Essay on Prescriptive Approach Vs Descriptive Approach to Language

Because of this, they are less concerned about prescribing rules to be followed since the language is going to change anyway. To descriptivists, it seems rather pointless. However, Garner refutes this stance by describing an earthquake. In the grand scheme of everything, a single earthquake hardly amounts to anything. Millions of other natural disasters happen every day in every continent of the earth. What makes that earthquake special? Compared to the rest of the world, it means nothing. But to the people living in the city where the earthquake struck, it means everything. So it is with grammar. One cannot simply say that good grammar and usage does not matter in the grand scheme of things. It matters to the people who are speaking the language right now! Garner argues that the majority of English-speakers have no concern over where their language is headed but are more concerned with correct usage and proper grammar. Garner also points out another issue which refutes the describers belief that language is one of instinct, not of choice. Garner quotes MIT graduate, Steven Pinker, who relates language to the song of the humpback whale. Pinker criticizes the prescriptivists in their stringent rules that confine individuals to make what he believes to be unnecessary choices because he believes that

“Authority and American Usage” written by David Foster Wallace, poses an argument about the English language, and the different beliefs of its usage. This essay was written in defense of Bryan A. Garner’s, A Dictionary of Modern American Usage. His argument in “Authority and American Usage” is the difference the between prescriptivism perception and the descriptivism perception (Linguistic terms that could easily be made into smaller, more understandable words for people like me). Since the beginning of time, language has evolved. From biblical times, to Shakespearean times, to present day; the English language has been continuously changing since it’s birth and has no intentions on stopping.

Bahauddin grabbed for a place to rest his hand while he lifted his feet, climbing through the shaft, out of the caverns. Every crack of stone was filled with overgrown moss, As he rose, he could see the sky was just before nightfall. The only sound around was the howl of the wind, and the keys clanging against each other like a windchime during a breezy spring afternoon. Ascending up the shaft, he was cautiously concentrating for each and every placement of his hands and feet, careful not to slip. Bahauddin’s hand grasped the top of the shaft. The sky was painted with brush strokes of blood orange, reflecting a glare off the keys. Outside, it had looked like a warzone. No buildings fully structured, not a person in sight, just crumbs

Society has contradictory attitudes when things are different and inevitably this makes the individual face challenges, which can be overcome by the understanding of the

There have always been two major approaches of language. There is the prescriptive approach where the prescriptive linguist believes that there is a way that language should be spoken and written. On the other hand, there is the descriptive approach where the descriptive linguist thinks that a language is the way native speakers of the language use it and the way they agree upon. The issue of whether putting relational words toward the end is adequate or not has the two methodologies debating if the rule should be a rule since the usage of the language in reality contradicts the rule. The speakers of the dialect are consummation sentences and provisos with a relational word, however the first manage says to never end a sentence with a relational word. This made a progressing wrangle about whether ending a sentence with a relational word is adequate or not. To better comprehend this perplexity, one must comprehend what a relational word is. The most fundamental definition of preposition is giving by Spear as he defines preposition as “a word that is used to create a relationship between a noun and other words in a sentence“ (77) . Probably the most widely recognized relational words are: on, in, to, by, for, with, at, of, from, as, under, over, about, above, beneath, behind, and between. Also, the general rule is that preposition stand before the word it governs. However, there are some grammarians and linguists and language experts who think that placing prepositions at the

Beginning a 12-minute journey, leaving my residence Piedmont North A; I headed to Starbucks. From the speed of the wind to the coolness of the air, I could tell that the season of Fall was finally beginning. The falling leaves of the trees were starting to leave a trail, and as I was beginning to approach the establishment, the aroma of coffee beans was lingering in the air.

“There are many instances, however, where reality and what we are taught do not correspond as to actual “correctness”, the actual acceptability, of what we are told to avoid”, states Hall (14). The liberal view is amoral because there is no standard for anyone using language and grammar. There is an attitude of nonchalance when analyzing what the linguist believes, therefore what is socially acceptable will work, for the linguist. Hall also states, “It is easy, on the one hand, to see that those who talk or advertise in this way and offer to cure our errors in pronunciation or grammar are simply appealing to our sense of insecurity with regard to our own speech.” The idea that linguists believe correct pronunciation and grammar usage being enforced affects one’s insecurity is amoral. The criticism of grammar and speech should encourage a person to use the correct rules and pronunciation which can lead to building confident speakers and writers. If linguist continue to find correcting affecting insecurities, individuals will never understand why preserving language is so

Through someone’s aspect, it could be considered as the most efficient communicating tool of human being. On the other hand, some people may treat it as an irreplaceable expression of their emotion. Objectively speaking, “words” could definitely be concluded in both ways above, but in my opinion, using words is a privilege and honor. I use words to gain knowledge and words give me all kinds of possibilities of understanding new stuff when I intend to enhance my personal abilities.

Specialists in descriptive grammar (linguists) examine the principles and patterns that underlie the use of words, phrases, clauses, and sentences. In contrast, prescriptive

After I confessed , I blacked out due to a blow on the head from a short man. The mocking police officers took me into a compact, windowless , musty room that looked like it has been there since the dawn , or maybe even earlier, of time.

Imagine: It’s the weekend and you’ve decided to have a get-away with your friends. The winters have never really seemed to phased you, though this one seems to be much colder than usual. You invite everyone up to your family’s cabin up in the remote woods on Blackwood Mountain, a snow-covered mount of rocks in western Canada. Everyone is together, but as the night progresses you have a sense of someone watching you through the windows of the cabin. You’re excited for the night because your crush accepted your invitation to come along. To your surprise, your crush invites you to a bedroom but once you arrive you realize it was all a prank when you hear the laughter and your friends coming out filming the entire occurrence. You’re humiliated. You run and run fast, past the kitchen, out the front door and into the blistering cold. Your heart is pounding loud in your ears and the tears are beginning to hit the cold air, causing your cheeks to tingle. It’s dark, and you begin to lose track of where you are. The woods have a tendency of doing such. You hear noises and you realize you’re being followed. Running with all of the power you can muster, you hit the edge of a cliff with nowhere to go. The thing chasing you is now drawing near. You have nowhere to go, nowhere to turn. You feel the rock underneath your feet slip and you begin to fall. The cold air is rushing by you as you plummet, in a quick fleet of

bbI walked down to the beach by myself along side of a desolate road. The wind tossed the palm trees and my long hair in every direction. The sun was setting and the sky turned sort of a pink and lavender color which reminded me of my mother. Pebbles on the ground tickled the bottoms of my bare feet as I pondered about her. How her favorite color was lavender, how her hair always smelled like the pink tropical flowers in our front yard, how she always smiled and appreciated the rain for its beauty (even if it meant we couldn’t go surfing), she had dark olive skin with freckles across her nose and top of her cheekbones. Green eyes and a beautiful wide smile that always appeared to be on her face even when times were rough. I didn’t really look my mom, I had freckles like her but my face structure was totally different. Actually I looked like no one in my family. In fact, at family gatherings and reunions I was often asked if I was a good family friend. Even if people thought I looked a little bit like my mom (because of the freckles) they wouldn’t tell me because they were constantly trying to avoid an awkward conversation.

The eyeliner makes the dark circles less pronounced. The lip gloss hides the trembling. The ponytail conceals missing patches of hair. The Abercrombie sweater covers bruises. I might look at bit thinner, so everyone will ask about my new diet. My hair might not shine the way it used to, so the pink ribbon will distract curious eyes. One hour of preparation and I look like myself. One hour of preparation and no one will know. One hour out of 24. Sometimes I wonder if it’s worth it, wasting a twenty-fourth of my day on a lie. But then I see my wispy hair and baggy eyes, and I have to do it.

Okay, for you to understand this, I’m going to have to give you the names of all the people I’ll be talking about. Mum’s name is Ivana, Ivana Twydell. My sister is Meg, her boyfriend called himself Kole but I first knew him as Mr. Dunport - Declan Dunport . . .

Uncle Hyunwoo tutted in annoyance when the lead of his pencil snapped while finishing a Sudoku he had started in the morning. He glanced at the clock: 7:38 pm. Hyunjung had told him she was staying another two hours after school, so he expected her to have been back by 6:45 at the latest and it had now been almost more than an hour since then.