Bad Grammar is Slovenly by Lesley Milroy from Language Myths, edited by Bauer, L. & Trudgill, P. (Penguin, 1998) pp. 94 - 102 i mos language myths ths ane bea number of ueions uch ‘teflon ‘Wat is meant by bad gamma’? Whar ie meat by grammar? (Cn pra sentences of te Engl ngage retonaby be esrb as ‘dlnenly =o Tsang in ere sped, tetvdg to one dior define? “The gust for anewetexoces the mh cl tert, owpaper fesse eter column sed the meter of he BBC ood aes toad complainaboe bd grammar, ichtaret ‘may be gutbered if anguage we Deore esate of publi dete ‘ori carer educational polices se fcsing on Engl thing andtesing a ran recerty any jeer ears hve Ben Sled aboat Essay tep,the me pv to-4 ray ft Tangge which sprendg both sacl and geoph Ecamplesof speci consrucoes ten debe bad garist an be placed i ate thee eto, The fst exemple ia ‘seainces (1-6) slong with the (presumed) correc fom i le, reply cron the peek and wing of ected people (§) Who an speaking tot JT wma Jaen? (2) Manes to cilden ate complet dierent ech the. Marie's elena completly ifn fromcah the (0 Lantus the ier. an se ry uy “Two wel: known ‘row pee in (0), sal the preporion in ‘he stencil pasion and the nominate fr ote ene reson whe! tater than the eigee foam when chp ‘secede preposition. In 2) the expreion“ieent 1 id ‘athe than the prescbed‘ferent ons and in) her spt Iinfiie. to fay the “ore veron vere petrol a sch sell tse nthe stay of he angie pat ofthe ry of echlay activi associed wth teenie ofthe Engh langisge in he eigen entry. Since th ol of odicton i nea pear foaasstandatd tis proceseraled intolerance ofthe get choles hich speaker ane wre fad hehe then for gan, ener cet al hse ‘core appeal in idly spine welt i 60, fo eumple, Thons Deer Woe “How much diferent toa to scared sp bee? ilferetruonalzaions were erode 1 1pm these new respons The model of tin wat avoked to rpc tat prep eftan shoud ot end a setence that te Hee fom of mo ‘ould not ppeor anywhere other then inthe bj of te sete and that an ine should aot be spl. The rasan advanced by ‘newt of: poplar manual of crsecns or tering iret from ita ‘erent elegance no one wad ty ioe fon Betts notifies a consreeta eully ogi egwnent in sapor of ‘ferent ine i Bint sete words wth oman nanings sch ss mar, equa perio hich ee ‘0, Not ony are prescpie argumeste cl to wasn, bot ‘ker sey they ae ely to cee problems. For eample. Who am lapeakeg Is normal in rns comet we “To whom seating? wil general be ierreted ae narting weal dinance “Thusthe rel erence beeen hese form tsps bth re grad Engh senenes in spproprte conten. orsimes a emp 0 Glow the preerbed alee produce odd el (AYA good author nade to deep a clear ses of who het ing for (5) A good author nse vo denop acest or won se ong “The pectin, sehich uae (4 andy 9s des not work bees not based on principled aati ofthe eacare of Egish bu ira cespons to eats pli presres- the cigheri entry Beat needed tanned langue 6 mest the needs of groprapicly seated colonial goverment tran and feitte mass education. lida 00 mach ter whch ‘tet of vasa emerged atin, Tongs only ne wt specie a sch, The proribed sandr wat codified i grat (Guchat Robert Lith) and tions the most fous bing Ot Jason). No sera grammat of Engh exited st that ne, but Late had a paren poetige a th ng rane of choles throughout Eaope ence the appl not ol loi Bt to te ‘ode af atin sy parealarpreseipions, But swe shal sce only, English rls se very diferent om Latin rls, hou ‘sul comple; ke all Geman rguge Engh ute tray thet prepeaonsinventence fa poson. {By tod pram then sometimes res’ empresdone which ate ot neh eves unrediscprecrptors. Bt what spammer (Over reft o pecripve pant whic nots systematic escipion ofa lings butasor flings equ, setaly fan a leny set of dn and don Two er Kind fama al beaininguhed ~a desnpeveammnas and eval grea. ‘A ceciptv raramar doc nots ou oleate on cares, but dsbes how words ar pateredo form major consents of sentences The snc rls of Eglh whieh dee ese pat {ernarerulby chides ander byspeters othe guages butte geerly then for granted by presciptive grammars. One bier of his ype dees ow question are formed in Engi. Conse telling declarative venener ond heir correrporing, ‘qvesions: (Manatees sizer, (@) Manda cooking nse Cr dese nih (@) Mania shold have poked gre for ine ‘right (G) My ne fatnate who has won the Cede Se cooling cei eeraing with 3 pry cig. (10) Marta cooks sane every Py (69) Manta Perse (Ga 1s Mace cooking spn fo dine ih? (G5) Sbald Mara bave conked lange for ler ong? (62) lm noe tent who as wor De Cordon Bleu ooking conte leben ith party tonight? (cos Doe Mana caleagne very Frcs? Sentence (0) makes the ale sem spe: the vob mores t the Tegining ofthe sentence However, (9) nd (8) coins complex ‘eb phe, consiting of lee verb and one or nce sua verb: Level web con be Wetied a iorary eis nd fort alot infty ge cas which constant beng magenta Uynewborovingsandinvences exampes ae ick mea veg, compan, ute chole, debug (ome of tse word can bare ‘ook ns verb and une) The set of wath vere, were i hal ted comin of forme of be (ach rand ae foe hve fem fda mda och mat, lit, od, ail. (ad (8 show, the question formation rule aves the [ot aia eto the bepinnng of he teen Bt (9) BOWE ‘atti does ot ales wok Simpl mating he ea su er produc rly wngrammato setece hich ot in wth there ed by ay sph of 38) Lind of Eageh. Tis Bind of (0) Has a tate who wom the Cordon Bea cooking comet ekebrating with 2 pry ong “To ae hi problem we need to modify ou al: the sje of he sentence changer placa wih the next salary ve, wich ends ge one he emcee Re bt) show (02) yma wha hs wo the Cord hi ‘eleeatng wi pany tonight Subjects of semances ca be of ferent kinds ey canbe sage ods (he, Marta arma eseren as of we pases (my Incl feta fom al The subject (9 ae lege and ‘mbesnome but we ca fomidate he question le coherety oly Ste ecognite ht he bet of) the whole Sues my ee [atmai wh bs wom the Cordon Be tng oct a sr Soe Favtoft Bet complicated ati rule ates ll ees Somefinetuning,Oterite bow doe handle sentence (i) wick tresnotconinanassney vet or somccenresEagshspskst have ot formed questns in the manner of Oo (Thal tou make ale ofelousy.-) by moving the xia both ont ofthe sentence In such css) wend spy he FPP Foc of da as shown by (ea) But sao fens st a Ye OTE complex specication of over. Conier the wgrasat t- tence (a (9) "Do Martha coks age every day? “Th va cok (oi afte wth to mark presen: ete, 0 Gat pevectene marker mustache ony ove min > (bis onder for the aly garomate quation Go. ‘Altheoperton darbad above re requeedin tee oesastuc 4 frumatea qution. We hee tue the tem ‘pam in 2 {esse very decent fom hat supped bythe presen expesion ‘fed gana? gamatca sentence nhs more echnical ese {ation the ne ofthe lagged by ts ae sees "Theseus ae flowed noni and generally pean, ore pstere dot rake mires of he Hig stated by (a a {Gy However, young cildren tke sre time to sul rales one theenpeld sed, Did aby eed st aight” Secend-enage leaners and speakers with stokes or hen juris ca crily ‘xpetence problems with the gamma f questions, thou ht ‘le very much ce compe than the ist fd ad des ‘hich re the face renege pammars bcuseae of Teds enconsoun, many pecker who sre fama wh he ret Aifrns ue of prope gramiar sly do ot know hat ‘ies This unconscious knowledge of st of rules we have looked ‘oni one of thee) which allows ade spect trode gr [natalentneeandte digas grammatical Rom angen) {entnces (we ded th when we cored (un) eam be Sse a5 mental grammar. Prcpive rls ae nor a complex ss propery fronted scien, and are uly Sea wth by deeptiepamacs. For exiple dicen foto would simp be specu eps ‘het infinitive would ne bean ae since he nb form of thever vst ne vi Who am sean 0" would be viewed {anormal sentence long the ler of agit Sentence ie (2nd) eo sujet 10 popular ck: (99) S01 sido our Tah andor Sanda "Yous wash he dies! (a) Was ou watching the ame wen the sin cae Unite 6, wale ace reps wed by edad apes ant vers both ofthese at haat of staan eke They vere receded especie in est and London ahough tha trate pterm which they sree ae found cee the lowe tatrof ese spaes, ndeedby deaf tr angnge te wh sem in throne to fora the asf neatineclaion aac away soc cespracc digied set eect commentary, an for Us teson ene Hingis as described tcp a helt open door to cbarinioation. But pote ie) maker tema distinc betwen you ings) Shay! (ptr sina t many ngunes ofthe world bt king in Sundar Eghoh Thus (1) cannot be rgd to be in ay ese Fngutialy impoweie {ancther common raonlzaon fa Ales of preenbed vr). Langage nd lec singly vey inthe meaning dinincions ty encode, reps of tesa, Note that () a pare formaed qesion air in the ‘icy of Eagles and wre in sac taences wre axepube sites (eal tat th proces of tanardaton he narrowed the ange of niyo yey acetal ingeize dce tif atk whe ach estenes reson lacing nee snd pretion) we must surly concede that the crea preison ‘euded to nglenent the quinn foram to omer, ‘acing in pepe the ray of requing wee th » pure subj Lt us oak aay a wo emences which stem 0 be sje 10 cet Gr yes dierent earn (6) Me an Andy wea out othe pk. (0) Ws very anova’ tia tin youth a chs diy bdfoccaonaly wih the sco fruit You Keon! tee nel well avec debut! Neder (6) no (7) ae ety mathe soning perder segion but between he they dpi 2 pumber ef haste of ‘Rtocwalspotennglah Utercdbysnadolescentboy s)aeilcaed tthe grounds that the wrong pamoum ese (instead of wed ‘tide sconsioed pre Sphere GricioutofhsLatin based preeripin tat even input l.conasourand quite prerp- ely minded inves srsetneshypercorect ab wie Pwhee tre peorbd (x pricy barge umber of camlsets sb these pternsfponoanaresrereeieedby beBBC) Tse Marre ‘Thacher once announced ne for You snd Lt cone he Mabel economy: and Bil Clinton plade, ‘Give Al Gore a ‘hance’ Bata sytem alysis of Eglsh rama eel we ‘pig aes bleh perm vation beween me nd fon iit ‘one phrase Ts sdlescen: boys donot habia sey Me ‘went out the park liter would ot plead ‘Give chance’ and Totevea Marpacet Tatcher wouldbave sl sno a feo conden the Mal conosy? With pet to pracpie ral, hereon sch a pat beoweer what spesers eee i cers nd what ‘hey scaly a; but derive ree neh subject aon nor ae te prof our conscious knowledge of ngage "Athough convertion ater thought to be anrracarc, ‘nga and slvely (pesmbly whe jaded spies fe ‘oem of wag o formal pete. complex onto en les are quite diferent rom tov of plnnedspeken or ween ‘ecare tno ingly spoken rose. Tasribed rm a eee trea convertion between two teaches (9) 9p of forma onvration ink hanks (mae by 2h), ek do ot eae ‘spond tthe seotenceof wien Eelsh A in eidence ae fies {ich a er, bestaons (aed By fl ops) pas repens, land discourse tokens soch as yo know, mind you. Dat of ese {ears ae atbuabe to convertion erates onine me of Producto, ad the two dicate ches faction a putpuon Iauke galing tothe eicuor at intercon nel eresponse epee. Thus thr seems appropiate to descbe ‘en the spsrenty wtutred wterane (7) a oven. ‘So wat are wets conlsion abou our ean yh “Bad gamuna? se cover tem to describe wnunber of ifereat Meds of [English exresions Some se welt wed by elated speakers and swt bareoutlwedby tonal precronswkichrediia (ssn some appear cove oe peje by vinwe of thee association with lwetatas poops: and sme fallow the very ‘hance atl rac governed pater of lor see Al tee pefealy gratia, prosidng evidence of a cmp body of ‘ls whieh coattte mental grammars the conscious kode ‘hich spate are of om langue In eomparin the pre {pio which ae recommended a good grammar’ ae rv 2 at best narod and frequen at ues sod tea. Sources and farther reading tor dete eine renders repre Rosa pp hw or ee adh oe oh a fame Milo ad Lee Moy, ur in Langan (London Roweige. 83) Foralumorous riguofsoecomnan pes tons ace Baca O'Conner, Woe ii he grammarhab' tide 0 ‘ene El in plain Engi (Nee Yor GroseuPateam, 1996) Mental grammars are dacaned by Steven Pinter, The Cena Insin Lamdon Penguin pe) and for astandac desciptive yo sar of Engl se Sidney Greenbue, The Oxford eh Grammar (Oxfords Oxlord Univerty Pres 9