David Dyer-Bennet wondered aloud:
>English is the newest language in wide use in the world. The general
>trend of languages has been to simplify since the invention of
>printing. *Remembering* long stories is less important, so all the
>features of the language that provide error checking are less
>important. So, in exchange, we pick up more expressive power.
Error checking is less important in the written language, to be sure, with
the result, as you say, that we use fewer tools to combat errors less, like
meter. But then, written language was always tremendously different from
spoken language; I don't think you can argue that error correction has
gotten significantly less important in the spoken language. We pause,
repeat ourselves, clarify the fumbling of a racing tongue, reiterate a
pronoun's antecedent, scan the listener for signs he's listening and caught
up, cue the listener to indicate he's listening and caught up, and so on.
And orators today still use the old rhetorical tricks. Preachers are
probably the most stereotypical example in America.
--
"Oh they've given you a trench coat and taken away your name."
--"Phantom Stranger Man", by Lance Smith
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