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language use, etymology, and historical change

language use, etymology, and historical change

Grammar for Teachers

by

essential guide to how English language works

The UK government’s latest policy on English teaching insists that it should be presented ‘across the curriculum’. What this means is that teachers of subjects other than English have to focus the language of their practice as part of normal classroom teaching and learning. This can leave teachers of chemistry, home economics, and physical education feeling rather exposed where formal grammar is concerned. John Seely’s latest book to the rescue! It is aimed at teachers in primary and secondary schools, and will also be useful for those preparing to teach modern foreign languages and English as an additional or foreign language.

Grammar for TeachersAnd he’s well qualified for the job of explaining complex issues. His previous books include Words, The A-Z of Grammar and Punctuation, Effective Writing and Speaking, and Writing Reports.

These are all very popular books which introduce linguistic facets of everyday life in a straightforward manner. This one follows the same pattern. He explains how sentences are built up from subject, verb, and object (Elephants like grass) but puts his emphasis on recognising clause patterns. Then comes an explanation of different types of noun (proper, countable, uncountable) adjectives, verbs, adverbs, and all the other common parts of speech.

In keeping with all the normal rigour of language studies, nothing is examined beyond the length of a single sentence, and his explanations are all as simple and clear as possible. Despite this, there’s still quite a lot of grammatical jargon to take on board (clause elements, prepositional phrases, and modal auxiliaries).

A lot of what he offers is a common sense approach to explaining the categories of grammar – that is, what function a word is performing in any given statement. For instance, work can be a verb or a noun, depending on the context in which it is being used.

The book is in three parts. The first offers basic definitions and explanations; the second goes into more detail; and the third is a big glossary which explains all the technical terms used throughout the book. It also includes other terms that may be be particularly useful for teachers of modern foreign languages. There’s also an appendix explaining what’s required of teachers implementing the literacy strategy in primary schools.

© Roy Johnson 2007

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John Seely, Grammar for Teachers, Oxpecker Press, 2007, pp.172, ISBN: 095534512X

In Other Words

by

a language lover’s guide to intriguing foreign words

This is a book for people who love words – no matter what their origin. In Other Words collects some of the most intriguing and peculiar expressions from countries around the globe for which there are no easy English equivalents. There is an expression in Japanese for instance which describes the particular stress the people there feel when speaking another language. But translated literally, Yokomeshi is ‘a meal eaten sideways’. Yoko means ‘horizontal’ and meshi means ‘boiled rice’. The explanation (and joke) is that Japanese language is normally written vertically. Makes sense now, doesn’t it?

In Other WordsEntries are listed alphabetically by country, and the languages covered include East and West Europe, Nordic, Middle Eastern, African, Asian, and Creole and Pidgin languages. The entries for each group are prefaced by a short essay outlining examples of contemporary usages and problems.

Examples include explanations of terms which have been commonly taken up in English such as enfant terrible and doppelganger, as well as those special terms for which there is no English equivalent, such as the German Torschlusspanik (literally ‘door-shutting panic’) for which the nearest would be ‘fear of being left on the shelf’, and the Yiddish luftmensch – literally somebody who lives on air, but figuratively a person who sponges off those around him.

Actually, some of the examples he offers disprove his own thesis about translatability. The Italian attaccabottone (literally ‘button attacker’) is exactly as the person who in English ‘buttonholes’ you to relate some long tale of woe.

It doesn’t have the in-depth comprehensiveness of a reference such as The Oxford Dictionary of Foreign Words and Phrases, but it offers much longer and quite amusing explanations.

© Roy Johnson 2005

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C.J. Moore, In Other Words, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005, pp.127, ISBN: 0192806246

Literacy in the New Media Age

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theoretical study of writing in the digital age

This is an investigation of the effect of new media on what Gunter Kress calls ‘alphabetic writing’. He is arguing that multimedia and the screen are starting to challenge the page as the natural medium of writing – and that this in turn is affecting the way we write. It’s certainly true that writing for the screen has to be more immediate and heavily chunked than writing for the page, and Kress also argues that the screen is making graphic images more important as a medium of communication.

Literacy in the New Media Age He points out quite rightly that speech and writing are two completely separate systems (which is why many people have problems with writing). The alphabet is actually a loose transcription system for translating between them. His basic argument is that all communication (including linguistics) should be seen as a subset of semiotics. There’s actually not very much about new media discussed – merely an assumption that iconic or visual communication is challenging the dominance of writing.

However, he does make the interesting observation that computers put users in charge of page layout in a way which gives new emphasis to design, as well as providing interactivity between writer and reader.

Having argued that all texts are a result of ideological relationships between author and reader, he even attempts a quasi-political analysis of punctuation. This is not really persuasive, and founders in his attempts to explain or excuse his examples of what is no more than poor writing.

But he does end on an interesting topic of reading paths. That is, the manner in which readers have to construct their own navigational routes when confronting what he calls ‘multimodal’ texts – ones with pictures and words, such as magazines and web pages, for instance.

Although he claims to have left behind an academic style so as to communicate with a wider audience, he writes in a dense and rather abstract manner. The results will be of interest to linguists, educational theorists, and semiologists – though those approaching it with an interest in new media might be a little disappointed.

© Roy Johnson 2003

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Gunther Kress, Literacy in the New Media Age, London: Routledge, 2003, pp.186, ISBN: 041525356X

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Microsoft Manual of Style

by

guidelines for clear technical writing

Microsoft Manual of Style was produced in-house at Microsoft as the style guide for its army of writers who produce the help files and documentation for its products. Except that it’s been re-written for the public, and it’s completely non-prescriptive. They don’t say “This is the way it should be done”. They say “Here’s how we do it at Microsoft. You may find this approach useful”. It starts with a chapter describing the principles on which its house style is built – and these could profitably be adopted by any other organisation or business. Or any individual for that matter.

Microsoft Manual of Style They are not at all particular to Microsoft, but aimed at producing seamlessly efficient communication. The principles include consistency of language, an empathetic attitude towards readers, precision, plain language, simplicity of sentence construction, a nod towards avoiding gender bias, and maintaining grammatical parallelism (which is very useful if you are writing instructions).

These issues are all illustrated by good and bad examples that show clearly the distinction to be made between for instance two apparently identical instructions::

Use this procedure to make any changes to your password.

Follow these steps to change your password.

The second has seven words instead of ten, less fuzz, and more clarity.

There’s a separate section on writing efficiently for the web. You should use the power of headings, sub-headings, bulleted lists, and well-chosen hyperlinks to maximise readability. There’s a specially valuable tip here. In each paragraph, put the conclusion first (what’s called the ‘inverted pyramid’ style) so that readers know if they wish to read on. People scan web pages rather than read them.

It’s not all about instructions and programs. The guidance assumes you might be using videos, blogs, and community-provided content such as wikis. It also keeps in mind that you might be writing for an international audience – but it points out that the guidelines for accommodating this are the same as for writing clearly and persuasively for English-speaking readers anyway. The maximum length of sentences should be twenty-five words.

For those people who will be writing about technology there’s a whole chapter on user interfaces – screens, menus, dialogue boxes, and toolbars – and how to write instructions that are clear and unambiguous. This is bang up to date, because to interact with contemporary devices you now need to include gesture (pich, swipe, zoom) as well as input via speech instructions and keyboard shortcuts.

More technical advice follows – on writing procedures (how to navigate through folders) how to describe cloud computing accurately, how to show code in support documentation, and fine details such as how to use filename extensions and when to use capitalization and bold.

There’s quite a lot on how to display numbers and when to use words (seven databases but a 24-hour day) how to show dates (February 12, 2012 – which is very non-standard) plus how to write captions and compile bibliographies.

On grammar and punctuation they understandably go for simplicity, clarity, and brevity. All the basic common sense rules are illustrated – but are then followed by some not-so-obvious but fascinating illustrations of indexing and list-ordering, including the order in which numerical entries will be listed. For instance 12-hour clock comes before 2-D charts.

There’s a huge list of acronyms with advice on when and when not to spell them out, and then the last half of the book is an alphabetical list of technical terms and commonly used words and phrases with illustrated explanations of good styling. They range from am/pm, through less and fewer, to ZIP codes and how to spell the plural of zero.

There are two indexes – one at the front and another at the back of the book – so it’s easy to find any detail you need to check. The latest fourth edition does its best to keep up to date with the ever expanding language of technology – app, cloud, and sync as well as terabyte (TB), petabyte (PB), and on up to yottabyte (YB). And it’s interesting to note that E-mail and Web site have now become email and website as these terms have now become part of everyday language.

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&copy Roy Johnson 2012

Microsoft Corporation, Microsoft Manual of Style, Microsoft Press: Redmond (WA), fourth edition, 2012, pp.438, ISBN: 0735648719

Style guide links

Red button Writing guides compared

Red button Writing skills – an annotated bibliography

Red button Editing and Revising Text

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Mother Tongue

by

English language – its history and peculiarities

If you are interested in language, this is the sort of book which will both entertain you and stimulate you to learn more. Bill Bryson re-tells the history of the English language in a way which is both amusing and well-informed. His account is shot through with a gift for bringing statistics alive and illustrating complex issues with striking anecdotes. He covers the history of the language, its odd spelling system, and its even stranger pronunciation; varieties of English from around the world; American English; swearing; where words and names come from, and how English is likely to develop in future.

English LanguageHe has an excellent chapter on the irregularities of English spelling. This explains why problems occur, he outlines the various doomed schemes for spelling reform, and he even mounts a persuasive defence of retaining all the irregularities.

Imposing Latin rules on English structure is a little like trying to play baseball in ice skates

He is astonishingly well informed. Although his principal focus is English, you will come away with a lot of information on many other languages. Basque for instance is not related to any other language in the world. [Not many people know that.]

His general approach is refreshingly democratic and anti-stuffy. Most of the people who have tried to regulate language have failed, and he is happy to explain where they have gone wrong.

He pays homage to the great dictionary compilers – Samuel Johnson, Noah Webster, and John Murray – all of them amateurs with no professional training – and he is quite obviously intimately acquainted with their works.

There’s a very amusing chapter on swearing in which he tackles the hard Anglo-Saxon words head on – without any sense of coyness.

Bill Bryson has recently become a best-selling travel writer This book demonstrates the solid foundations of scholarly linguistic knowledge on which that reputation has been built.

It’s packed with interesting nuggets of information about English in particular and language in general. Readable; entertaining; highly recommended.

© Roy Johnson 2009

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Bill Bryson, Mother Tongue, London: Penguin Books, 2nd edn, 2009, pp.288, ISBN: 0141040084

New Media Language

by

new forms of language, rhetoric, and communication

This is a collection of papers given at a conference on ‘Language, Media, and International Communication’ at Oxford University. The contributions are from academics and journalists, and the best thing about them is that they are interestingly varied in topic and approach. Issues discussed include the manner in which the norms of communication in the English-speaking world are affecting speakers of other languages. The example given is of an assistant in MacDonald’s in Budapest who speaks Hungarian, but uses an Anglo-American ‘discourse’.

New Media LanguageRobin Lakoff also writes on the ‘new incivility’ – how swearing and bad manners have risen to the surface of public discourse, from the television chat show to the theatres of government in the west. Sometimes the arguments seem to take a sledgehammer to crack nuts. Martin Conboy’s otherwise excellent analysis of the language of hysterical chauvinism in The Sun could have been done without evoking references to Mikhail Bakhtin.

Despite the title of the book, the emphasis is more on media than on language. John Carey looks at the problems of establishing credulity in reportage, and there’s a well-informed piece on the BBC’s anguish regarding the middlebrow nature of Radio 4.

One of the best pieces in the collection is by co-editor Diana Lewis on the changes brought about to the concept of news and the way it is broadcast as a result of now being simultaneously available in so many different forms. It comes at us in traditional manner via newspapers, radio, and television – but to these are now added instantly updated web sites, news feeds, and personal blogs – all of which can come along with a huge variety of background and contextual materials, available at the click of a hyperlink. Have a look at any page on a Wikipedia entry, and you’ll see what she means.

I also enjoyed an amusing piece from the Guardian columnist Malcolm Gluck on the difficulty of describing wines without slipping into Pseud’s Corner prose. At a more serious level, there’s an excellent piece analysing the duplicitous and rhetorical devices used in White House press briefings, where the official spokespeople try to give away as little as possible, and the press representatives try equally hard to make them admit the truth of what is going on.

There are two good chapters from professional lexicographers. John Ayto looks at the way in which newspapers create neologisms by what’s called ‘blending’ – as in motel comes from a blend of motor + hotel. John Simpson, one of the editors at the Oxford English Dictionary, considers the problem of accepting new media forms such as film, tabloids, and email as the sources for word definitions.

It certainly deals with traditional as well as new media – because there’s lots on the press, particularly the tabloids. This will be of interest to students of media, communication skills, politics, and current affairs, as well as anyone who follows trends in current language use.

© Roy Johnson 2004

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Jean Aitchison and Diana M. Lewis, New Media Language, Abingdon: Routledge, 2003, pp.209, ISBN: 0415283043

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New Oxford Style Manual

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compendium of writing skills PLUS  specialist dictionary

This New Oxford Style Manual is the result of putting together in one volume the Oxford Guide to Style [formerly Hart’s Rules] and the Oxford Dictionary for Writers and Editors. It starts from ‘parts of the book’ then moves on to punctuation, names, capitals, and numbers. The editor covers all other aspects of text presentation – such as how you should deal with music, mathematics, quotations, lists, tables, and even illustrations. There is even a special section on foreign languages which begins with the thorny issue of UK and American English – but it also covers Latin, European, Asiatic, Classical, and even Sanskrit.

New Oxford Style Manual Works such as this reveal the small but important conventions which academics, journalists, and professional writers need to know – but which are hard to remember. How do you punctuate a reference given in a footnote for instance? How are abbreviations shown in foreign languages? Where do spaces go when showing degrees of temperature? It deals with special subjects, plus linguistics and phonetics, translations, audio and visual broadcasts, and electronic data. In addition, it also incorporates the most recent changes in citing digital media, and details on the submission of materials for publication.

The second part of the book is a specialist dictionary for writers, journalists, and text-editors. It offers rulings on words and spellings which are commonly problematic. For instance, do we write Muslim or Moslem, customise or customize? It covers the names of well-known people and places, foreign words and commonly-used phrases such as petit-bourgeois and persona non grata.

The editor Robert Ritter also covers abbreviations, capitalization and punctuation. Only today, I’ve looked up amendment [one ‘m’] superseded [yes – it is spelt with an ‘s’] and manageable [it keeps the ‘e’]. It can also be used as a quick guide to many niceties of writing (the difference between hyphens and dashes) and as a potted encyclopedia for historical names (and their dates).

It should certainly be amongst the reference tools of anybody who takes a serious interest in writing. The single volume is even 25% cheaper than buying the two books separately. Fantastic value. Make sure you get the new revised edition which has materials gleaned from OUP’s latest researches into the Oxford English Corpus – a gigantic database containing hundreds of millions of words in current and historic use.

© Roy Johnson 2012

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Robert M. Ritter (ed), The Oxford Style Manual, Oxford: Oxford University Press, new second edition 2012, pp.861, ISBN: 0198605641

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Oxford A-Z of English Usage

by

short guide to intermediate language skills

Do you know the past tense of the verb to dive? Is it dived or dove? Don’t worry – most other native English speakers wouldn’t know either. The same is true of the verb to dream. Is it dreamed or dreamt? That’s slightly less of a worry – because both options are correct. This guide offers straightforward, up-to-date guidance on questions of English usage, all affecting the language we choose.

Oxford A-Z of English Usage Common confusions such as uninterested and disinterested are explained, differences between British and American practice are highlighted, and it takes a realistic attitude towards famous examples such as splitting infinitives, ending a sentence with a preposition, and when it is correct to say you and me or you and I.

There are highlighted mini-essays on issues such as case agreement, Latin plurals, and the endlessly vexed issue of -ise and -ize. Editor Jeremy Butterfield also deals with issues for writers, such as how to punctuate bulleted lists.

There’s a strong element of political correctness at work here in definitions to do with race, colour, and disability, yet he doesn’t offer alternatives to the contractions BC and AD, and he suggests that the equivalent of African-American in the UK is black, which some people might challenge.

There’s an interesting section on what he calls ‘electronic English’, and he does his best to reveal folk etymologies – explaining where and why an expression has become distorted and replaced the original – as in slight of hand, which has successfully transplanted the original sleight of hand.

He takes the trouble to distinguish terms which are often confused in English because their spellings are so similar, and they are very often pronounced almost identically – such as discrete and discreet. And he unravels words which are often mistaken for each other – such as blatant and flagrant.

I would say that this is a book for intermediate to advanced users of English – writers, editors, and students who want to make an effort to get things right. It’s the latest addition to a series which includes Oxford A-Z of Grammar and Punctuation, Oxford A-Z of Spelling, and the Oxford Guide to Plain English – all of which have been very successful.

© Roy Johnson 2007

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Jeremy Butterfield, Oxford A—Z of English Usage, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007, pp.172, ISBN: 0199231532

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Oxford A-Z of Spelling

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beginner’s guide to the basics of good spelling

Did you know that yogurt can also be spelled yoghurt or even yoghourt? All three are correct. English spelling is notoriously irregular and can be downright difficult. It’s because our huge vocabulary (the world’s biggest) is made up of words from so many other languages. Don’t feel bad if you need to look up inoculate, haemorrhage and the rule-breaking weird. But if you want to improve your spelling skills, you’ll be well served by the short guide Oxford A-Z of Spelling in the new series from OUP.

Oxford A-Z of Spelling It explains all the basics without going into a lot of off-putting technicalities and jargon. In one sense it is rather like a Dictionary of Difficult Words: it includes 2,000 commonly misspelled (or mis-spelled or mis-spelt) words and hundreds of spelling tips to help you understand the basic rules – and why there are so many exceptions to them. It starts off with guidance notes on how to form plurals, how prefixes and suffixes work, and how to recognise all the irregular cases and exceptions. Then there’s that nagging bugbear of the insecure, the apostrophe – as in Dickens’s novels and men’s clothing

The main entries of the book are an alphabetical listing of common but difficult words, ranging from abattoir to zoos, with a note on what to look out for, and words of a foreign origin signaled to explain unusual spellings.

advise verbUnlike most verbs ending in -ise advise cannot be spelled with an -ize ending. See centre pages for other verbs that always end in -ise.
! Do not confuse advise with advice. Advise is a verb meaning ‘suggest that someone should do something’ (I advised him to leave) whereas advice is a noun that means ‘suggestions about what someone should do’ (Your doctor can give you advice on diet).

These main entries are punctuated by an explanation of beginnings and endings: for- or fore-? -able or -ible? -ance or -ence?. There’s an explanation of grammatical terms, notes on American spelling, and how hyphens are used to form compounds, as in black-haired girl and pick-me-up.

Because the words have been chosen for their irregular or difficult spelling, the book makes a surprisingly interesting read. And I suddenly realised whilst surfing the entries that it also doubles up nicely for use as a spelling quiz. Firmly recommended – especially for beginners.

© Roy Johnson 2007

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Catherine Soanes and Sheila Ferguson, Oxford A—Z of Spelling, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007, pp. 160, ISBN: 0199233470

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Oxford Guide to Plain English

by

how to simplify and clarify your writing

This is a new series from OUP – pocketbook guides on the basics of writing and language skills. They’re small, cheap, cheerful, and compact, yet authoritative – the sort of thing which I imagine would be ideal for students or the average person-in-the-street who wants to take on the first principles of improving their language skills. Oxford Guide to Plain English is written by the research director of the Plain Language Commission.

Plain EnglishIt’s presented in a lively and professional manner, and Martin Cutts uses so many real-life examples you know he’s speaking from deeply-felt practical experience. He offers quick tips for creating a clearer style, better grammar, punctuation, and layout. He explains how to avoid jargon and legalese, and how to use plain English instead. And he has no patience with sloppy communication. For instance, have you ever received an official letter like the example he quotes from the DVLA?

I again return your application for renewal of road fund licence and reiterate the correct amount is £130. I have enclosed a photocopy of your original document you will notice it clearly datestamped 2nd December, some two days after Budget day.

Four mistakes in forty-three words is not bad going for a government [in the UK] which claims it is committed to increased efficiency and clarity of communication!

He shows you how to avoid this sort of thing – and how to replace mistakes with clear meaning. There are hundreds of real examples to show how it’s done, including ‘before’ and ‘after’ examples.

There’s a good list of contemporary cliches and expressions to avoid, including the Plain English expressions which can quite easily replace them.

The basic information is very sound. Sentences twenty words or less; plain words rather than elaborate vocabulary; vigorous and active verbs rather than the passive voice; bulleted lists to explain multiple points of argument; strict but minimalist punctuation; planning as an indispensable tool to good structure; and even avoiding too many grammatical rules.

It even includes advice on writing effective emails, and as an advocate of good spatial design in written communication, I was pleased to see that there was a whole section devoted to good layout.

Good value; good advice; and good format if you want something cheap and cheerful as a start-up or a pocket reference.

© Roy Johnson 2009

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Martin Cutts, Oxford Guide to Plain English, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 3rd edition 2009, pp. 272, ISBN: 0199558507

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