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L1 TABLE OF
CONTENTS OF VARIATION IN THE DATA
L2 DAUGHTER LANGUAGES OF ENGLISH
L3 ENGLISH PROCESSUAL VERB MODALITIES (unrev.)
L4 --------------
L5
STATIC MORPHEMES, DYNAMIC
FORMATIVES, AND COMPOUND
MORPHOLOGICAL BOUNDARIES (UNDER CONTRUCTION)
L6 SYSTEM
OF ENGLISH INTONATION
L7 HOW GRAMMARS OF ENGLISH HAVE
MISSED THE BOAT (1st ed.)
L8 ABOUT YOU AND YOUR ENGLISH GRAMMAR
(forthcoming)
L9 PRONOUN FORMS AND VERB
MODALITIES IN ENGLISH (See
also L26 and L67, L70; also 39)
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Take
note that pronouns forms do not follow a "case" principle in English any more than in French. The English verb
system is today quite different from that of both Germanic and
Romance languages, not least with regard to the exochronous
modality, which is becoming a new "subjunctive."
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L10 MYTHS AMONG FOREIGNERS
ABOUT ENGLISH NON-SIBILANT
FRICATIVES
L11
CONCERNING ENGLISH DARK "L" & RELATIONS AMONG
SONORANTS
L12 THE PEDAGOGICAL PRINCIPLES OF "PEELING THE ONION" &
"TEACHING
EXCEPTIONS FIRST"
L13 HOW FAR ABSTRACTION SHOULD REACH
L14 A FEW
CORRIGENDA. & ADDENDA TO WHY MORE ENGLISH
NSTRUCTION WON'T MEAN BETTER GRAMMAR
L15 SO-CALLED "CANADIAN
RAISING" IN DIALECTOLOGY
L16 MISUSES
OF LENGTH MARKERS IN TRANSCRIBING
SOUTHERN STATES ENGLISH
L17 PRONOUNCING PROBLEMATIC ENGLISH
WORDS & OTHER
PROBLEMS WITH ENGLISH (see also L80)
L18 CONTINUATION OF L17;
L55 CONTINUES 18
L19 TURNING THE TABLES ON PRE-EMPTIVE
NEUTRALIZATION
WHEN SETTING UP UNDERLYING
REPRESENTATIONS
L20 ANNOTATING NUCLEAR SATELLITES
L21 ABSURDITIES ACCEPTED BY MANY
LINGUISTS
L22 BACKWARD SONORANT-GEMINATION
L23 ADDENDA TO ENGLISH PHONETIC
TRANSCRIPTION
L24 LISTS & FRAGMENTS vs. SYSTEM
IN STUDYING
ENGLISH SOUNDS
L25 LINKS TO LINKS ON TEACHING
ENGLISH AS A 2d LANGUAGE
L26 THOSE MISNAMED
"SUBJUNCTIVES"; SUBSTITUTES FOR THE
DEFUNCT ENGLISH SUBJUNCTIVE (See also L9, L54,
L67; ALSO L39.)
L27 TELL-TALE UN-ENGLISH MARKERS IN
THE USAGE OF
FOREIGNERS WHOSE ENGLISH IS OTHERWISE GOOD
L28
THE WORST DEFICIENCIES OF THE
INTERNATIONAL PHONETIC
ALPHABET
L29 MARKING THEORY IN HISTORICAL
RECONSTRUCTION
L30 A SILLY CONFUSION ABOUT
"MARKEDNESS" BY WRITERS
ON THAT SUBJECT
L31 THE FOLLY OF ISOGLOSSES AND THE
SPURIOUS "MIDLAND"
DIALECT OF AMERICAN ENGLISH
L32 VARIATION CLASSIX
L33 THE CAUSE OF UNDECIDABILITY AMONG
THEORIES
L34 "THAN WHOM" AND GRAMMARIANS'
INEPTITUDE
L35 LISTING AND BEAN-COUNTING
(NUMB-ERS) vs. SYSTEMS
AND SYTEMATICITY
L36 IS THERE A STANDARD
ENGLISH? WHAT MAKES A USAGE
(UN)GRAMMATICAL [An unedited revision was recently put
online by
mistake; this is a better version.]
L37
BILINGUALISM WOULDN'T BE THE PROBLEM THAT IT IS IF
FOREIGN LANGUAGES WERE
GENERALLY TAUGHT AT THE
RIGHT AGE
L38 CONFUSION
OVER LIGHT AND DARK "L"
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CONFUSIONS
OF PAST AND PAST-ANTERIOR MODALITIES
Now that the
past-anterior modality formed with have has been disappearing on
the media, we hear uses that would not previously have been
acceptable; e.g. "Your call will be answered in the order in
which it was received." Most salient, however, is the
disappearance of past-counterfactuals formed with had.
Instead of "If she had been there," we now hear "If
she was there," which would be all right if we were not con-
veying a counterfactual assumption, as in the open conditional
clause in "If she was there, I'm sure she was able to find
that article." This use is so passé for many that when
I recently submitted an article containing the usage under
discussion, the editor of a publication of a prestigious
university misunder- stood it and, as I discovered when the
article appeared in print the was had been changed to were,
resulting in the twofold errors of changing a past open condition
to a present counterfactual! Well, there are many things
that were formerly unacceptable that now prevail, at least on the
media. Gram- mar changes; it is not static! |
L39 MAY HAVE, MIGHT HAVE.
& PAST COUNTERFACTUALS [up-
dated 2-8-01]
(See L57.) FOR MODAL VERBS, CLICK ALSO L93.
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potential
MAY (HAVE)
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used for
possibilities in non-past time; may have is used for
possibility in any past time up till now; e.g.
"They may (have) put it there." One cannot say
"It may have survived" when it is known that it didn't
survive or hasn't survived!
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conditional-potential
MIGHT (non-past)
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used for a
doubtful non-past possibility; obviously
NOT SUITED for direct
(non-quoted) PRAYERS;
e.g.
"They might (have) put it there." Note:
"It might have survived if such and such had not
happened."
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conditional-potential MIGHT
(HAVE) (past)
past-posterior |
used for
doubtful possibilities in past time; e.g.
"They might have put it there yesterday"; "They said that it might arrive on time."
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| permissive MAY |
non-past; e.g.
"You may stay." |
| permissive MIGHT |
with a past
verb; e.g. "She said they might stay." |
permissive MAY
interrogative |
direct, polite
offer; e.g. "May I help you?" |
| permissive MIGHT
interrogative |
more hesitant
polite offer; e.g. "Might I inquire where you are from?" |
L40 A FEW WHYs FOR LINGUISTS
L41 TABLE OF CONTENTS OF
ESSAYS ON TIME-BASED
LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS
 L42 "WHOM" &
PIED-PIPING ADPOSITIONS
L43 LONG & SHORT INFINITIVES IN
ENGLISH
L44 WHAT IS DEVELOPMENTAL
LINGUISTICS?
L45 BASIC ASPECTS OF MARKEDNESS
THEORY IN
DEVELOPMENTAL LINGUISTICS
L46 ENGLISH DICTIONARIES (NOT YET
ONLINE)
L47 WHAT LANGUAGE IS vs. HOW IT
IS USED
L48 WAS CHOMSKY'S REVOLUTION A NEW
PARADIGM? THREE
APPROACHES TO ANALYSING LANGUAGES [updated
20030421]
L49 LINGUISTIC EXPLANATION:
ILLUSTRATIONS FROM
VARIATION THEORY
L50
EVIDENCE FOR MARKED ENVIRONMENTS
(UNDER CONSTRUCTION)
L51
LEARNING NEW TESTAMENT GREEK IN A LOGICAL ORDER--
THE MIRROR-IMAGE OF THE
USUAL ORDER [under construction]
L52
INSINNUENDOS ABOUT CONTRAPONENT "LAY" AND
PRETERITIVE "HAVE
GOT (TO)"
L53
ENGLISH CONDITIONALS (see also L54) (updated 10-15-01)
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HYPOTHESIS
CLAUSES IN CONDITIONAL SENTENCES |
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PAST |
Neutral: "If it was ready yesterday," |
Counterfactual:
"If sit had been ready yesterday," [also: "If it hadda been ready yesterday," and
"If it would've been ready yesterday,"] |
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Consider the double (surcomposite) past-anterior
(which has parallels in French and German): "If I'da (hadda,
had've) been there, . . . Many educated speakers use this
form. [Note how "If I'b been" has "'d"
assimilated to "b" by a normal English sound rule; in
faster tempos, the two "bb"s coalesece and we hear
"If I been"--where "'d" ("had") gets
entirely lost. The doubled form prevents this. Since
"If I had have" (used by one British playwright) sounds
strange, it is
easy for "If I'd've been" to be misinterpreted as "If
I would've been"--though there are other rea- sons for using
this last form. Note further that 'd stands for had, would,
and--after a WH-word (what, who, how, when,
where, why, etc.) as well as so-did.
(This is an environment in which 's can stand for does.)] |
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NON-
PAST |
Neutral:
"If it's ready now/tomorrow"; "If it has
been done by now/ tomorrow," [
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Counterfactual:
"If it were/was ready now"
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When If is deleted (allowed if the
verb is "were, should, could"), was cannot be
used in place of were: "Were it ready now, . .
."; "Should it have arrived, . .
." Note the similarity of
present counterfactual and past neutral: "If it was
ready," |
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Dubitative
(non-expectative) non-past conditionals are normally made as
follows: "If they did that tomorrow."
or "If they should do that tomorrow,"
More concessive is: "If they were to do that tomorrow,"
Agreeing with a doubtful contingency is: "If in that
case they would do it tomorrow."
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Compare this expectative posterior: "If they (wi)ll do it
tomorrow," and
this more concessive version of the foreoing: "If they're
gonna do it tomorrow,"
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L54
CURRENT REPLACEMENTS OF THE DEFUNCT ENGLISH "SUBJUNCTIVE"
(See L53 and also L9 and L26 as
well as L39.) (updated 10-15-10
L-55
CONTINUATION OF L18
L-56
TRANSLATING VERB TENSES, MODES, AND DIATHESES
L-57
OF vs. 'S
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The construction [X's
Y] + [modifier of X]
should
be changed to [Y of X][modifier
of X] |
| The dog's kennel that is black. ==>
The kennel of the dog that is black. |
L-58 THOUGHTS ON HOW TO ANALYSE PRE-CATALOGUED
AND
PRE-CLASSIFIED LANGUAGE DATA
L-59 VARIATION THEORY
IN A DIAGRAM
L-60
L-61
PROVEN
OR PROVED? ATTRIBUTIVE vs. PREDICATIVE
L-62 THE
NON-NATIVE SPEAKER'S TRAP: Until/Till or By?
L-63 "TOY-OTA"
OR "TO-YOTA"? "WILL-YUM" OR "WI-(L)YUM"?
SYLLABIZING "Y" BETWEEN VOWELSL64
FINER,
MORE FINE,
FINEST, OR MOST FINE?--REAL USAGE
L65
L64 FINER,
MORE FINE, FINEST, OR MOST
FINE?--REAL USAGE
L65 TWO SHORT ARTICLES ON ENGLISH
L66 WORDS THAT ARE OR LOOK LIKE SINGULARS OR PLURALS
BUT MAY IN MARKED
SITUATIONS BE USED OTHERWISE
L67 USING ENGLISH VERB FORMS COMPOUNDED WITH THE
AUXILIARY VERB HAVE--WHICH EXCEPT FOR THE PAST-ANTERIOR
MODALITY IS USED FOR A PAST RELATIVE TO A NON-PRESENT
L68
HOW NEW LANGUAGES GET BORN
L69
[TO BE REPLACED]
L70
"LET'S, LEMME, HASTA/HAFTA/HADDA,
GOTTA, USETA, WANNA, BE SPOSETA," AND "BE
BOUNDA" IN A GOOD ENGLISH LEXICON
L71
TEACHING
A NON-THEORETICAL COURSE IN A THEORETICALLY
ADEQUATE WAY SO AS TO MAKE IT
AN INTELLECTUAL ADVENTURE
FOR STUDENTS
L72
PRONOUNCING STRESSED AND UNSTRESSED "UI"
L73
THE ENGLISH INFINITIVE AND SPLIT INFINITIVES
L74
PARTS OF SPEECH OF ENGLISH (TO BE AVAILABLE
SOON)
L75
CATEGORIES OF THE ENGLISH VERB
(TO BE AVAILABLE SOON) [What "tense' is found in be going to have had to do
in the sentence, "It's the worst thing I'm ever going to have had to do"?]
L76
FOUR KINDS OF NUCLEAR LENGTH IN ENGLISH
L77
CLEFT AND CLOVEN SENTENCES
L78
KINDS OF QUESTIONS IN ENGLISH
L-79
DECEIVED
BY CALQUES: THE FATE ON THE NON-SYSTEMATIC MIND
L-80
PRONOUNCING
FOREIGN WORDS IN ENGLISH
L-81
WHAT IN FACT A GRAMMAR IS
L-82
HOW GRAMMARS HAVE MISCUED
L-84
USES OF AS IN ENGLISH
L-85
HOW IRREGULARITIES COME ABOUT
L-86
CAN YOU THINK GRAMMATICALLY?
L-87
RE#PRE+SENT
OR RE+P~RE+SENT? RE#CREATION OR
RE+C~CREATION? PRO#DUCE OR
PRO+D~UCTIVITY?
L-88
TRYING TO SHOW OFF BY USING PLURALS FROM
LATIN AND GREEK BUT GETTING THE WRONG DECLENSION
L-89
LINGUISTS OR BILINGUALS AND POLYGLOTS: WHAT'S
THE DIFFERENCE?
L90
[replaced by L103] L91
WHAT IS CORRECTNESS IN
PRONUNCIATION AND SYNTAX?
L92
WHY WE CAN
SAY "THEY HAVE ALWAYS DONE IT AT NOON "
BUT NOT "THEY HAVE DONE IT AT NOON" AND NOT
"MY PET EATS
NOW" (UNLESS NOW CONTRASTS WITH THEN OR
MEANS"NOWADAYS")
L93
APPENDIX TO L92.html WITH FURTHER
INFORMATION
ON MODAL VERBS
L94
ALL
OF, BOTH OF, MOST OF, SOME OF L95
A LANGUAGE THAT IS NOT AN INTERNATIONAL
LANGUAGE OR THE PREVAILING OR OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF A
COUNTRY IS NOT A "DIALECT"! L96
DID ANCIENT
GREEK HAVE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BIMORIC (LONG) AND ONE-MORA (SHORT)
DIPHTHONGS?
L97
HOW GREEK AND
LATIN WORDS ARE
TO BE PRONOUNCED IN ENGLISH
L98
WORDS MISSING FROM YOUR DICTIONARY
L99
THINGS THAT AMERICAN
DIALECTOLOGISTS SHOULD
KNOW—BUT
MANY APPARENTLY
DO NOT: SYLLABICATION
AND OTHER
DIFFERENCES AND THEIR EFFECTS
ON ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION
L100
THE
ESTABLISHED, TRADITIONAL PRINCIPLES FOR TRAN-
SCRIBING AND PRONOUNCING GREEK AND LATIN WORDS IN
ENGLISH
L101
MISUSING THE TERM DIALECT
L102 RECREATION :
RE-CREATION, REPRESENT : RE-PRESENT, AND
LEEWARD : LEE#WARD
L103-A
GOOPHASMS FROM THE U. S.
MEDIA:
HOW SPEAKERS ON THE MEDIA
BETRAY THE WAYS THEY FALL SHORT OF BEING CORRECT
L104
MICROSOFT'S MACROGOOPH: MISHMASH SYMBOL CHART
L105 ONGOING
SOUND-CHANGES IN ENGLISH
L106 WHAT SCHOOLS
SHOULD TEACH ABOUT ENGLISH
L107 THE MYTH OF AN
"OLD ENGLISH" THAT NEVER WAS
L108 HAVEN'T VS. DIDN'T:
A SPAN OF TIME VS. A MOMENT IN TIME PLUS
A FEW OTHER
PROBLEMS WITH ENGLISH
L109 VETEBRAY OR VETERBREE?
L110 S(ENTENCE)-ADVERBS
AND OTHER ADVERBS |
