Grammar & Spelling - Is it important? Read post first

[GuidoHunter]

Originally Posted by devonin

I'm always amused to see the argument regarding the evolution of language come up, because it always has false dilemma written all over it.

Generally you'll see something like this: "Languages evolve and change, we can see that by looking at the history of english. Internet-style slang is becoming more prevalent, so we have to -choose- between "Letting the language evolve" or "Resisting the evolution""

The attitude that kind of thought process shows is one that says there can only be one path of linguistic evolution, and so we either have to go with it, or discard it staying where we are, and doesn't allow for the fact that multiple changes can happen in tandem, and we can accept some and reject others.

Well, clearly there's no actual dilemma in the pure sense of the word, but for the vast majority of the cases the response is so polarized. The prescriptivist and descriptivist titles are ascribed to people who already lean those directions.

Originally Posted by Verruckter

Now, the dilemma here is wether or not to let the language follow it's evolutive course, i.e. let internet slang take over and simplify everything to eventually become it's own dialect, a process which is absolutely normal in the evolution of a language, or make strict rules about preserving the actual language and not let it change, thus stopping the evolutive process, but keeping a decency and general comprehension.

If we let some languages follow to their own devices, we get abominations like Singlish, which serve little purpose past completely embarassing the countries in which it is spoken.

--Guido

http://andy.mikee385.com