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Sept. 26, 2006 So I guess you know what a possessive noun is (with out doing an Internet search). Yes we all know that a noun in order to be termed as possessive has to have an apostrophe before the s.That was just a typo. If the piece was important of course I would have proof read it. I deal with editors who have language degrees and so far have not been censured regarding my English.Wait I am wrong, I do seem to get a lot of nit picking from Canadian editors which, if I hadn't been previously published in magazines read all over the world, would have had me thinking that I can not write. Fortunately having had a short exposure to the Canadian school system I realize that they just hate my point of view and are going out of their way to discourage me, the only weapon in the armory of the mediocre. Regarding the use of capitalization. You yourself have stated that the capitalization of the first letter of a person in authority is voluntary in the case of ones parents. English usage constantly changes as it is a live language, unlike the ancient Latin, Greek, Sumerian, Akkadian etc which being dead languages are not subject to change. I remember old English classes where my teacher impressed this upon us using such examples as 'I will be there presently'. Looked at in a strictly constructive manner it should mean 'I will be there immediately' i.e in the present instant. Through sloppy usage it has come to mean I will be there soon. Regarding the capitalization of the first letter of titles. Major General is capitalized, just as is Prime Minister as the noun refers to one over us all and accorded respect.Of course one could dispute the former instance if you are not in the army and the latter if you are a citizen of another country.It is a common courtesy and used universally. Regarding the capitalization of father and mother. When I went to school you were expected to show respect to our parents so if you were writing of your own parents you referred to them as my Mother or my Father, the pro noun my of course making the noun possessive. On the other hand you wouldn't use the capital letter if you referred to his mother or her father as you are not required to show them respect. The whole thing to my way of thinking hinges on a sociological issue: respect for ones parents. I guess as time went by and society evolved less and less respect was accorded to the parents so of course there is less and less reason to accord them respect in grammar. Of course one must, in an increasingly socialistic age, show respect for the Prime Minister as he is more important than our parents, even for Provincial Premiers and city Mayors come to that. It is a matter of changing societal values. One of the great problems of the modern age is the new way of teaching English. Now greater emphasis is placed upon the technical rules of construction. When I was young teachers used a persons knowledge of spoken English in order to teach grammar. You know keep all of the sentences dealing with a certain topic in the same paragraph and try not to wander too much, if you do have the courtesy to refresh your readers. You should see how they teach it now.First you must have a thesis statement, then you need a sentence linking to the thesis, then one linking all of the others. Next you have to have a sentence linking the paragraphs. (I did go school over here for a brief period, I had to replace a lost high school diploma, I started in grade twelve advanced so I guess the British instruction couldn't have been that bad.) The whole problem began with the generation of teachers coming of age during the sixties who decided that those of the previous generation were stupid and that they knew best. They got rid of the old phonetic system used for generations replacing it with a Babylonian system similar to one where cuneiform inscriptions had rules so complicated that one needed a scientific knowledge just to read or write a document.This system has given us a generation of Kids now entering university needing remedial English lessons. Sad. Sad also that the word kid originally meaning a young goat now also means human child. Sad that the media have created such a bunch of egotistical idiots. ------------ About the author: Read Mike Haran's essays on history at http://www.geocities.com/manzikertca/ Email: manzikertca@yahoo.com Comment on this article here! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com. Please link to this article rather than copying and pasting it onto your site (which would be unauthorized and illegal). |
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