Dear /lit/izens,I has come to my attention that the quality of the English tongue has, so dreadfully, decayed to the language of simpletons. Therefore I do establish this general to encourage the proper learning of the English tongue.In this general (if it doesn't sink to the bottom of this catalogue like a rock), I propose we discuss improving our syntax, composition, &c. and, perhaps, read works by prominent English authors such as Dr. Johnson.I am currently working through Greenwood's English Grammar, a very good book on the matter.>archive dot org slash details slash royalenglishgra00greegoog
>>23821894crakka whitey you aint da owna of english, hood nigga speak be just as valid as yo racist ass slave owning accent
THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE WILL HAVE BEEN REDUCED TO VIRTUAL USELESSNESS IN FORTY YEARS, AT THE CURRENT QVANTVM OF IMPORTANCE OF FRENCH...... AND THAT IS A GOOD THING!
>>23821910Best cumgenius post
>>23821910english is french though
>>23821953pour les trisos
>>23821894What's the standard for what's proper English and how do we know?
It is True that the Blood of Man has been degrading with Consistency. This trend ought not be the object of your worries, but for the degradation of tongue amongst our own ranks. Whence this degradation of the higher type? His fraternization with his inferiors, viz. women, foreigners, and other riffraff. I recommend to all who wish to produce a many quality thought, to at once refrain from such contacts. This includes, not merely the avoidance of the raffle, but the complete renunciation of their arts. The aforementioned cure does not however include the forgoing of the essential products of their artisanship.
Everyday I wish English were my mother tongue.
>>23821976https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_EnglishThere's no one official codification of it, but there is widespread consensus.
>>23822034Your mother tongue is plenty valuable in its own right.>>23822044And are professional publications not generally still in this standard?
Oh, lamentable fate of tongue once so fair, Whose noble cadence now doth seem to wither, In the shadow of sloth and apathy's glare, Wherefore doth the beauty of language falter and quiver? As bees, once so diligent in gathering sweet honey, So now do our youths, with naught but vagueness, differ. 'Tis a world where “u” shall stand for “you”, all so hasty, And “r” sounds unspoken, like whispers of mist, The elegance of verse, once cherished and tasty, Now trampled beneath this merciless, swift twist. O, quoth I, what foul precision hath come to victor? The flow of our speech reduces to mere charade, Prithee, where have the sonnets and ballads gone, That fed the spirit and through the heart conveyed? We, who once engaged in eloquent discourse, Now succumb to the clutches of terse and unrefined, Where the golden thread of rhetoric’s force Hath dissipated, replaced by what is maligned. In the realm of communication, 'tis grievously clear, That the art of the written and spoken word fades, Once wielded with care, now caught in a smear— A tapestry torn, where sophistication evades. Is there naught that can save us from this descent? Shall the ancients’ wisdom lie dormant and still? Methinks, should we not strive with ardor and intent, To revive what once flourished, with passion and will? Verily, I bemoan this decline with a sigh, As I ponder the fate of our most precious gift, Let us rally in service, for language shan’t die, But flourish, as flowers bloom, if we know how to lift. So, let us embrace the art with open hearts, And from the ashes of neglect, breathe forth anew, For in the union of minds, we find where it starts— A renaissance of English, resplendent and true.
>>23821894I can see where you're coming from.All day at work I read reports written by people who, it seems, barely give a thought to the specific words that they choose: writing is simply a chore to be got through in order to publish your data, at least until AI can do the chore for you.But when, after work, I'm standing on the train with a Project Gutenberg txt file on my phone screen, and finally get the chance to read some real writing, written by people who actually cared, it feels like breathing real mountain oxygen after months in a sunless bunker. It feels like making contact with another human mind, all animate and quick and alive, and however natural and breezy their style might be I know they struggled long and valiantly to make contact with me too.And instead of figuring out how to nourish that kind of deep effort, we invented AI, and are going to kill it all for everyone forever.Anyway, here are a few recent reads that all made me go, 'Ah! Good English!'>Carlyle's biography of Friedrich II (just skip to any random one of its million chapters and it will be like nothing you've read, I wager)>Beckett's Malone Dies (weird echoes of 17th- and 18th-century prose, but without affectation)>preface and intro of Collier's A Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage (it might be good beyond the intro too: I didn't get that far)>Thomas Nashe, Nashe's Lenten Stuff ('Let me speak to you about my huge words which I use in this book, and then you are your own men to do what you list')
>>23822067One thing more: I think a big cause behind the sad death of prose is the loss of an ear for rhythm, and for that reason I highly recommend that anons listen, on repeat, to The Cambridge Treasury of English Prose, in five volumes on the Internet Archive. A bunch of vinyl recordings, all excellent readings from the 1950s.My favourites:>vol 1, track 8>vol 1, track 11>vol 2, track 3>vol 2, track 6>vol 4, track 9
>>23822061This is doggerel. That said, I wouldn't panic too much; the old books we have represent the work of a small educated elite, and the best of that too, the rest being forgotten. I doubt the cream of the cream today is markedly inferior, it's just that there are more semi-educated people drowning it out, and even among the most educated there's nothing automatically filtering out the best from the rest.
>>23822067I doubt the work reports of the 1700s and 1800s were markedly better, but no one today reads them unless they're an economic historian or something. We only read the best works from that era.
>>23822134Do work reports really need to be beautifully written so long as they do their job?
>>23821894Modern sharty-chud-incel English mogs all past English and also the other current dialects of English; niglish and standard English
>Language changing is...LE BAD! I wish we all spoke like 18th century Londoners because uhh...they spoke le good English or something
>>23821894Thank you for your post, the contents of which have been noted. I regret to inform you that, unfortunately, your post is of insufficient quality to advance the erudition and general comprehension of your audience, and it's quantity, likewise, fails to make up for this shortfall in quality. It is therefore with a heavy heart that I must request that you tongue my anus, and please do ensure you do fondle my bollocks as you do so.With kindest regards Anon
>>23822067In STEM you need precision and clarity. The subject matter itself poses enough difficulty, the last thing you want is obscure words unrelated to the topic or complex, compound sentences.I am perfectly capable of appreciating Melville, Joyce or Carlyle in my free time, but when I'm writing a report at work I make sure to use simple language.
>>23821894Dear Sir,It is with no small measure of incredulity that I receive your earnest proclamation concerning the supposed decay of our beloved English tongue. To suggest that the language has devolved into the “language of simpletons” is, I regret to say, a demonstration of the very folly you seek to rectify.One might wonder if, in your quest for linguistic superiority, you have overlooked the rich tapestry of our vernacular, which has always evolved to reflect the intellect and spirit of its speakers. Your reliance on Greenwood’s English Grammar, while commendable, appears to serve as a crutch rather than a foundation for genuine understanding.Might I suggest, rather than convening a “general” to lament the state of our language, we ought to engage in the more worthy pursuit of celebrating its vastness? In doing so, we could perhaps elevate the conversation above the banal and recognize that the essence of communication lies not solely in rigid syntax but in the very act of expression itself.Yours,Samuel Johnson
>>23822139Perhaps ironically, I deleted that post because some phrasing bugged me and I wanted to revise it. But I’m not saying all reports have to be beautiful. Defoe’s Complete Tradesman is an excellent book, lively and natural, but definitely doesn’t aim for elegance. He’s doing his job - giving sound advice on making money - but he does it with style, as a man and not an employee. I want to live in a culture where everyone acts like that. I think it would be a much better culture than one where the only thing matters is the economic bottom line. Put figureheads back on ships, is basically what I’m saying.
>>23821894>But finally do you reckon this really a time for Purism of Style; or that Style (mere dictionary style) has much to do with the worth or unworth of a Book? I do not: with whole ragged battalions of Scott's-Novel Scotch, with Irish, German, French and even Newspaper Cockney (when "Literature" is little other than a Newspaper) storming in on us, and the whole structure of our Johnsonian English breaking up from its foundations,—revolution there as visible as anywhere else!
>>23822070>a big cause behind the sad death of prose is the loss of an ear for rhythmThe same principle factor behind the death of poetry, which when divorces itself completely from song and sets upon its own way, is nowhere to be seen within a generation or two.
>>23822139There was a time when one couldn't get a respectable job without equally worthy penmanship, let alone style.
>>23822172A worthwhile imitation, but too light on the valediction.>I remain, sir, >your most humble and obliging servant,>SAM: JOHNSON.
>>23822172>>23822283>A worthwhile imitationIt seems to be ChatGPT generated to me. Your emendation would certainly be a great improvement, but the post also doesn't have much Johnsonian flare otherwise. Chat GPT isn't brilliant with parody.
>>23822291Well that’s just sad. I don’t know enough about the infernal thing to be able identify it.
>>23821894>first english language general>starts with a misspelled wordAnglo pigs can't into their own language even when they want to
>>23821894My primary discontent with the English spellings is the frequent misuses of "y", (1) which has originally been defined as a vowel found in Greek loanwords in Latin language, but has been used for several representations of sounds inclusive of a consonant in English language, (2) and often omits the etymological atmosphere of the words.For those two reasons, I hope some scholars alter the spellings involving "y" broadly in following ways, of course without affecting how they are pronounced.1. y at Ends of Words> words of French-Latin origin > y -> ie> words of Anglo and other Germanic origin > y -> ig, (i)j (based on historical transitions)ex. discoverie, communitie, crie(cry), deploie hardlig(hardly), luckig(lucky), flig(fly), saig(say) bij(by), mij(my), thej(they), spraj(spray)2. y at Beginnings of Words> words of Anglo and other Germanic origin > y -> ge, j (based on historical transitions)ex. geard(yard), gesterdaig(yesterday), gellow(yellow) jouth(youth), jear(year), New Jork(New York)3. y in Middle of Words> words of Greek origin > y -> y (as is, since it's the only case of "y"'s appropriate succession.)ex. hydrogen, system, psychologie(psychology), analyzeThat's the summarie of mij thoughts. Wishing jou a nice daig!
Bumpa
>>23821894This sounds nothing at all like sort of prose Johnson wrote/admired. Sad!
>>23822242And now we have computers, so you don't need good penmanship to produce legible documents.
>>23822239That's just the thing though- poetry isn't dead, it's just that most modern-day poetry is published in the form of musical recordings rather than printed words. There's a reason Dylan won a Nobel for literature.
>dominate the world>be mad when the dominated, forced to speak your language, defile itShould've stayed in your gloomy depressing island if you didn't wish for this to happen. It's just not societally and linguistically possible to have your cake and eat it too. English will only degenerate further the more prominent it becomes
>>23822052It's not valuable. My nation's intelligentsia in the past did not do much work in terms of literature and those who did try to create something did so in a language much different from what my people speak now.
>>23824390What's your language?
>>23824410Turkish
>>23824422But Turkish is the language of a bunch of notable poetry and stuff! Especially when you factor in Chagatai, which to my understanding Ottoman-era scholars considered to be part of a single Turkic continuum with their language rather than a wholly separate language.
Guys, how to improve my verbal sat? I have 730 on practice, but I am certain I can do more
>>23824453Read lots of books.
>>23824481*Improve short term
Why is English such an anti-philosophical language? No native speaker of English has ever made any contributions to philosophy.
>>23824503Hume? Locke? Hobbes? Bentham?
>>23824157Right, but you do need writing ability so you have no point.>>23824170Poetry is more dead than prose.>DylanLOL
>>23824548Have you listened to him? The best songwriters are doing amazing things with language.
>>23824572Post an example then
>>23824668Subterranean Homesick Blues? Mr. Tambourine Man? Like A Rolling Stone? Or some Beatles lyrics, like A Day in the Life or In My Life. Or some Jethro Tull lyrics- their lyrics are particularly literary as popular music goes. Or for more recent examples, a lot of rappers do some really intricate things with rhyme and assonance.
>>23824945You Frater? Give me a fucking break.
>>23824992Who?
