My daughter, my two older granddaughters (the officially adult ones) and I have a regular, ongoing four-way chat on Facebook Messenger. It used to be just three of us but when granddaughter number two hit 18 earlier this year and declared herself an adult she asked to be included. For the most part it makes arranging things between the three households - mine, my daughter’s and the oldest granddaughter’s - without too much repetition of messages back and forth. Sometimes it’s all about photos of what everyone is having for dinner. At others it is granddaughter number one having a panic about how to deal with a giant spider in her bedroom.
Yesterday on our chat we had an exchange about the pronunciation of the word “harbinger” - hard or soft g? Our granddaughter’s close friend and housemate confidently assured her that it was a hard g making the word rhyme with “singer” and “linger” and “humdinger”. Logical but wrong! When our granddaughter corrected her, backed up by reassurances from her loving grandparents her friend put her right: “She says you’re academics which means you’re always wrong because there is so much debate in academia.” She also accused her of picking on her. Wow!
I suspect that the friend is suffering from what a lot of people do when studying: reading and understanding a word, using it correctly in written assignments but never hearing it pronounced correctly, indeed never hearing it pronounced at all. The odd mistake - odd as in occasional as well as odd as in peculiar - is understandable but in the end language is about communication and if you pronounce things wrongly it detracts from your ability to communicate.
Nesrine Malik wrote in the Guardian about moving from an Arabic speaking country to Kenya, official language English, at the age of seven and being bullied at school until she learnt enough English to be able to stand up for herself. Four decades on, she still regards her English as imperfect and still mispronounces words - she is made to wonder, “When I say “meLAN-kolly” did I really mean “MELON-kolly”?” - and in the family home they mix the two languages together, adding …ing to Arabic words, for example. I am reminded of a Mexican friend whose son used to make Spanish verbs from English ones - drinkar = to drink!
As Nesrine Malik points out, there really is no such thing as “pure” English. It’s a living language, influenced by all sorts of things. And so, much as it annoys me to hear the verb “to transition” and words like “decision” suddenly being pronounced as of that c were a z, or indeed “jubilee” which long ago “transitioned” into “jubilee”, I suppose I’ll just have to accept all these changes.
The French and the Spanish, and I suspect the Italians as well, have institutions and academies to protect their language from foreign influence. Fat chance of that really working! All of them at various times have set limits on the number of foreign films and songs broadcast on their national channels. The Spanish and Italians (I’m not sure about the French) insisted for a long time, and maybe still insist, on foreign language films being dubbed into their own language. This led to a whole profession of “dubbers”, certain actors regularly doing the voice for particular Hollywood stars. It also led to a host of fans who admired Hollywood actors without ever having heard their true voices. Strange!
But what I want to know, if protecting your own language is so important, is why so many foreign language detective series we have watched over the years have English songs for their title music. Just a thought!
I read today that, according to the admissions service UCAS, a third fewer 18-year-olds have applied to study English at university this year than in 2012. English academics are beginning to lose their jobs, while one university has paused provision altogether. First it was Modern Foreign Languages; now it’s the turn of English. Partly it’s governmental championing of science course as against “dead end subjects”. In fact the percentage of students moving on from A Level English to degree level study apparently has remained the same. It’s the numbers opting for A Level English that seriously dropped. Mind you, it’s probably for the same sort of reason: what can you do with a qualification in English, be it Language or Literature, apart from teach?
Well! Here are a couple of excerpts from an article about it:
“University College London appointed the first professor of English in 1828 – but it was a few years later at King’s College London that the study of literature was given more emphasis and deliberately set against a utilitarian model of education. “Knowledge cannot be poured into the mind like a fluid mechanically transfused from one vessel to another,” wrote H.J. Rose, who became the second principal of King’s. “[Literature teaches] the wisdom of men better and wiser than ourselves … [and] prepares us best of all for the examination of those moral and intellectual truths which are not only the worthiest exercise of our reason, but most concern our future destiny.””
“English language and literature are now among the UK’s most successful exports; passports to work and life across the globe. English graduates are found throughout the creative industries, in law, the civil service, diplomacy, advertising, politics; they are entrepreneurs, teachers, digital innovators – all areas where the skills of critical analysis, lateral thinking and flexibility are prized. The Canadian prime minister is an English graduate; the first American woman in space studied it alongside physics. But, as Prof Rose knew, the subject can provide far more: it is a way to think about our relations with each other and with nature, about our rights and moral responsibilities, and the powers and limits of science; it demands that we at least try to see the world from others’ points of view. (A 2014 study found that the effects were measurable: schoolchildren who had read Harry Potter showed an increase in empathy towards immigrants, refugees and gay people.)”
There you go! Good for Harry Potter, say I. Here’s a link to the whole article on English studies.
Returning to our four-way chat: later in the day, the conversation was all about who was coming to our house for dinner, and whether the oldest granddaughter’s dog could come too. The last time said dog came too she was a little too enthusiastic about getting to know our youngest grandson. The suggestion that she might need to more controlled led to some hurt feelings, some huffing and puffing, and the need for persuasion to get everyone together. This led to my daughter resorting to text messages to me about her exasperation with the whole drama-queen situation. This is what we have to do when we no longer want the totally shared communication experience! Oh, boy!
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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