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Re: [Phys-l] Trigg's Rules of Grammar - Challenged



My quick responses Richard's notes:

1. Labov, along with most linguists, would expect that very many, though not all, of the new language forms that users constantly create, will eventually be accepted into the language as normal.

2. Wikip. has not accurately described Bernstein's distinction between restricted and elaborated code. It is complex, but more like the particular vs. the general. So that in restricted code, one deals in a limited way with the here and now. But in elaborated code one has more of the language devices suitable for making wider generalisations. An oft-cited example:
Mother to young child on a bus: Sit back in your seat!
Child: Why should I ?!?
Mother: Because I said so. [restricted] vs. Because you might bump your head and get hurt [elaborated].

for Bernstein, as for most linguists, notions of correctness [of the dictionary and school grammar book kind] are partly manifestations of social exclusion by one class against another, and partly just plain conservative resistance to (inevitable) change.

Anita

At 04:51 22/01/2008, Richard Hake wrote:
If you reply to this long (12 kB) post please don't hit the reply button unless you prune the copy of this post that may appear in your reply down to a few relevant lines, otherwise the entire already archived post may be needlessly resent to subscribers.

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ABSTRACT: Anita Pincas of the University of London's Institute of Education challenged "Trigg's Rules of Grammar" (TRG), asking why the academic public doesn't want to accept "language change, flexibility, and variety," and citing linguist William Labov and sociologist Basil Bernstein as authorities in those areas. I quote a Labov passage that might serve to answer Anita's question, and then pose two other questions: (1) Would Labov challenge *all* of TRG? (2) Would Bernstein challenge *any* of TRG?
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In response to my post "Trigg's Rules of Grammar" [Hake (2008], Anita Pincas (2008), in her WBTOLL post of 20 June titled "Re: Trigg's Rules of Grammar - challenged" wrote:

"Language change, flexibility, and variety, are aspects of reality that the general public, especially of course the general academic public, never want to accept. Why? [This is a serious question. See W. Labov on USA variety, B. Bernstein on UK variety.]"

Why doesn't the academic public want to accept "language change, flexibiilty, and variety"? William Labov (2001) <http://www.ling.upenn.edu/~wlabov/> gives the following answer in Section 1.1 "The social effects of language change" [bracketed by lines "LLLLLLLL . . . ."; my insert at ". . . . [insert]. . . ."; my CAPS]:

LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
". . . .many older citizens find themselves keenly irritated by new forms that have crept into the language, and expend a great deal of effort in demonstrating to their children the illogical character of "hopefully," "aren't I," or "like" as a conjunction. But even the most eloquent journalists and educators. . . . . [e.g., Safire (1979, 1991, 2005); Trigg (1979); ]. . . . find that their rhetorical tools are not keen enough to cut the link that ties these forms to the younger speakers of the language. These defective forms return again and again until they are firmly fixed in the fabric of the language - when suddenly they appear as very natural and not at all defective, to all except a small group of traditionalists in professorial and editorial chairs. LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

Two questions:

1. Would linguist Labov challenge *all* of Trigg's Rules of Grammar? Does he think, for example, that double negatives, as illustrated by Trigg's (1979) 5th rule of grammar: "Don't use no double negatives," will eventually become "firmly fixed in the fabric of the language"?

2. Would sociologist Bernstein challenge *any* of Trigg's Rules of Grammar? According to Wikipedia <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basil_Bernstein> [bracketed by lines "WWWWWWW. . . . ."; my CAPS].

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
Basil Bernstein (1924 -2000) was a British sociologist and linguist, known for his work in the sociology of education. . . . .[He] makes a correlation between social class and the use of either elaborated or restricted code. He reports that in the working class you are likely to find the use of the restricted code, whereas in the middle class you find the use of both the restricted and elaborated codes. . . . . The restricted code is less formal with shorter phrases interjected into the middle or end of a thought to confirm understanding. For example, "you know," "you know what I mean," "right?" and "don't you think?" Elaborated codes have a longer, more complicated sentence structure that utilizes uncommon words and thoughts. In the elaborate code there is no padding or filler, only complete, well laid out thoughts that require no previous knowledge on the part of the listener. . . .
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW''

I think Bernstein, judging from his work a proponent of "well laid out thoughts," would not necessarily challenge Trigg's rules of grammar. To access Bernstein's work see e.g., "Pedagogy, Symbolic Control, and Identity [Bernstein (2000)]; "Towards a Sociology of Pedagogy: The Contribution of Basil Bernstein to Research" [Bernstein et al. (2001)]; the scholarly obituary by Alan Sadovnik (2001); and the University of London's Bernstein page <http://www.ioe.ac.uk/library/archives/bb.html> and biblography at <http://www.ioe.ac.uk/library/archives/bbb.html>.

Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University
24245 Hatteras Street, Woodland Hills, CA 91367
Honorary Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands.
<rrhake@earthlink.net>
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~hake>
<http://www.physics.indiana.edu/~sdi>


REFERENCES
Bernstein, B.B. 2000. "Pedagogy, Symbolic Control, and Identity: Theory, Research, Critique." Rowman & Littlefield (revised edition). Amazon.com information at <http://tinyurl.com/3434lg>.

Bernstein, B.B., I. Neves, B. Davies, H. Daniels, & A. Morais, eds. 2001. "Towards a Sociology of Pedagogy: The Contribution of Basil Bernstein to Research." Peter Lang Publishing. Amazon.com information at <http://tinyurl.com/2zvhzt>.

Hake, R.R. 2008a. "Trigg's Rules of Grammar," online at
<http://listserv.nd.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0801&L=pod&O=D&P=17866>. Post of 19 Jan 2008 to AP-Physics, AP-English, NetGold, Phys-L, Physhare, PhysLrnR, POD. & WBTOLL. See also Hake (2008b).

Hake, R.R. 2008b. "Re: Trigg's Rules of Grammar," Phys-L post of 20 Jan 2008 12:06:18-0800; online at <https://carnot.physics.buffalo.edu/archives/2008/1_2008/msg00260.html>.

Labov, W. 1994. "Principles of Linguistic Change, Internal Factors." (Language in Society). Wiley-Blackwell. Amazon.com information at <http://tinyurl.com/383bn3>; note the "Search Inside" feature.

Labov, W. 2001. "Principles of Linguistic Change: Social Factors," Vol. 2 (Language in Society) Wiley-Blackwell. Amazon.com information at <http://tinyurl.com/ynor53>; note the "Search Inside" feature.

Pincus, A. 2008. "Re: Trigg's Rules of Grammar -challenged," WBTOLL post of 20 Jan 2008 08:29:30+0000; online at <http://tinyurl.com/22vjfe>. To access the archives of WBTOLL one needs to subscribe, but that takes only a few minutes by clicking on <http://hermes.gwu.edu/archives/wbtoll-l.html> and then clicking on "Join or leave the list (or update your subscription options)." If you're busy, then subscribe using the "NOMAIL" option under "Miscellaneous." Then, as a subscriber, you may access the archives and/or post messages at any time, while receiving NO MAIL from the list!

Richoux, D. 2002 . "Humorous Rules for Writing_('Fumblerules,' 'Perverse Rules,' etc.)," June 18; online at <http://alt-usage-english.org/humorousrules.html>. This is from the Alternate Usage English (AUE) Newsgroup <http://alt-usage-english.org/index.shtml>.

Sadovnik, A.R. 2001. "Basil Bernstein (1924-2000)," Prospects: the quarterly review of comparative education (Paris, UNESCO: International Bureau of Education), vol. XXXI, no. 4, December, pp. 687-703; online at
<http://www.ibe.unesco.org/publications/ThinkersPdf/bernsteine.pdf> (160 kB).

Safire, W. 1979. "On Language," New York Times, 7 October. For Safire's Fumblerules see Richoux (2002). See also the more recent Safire (1991, 2005).

Safire, W. 1991. "Fumblerules (The Intrepid Linguist Library), Laurel. Amazon.com information at <http://tinyurl.com/2d89jx>.

Safire, W. 2005. "How Not to Write: The Essential Misrules of Grammar. Norton. Amazon.com information at <http://tinyurl.com/2334at>. Note the "Search Inside" feature. This book, evidently an update of Safire (1991), devotes one chapter to each of 50 "Fumblerules."

Trigg, G.L. 1979. "Grammar," Physical Review Letters 42(12): 747-748, 19 March; online to subscribers at <http://prola.aps.org/toc/PRL/v42/i12>. For Trigg's rules see Richoux (2002). For similar lists see, e.g. Safire (1979, 1991, 2005).