Pinboard: bookmarks for fjordaan tagged 'english'

In linguistics, a phatic expression (pronounced /ˈfætɨk/) is one whose only function is to perform a social task, as opposed to conveying information.[1] The term was coined by anthropologist Bronisław Malinowski in the early 1900s.

english language linguistics phatic communication social function information
january 2011 by fjordaan

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Our Desperate, 250-Year-Long Search for a Gender-Neutral Pronoun | The Awl

All of which brings us to the backstory of the Fourteenth Amendment, and to the thorny history of gender-neutral language in English. Prescriptive grammarians have been calling for "he" as the gender-neutral pronoun of choice since at least 1745, when a British schoolmistress named Anne Fisher laid down the law in A New Grammar.

history language linguistics sex grammar pronoun discrimination gender neutral male female english
january 2011 by fjordaan

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What is Wrong in Strunk & White's "Elements of Style?" - English Language and Usage - Stack Exchange

We've been told that The Elements of Style has been “Roundly criticized by academic linguists” (plural), and that much of its content is “flat-out wrong or totally misleading”, but not one example has been given, and the only reference presented so far is the essay by Mr. Pullum. That reference demands a response, and since the actual students of language here have not chimed in, I feel I must say something.

strunk white grammar english language style elements response stackexchange
october 2010 by fjordaan

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English Language and Usage - Stack Exchange

English Language and Usage is a collaboratively edited question and answer site for people who love English Language and Usage. It's 100% free, no registration required.

stackexchange english language forum etymology francois comment
october 2010 by fjordaan

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Online Etymology Dictionary

This is a map of the wheel-ruts of modern English. Etymologies are not definitions; they're explanations of what our words meant and how they sounded 600 or 2,000 years ago.

dictionary english etymology language reference
march 2010 by fjordaan

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Double-Tongued Dictionary

A growing lexicon of fringe English, focusing on slang, jargon, and new words.

language reference dictionary english words culture jargon etymology slang doubletongued urbandictionary
october 2009 by fjordaan

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50 Years of Stupid Grammar Advice - ChronicleReview.com

The Elements of Style does not deserve the enormous esteem in which it is held by American college graduates. Its advice ranges from limp platitudes to inconsistent nonsense. Its enormous influence has not improved American students' grasp of English grammar; it has significantly degraded it.

netvouzimported netvouzpublic criticism debunked english geoffrey grammar guide language pullum strunk style white
april 2009 by fjordaan

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English to Afrikaans Dictionary
netvouzimported netvouzpublic afrikaans dictionary engels english tweetalige woordeboek
september 2008 by fjordaan

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languagehat.com: GHOTI.

I imagine most of you are familiar with the old wheeze about fish being spelled ghoti, with gh pronounced as in laugh, o as in women, and ti as in nation. It's regularly attributed to Shaw, but no one has ever found it in his writings, and it turns out, that that's because it goes back before he was born

netvouzimported netvouzpublic comment english francois ghoti language languagehat shaw
april 2008 by fjordaan

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AskOxford: Frequently Asked Questions

We have built a database of some of the questions sent in to the Oxford Word and Language Service team, so it is likely that if your question is a fairly broad one on grammar, usage, or words then it will be answered here. Simply choose a category and then browse the list of questions.

netvouzimported netvouzpublic english faqs grammar language oxford trivia
december 2007 by fjordaan

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Sanjeev's Art and Letters Archive

Sanjeev.NETwork