “A hot dog,” but “an uncooked hot dog” and “a delighted heir.”

Rosen writes, “... sports jargon is often granted special exemption from the rules of grammar.” Granted by whom, hmmm? I’m surprised he didn’t complain about the “passive tense.”

I’d probably say “four RBIs,” as Rosen prefers, but whether and where to put the “s” in an acronym is very idiosyncratic, and often different for abbreviations.

Rosen is correct that pronouncing height as “hithe” instead of “hite” is wrong, but so is explaining why by recourse to “weight,” which would argue just as cogently for “hayt.”

Stick to politics, Mike. It’s less problematic, because nobody knows what they’re talking about.

Linda Seebach, a former Rocky editorial writer, is a resident of Northfield, Minn.

Comments

  • February 7, 2008

    6:20 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Old_Grouch writes:

    Ms. Seebach might want to look at the principle of grammer that holds a singular noun - "nobody" - takes a singular pronoun - "he", or "she", NOT the plural, "they". However . . . !

    One might ask if anybody at the RMN, really knows what he, or she, is talking about, in or out of "politics".

  • February 7, 2008

    7:58 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    revorants writes:

    Friends,
    This column of his looked as if he wrote it on the bus to grade school. Why do they keep this buffoon? Rosen does not belong in our paper. Turn him off.

    Rev O

  • February 7, 2008

    10:11 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    lindaseebach writes:

    @Old_Grouch
    As I noted, people who don't know anything about linguistics often incorrectly believe they do. The so-called "principle of grammer" (sic) that "nobody" is always a singular noun (or "they" always a plural pronoun -- it can be analyzed either way) allows for a variety of exceptions, going back to the King James Bible and earlier. See, for example, numerous posts on the linguistics Weblog "Language Log."

    How would OG complete the tag question, "I guess nobody liked the dessert, did ____?"

  • February 7, 2008

    10:33 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    irisman writes:

    Linda,Nobody granted the sports writers an exemption, because there never was a central authority in England to mandate correct grammar and pronunciation, as there was in France and Spain. This situation has led to centuries of bickering. If sports writer jargon is understood and accepted by sports fans, so be it. Just avoid using sports writer jargon in a scholarly article.

  • February 7, 2008

    10:39 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Speedy_66 writes:

    reverants,

    Rosen does not belong in our newspaper? Who in the world do you think you are?!?! Are you the opinion Nazi?