A stray thought by Maureen Fox
I have hesitated to approach this subject because it is laden with all sorts of undeniable traps for the most careful explorer , so I shall tread warily. My credentials for even approaching the subject are very mundane. I have spoken and read and used and explored the language of my birth , known as “English”, for many years and have been fortunate to have been taught how to enjoy much of it by acknowledged experts and to have access to it via an excellent and varied education. I am old now and I do find many of the changes in the language difficult and sometimes woeful but progress is irresistible and it keeps language alive even though it does sometimes seem that its changes and additions have gone a step too far from what used to be acceptable. However, exploration of the different and the acceptance of the unfamiliar have always been part of the way we live and learn and we must treasure these experiences and preserve them for the future because that is how new medical knowledge has survived and the computer become so important…..on reflection ….not sure about the latter!
However, In my own dotage I do have a complaint. It is the common use of the word “dementia” particularly in its adjectival role, as “demented “when it is applied to my friends and family let alone to me! Perhaps my distaste arises from the memory of that poor woman in Jane Eyre shut away while her husband and protector makes another life with a younger woman and then the shock that the reader has as the words of Jane are revealed. “Reader. I married him! !!”
I know that the medical people need words that can be used to identify “mental deterioration” but there is an “adjective too far” for many of us (demented) and so I shall try to continue to imagine that names or events just hide or slide away for a while when we go hunting them and nothing gets completely forgotten for ever, but truth to tell the library of the long lived is enormous and has to be explored sparingly and carefully In fact , perhaps , like me, you have had the experience of trying to remember certain events that once were always closely at hand but became no longer so ready to be identified and you have wondered how to uncover them. It is amazing what the brain and memory can achieve, but always at its own speed . Patience and tranquillity sometimes solve the problem but I am not as patient as I used to be and I must admit that I have sometimes shrugged and gone elsewhere seeking for a more accommodating memory, and then having managed to make myself understood to some extent , I try not to feel a sense of loss.
Back now to the English language and the stray thoughts that accompany the task of making use of it and how best to tame it and in so doing how you discover the delight of a language which initially makes hard work for a student, but which eventually opens a multitude of doors for those who persevere.
English is my native language and by that I mean I speak and write what we grandly call the Kings English known also as Received English. I am very grateful for that inherited gift but full of respect for you if you are battling with the spelling of English words and their correct `pronunciation`, the latter word sometimes written as `pronounciation` possibly because of its close relationship with the more formally intended spoken noun `pronouncement`( My only comment is that I have always understood that either spelling is acceptable!) See what I mean when I say that having English as my spoken language is a gift of great value? Apologies.
In truth the secret of being able to cope with the English language is simpler than you might imagine!
You need to have access to a decent dictionary and be able to decipher what you see there .
1st, the spelling that the word uses,
2nd , the whereabouts of the word’s stress( which is indicated by the dictionary so that the word will sound as it is expected to sound,)
3rd, the grammatical role of the word you are interested in,
Then , if the dictionary is pretty comprehensive, maybe some of the history and origin of the word.
Its all important Root !
You have to look at the little squiggles etc. but it is not a difficult task. You may not even notice how much you are learning! You do not normally have to worry about the grammatical use of the word or the root if you choose not to do so. No body is going to test you and grade you. Stop fussing!
My experience of helping people to read and write good English depended largely on the student reading carefully what they saw and by the student enjoying reading as much good, meaningful English as they could find. If you spell a word correctly you will probably pronounce it so that you are understood and if you pronounce a word correctly you will probably be able to write it so that you are understood!
However, it is time for me to welcome to the discussion the all important matter of American English speech and writing. There are differences between the two languages but they are not a handicap, just ways of communicating which sometimes bend the rules for those who refuse to accept other than the (which word can I use?) strictly spelling taught in the past to young people in the UK and Commonwealth etc. My advice is to enjoy what you use in the way of language and communicate clearly using American or non-American language and spelling as you see fit.
Some of you will have heard of the Shavian alphabet which was invented to make the spelling of the English Language easier to learn by making one sound correspond to one letter which led to the so called phonemic English. The writer Bernard Shaw loved the idea but it did not survive and I for one am very happy that that was the outcome. I did not attend a school for younger children who were taught the “new spelling” but I did meet a few children who had been taught Shavian and they all said that it was confusing them in both the reading and the writing and they were happy when the experiment came to an end.
The language I know as English is , for me personally , a delight . I love looking at the possible roots and envisaging the path that has been taken for a word like “knife” for example which has a root in Old English as a noun “cnif” and has also a meaning as a transitive verb when its role as a dangerous weapon is exposed and has despite everything managed to retain the letter “k” to annoy unwary readers! This sort of interest in language is not for everyone but you can learn if you wish to do so more about your native language and how English has sometimes stolen and borrowed from other nationalities and been able to accommodate a trifle from a wide world and give it a permanent place in which it will flourish.
Sixpenceworth 
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