Descriptive expression

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Descriptive expression

In today’s world and society, there is a pretty general and obvious phenomenon that more and more people are inclined to use descriptive grammatical expressions rather than prescriptive ones in their daily communication, which is sure to be an inevitable trend in the development of language, imposing enormous impact on the existing so-called standard grammar. After the lecture given by the professor, I have a better understanding of what is descriptivism and what is prescriptivism, which are posed as polar opposites in the field of linguistics. In spite of the fact that a large number of knowledgeable scholars, politicians and some other elite groups spare no efforts to promote prescriptivism, I am still a radical descriptivist. Descriptivism is sure to be far more tenable than prescriptivism and my arguments go as follows:

Firstly, from my perspective, I think descriptive grammatical expressions are more natural than prescriptive ones. As is known, language is supposed to be a natural flow of one’s mind and feelings. It seems not wise for the small group of linguists or rather scholars to confine that natural flow into an enclosing frame of grammar without flexibility or change. Language is created by our ancestors, by humans. The idea of that group of scholars who have prescribed all the grammatical rules cannot represent that of people from all over the world. Sometimes prescriptivism might just hinder our communications in our daily life, which can be exemplified by my own experience. As an international student from China, I have always been introduced to prescriptive English. Under that cramming system, we Chinese students are constantly stuffed with all those dogmatic grammar rules which sometimes cannot even justify themselves. From the day I was exposed to English, I have been told to recite all the boring and rigid stuff. Without a proper environment where we can practice oral English, all we can do after years of English study is read, write and listen but not speak. When I first came to L.A., I found it so tough for me to communicate with the locals, because they talk in a very natural and casual way while I had to think twice to make sure my expressions were right before saying something. I had long been at a loss, without any idea of how to speak myself out. To some degrees, I think such language barrier is partially what results in us Chinese students keeping silent in and outside the classroom and even ostracizing the introverted from the colorful campus life. The essence of language is communication. With so many grammatical rules to adhere to, language is in a sense more of a burden than what it carries, especially for those non-native speakers.

Aside from the naturalness of descriptivism, its flexibility to change with the times and society is helpful in gathering an increasing number of supporters while at the mean time, prescriptivism stays nearly the same. People should not fail to notice that there are many humorous online catchphrases gaining ever-increasing popularity with their vivid and clear expression of a certain meaning. Take a look at several popular buzz words. The most widespread and famous one is perhaps “You can you up, no can no BB” and it means if you think you can do something, you can just go straight and then do it. But if you are incapable of doing that, you had better shut up and stop making judgments about others. Nowadays more and more people start using it and it soon becomes a symbol of fashion words and can find its appearance in a great many occasions. But if we analyze this expression in the terms of prescriptive grammar, it is safe to say that this expression is one hundred percent wrong or improper. On one hand, the word “up” is used in this expression as a verb, but based on the prescriptive grammar rules, “up” can be used as an adverb, a preposition or an adjective but not a verb. The property or characteristic of a word and complete sentence structure serve as a pretty critical role in linguistics. On the other hand, the last word “BB” is, in prescriptive terms, sure to fall into the category of vulgarity and indecency. Regardless of all those dogmatic prescriptive grammar rules, such expressions begin to sprout like mushrooms and impose profound influence in the field of linguistics. Another example might just do as well in exemplifying the adaptation to change of descriptivism, that is, another online catchphrase “NO ZUO NO DIE”, which can find more and more users in China, especially among the youngsters. For instance, nearly all my friends in China frequently use this expression in daily chat. It is Chinlish and it means if you do not trouble trouble, trouble will not trouble you. Despite that it disagrees with prescriptive grammar rules, it is now widely used and entails a sense of humor and it can be easily understood. In this way, descriptivism can make a great contribution to the diversity of language, enriching the world’s culture.

Last but not least, according to what professor states in the lecture, descriptivism makes no value judgments, which is consistent with the universal call for equality where cultural equality or rather language equality constitutes a substantial part. If we subjectively assume that the standard language with prescriptive rules is better and more proper, then a set of quantified criteria should be made public and let the public make the decision. But it is not the case at all. Everyone knows language is created by mankind, but what language is better and more proper is decided by a small group of scholars. And once they decide what is better, then what about other forms of language. Prescriptivism is often associated with being educated, being decent. In essence, that practice in itself is prejudice. How can we attain universal equality when we have inequality in language? Let’s take Mark Twain’s novel the adventures of Huckleberry Finn as an example. We will never fail to notice that Mark Twain uses a lot of African American slang and strong accents, like

‘what do dey stan’ for? I’se gwyne to tell you. When I got all wore out wid work, en wid de callin’for you, en went to sleep, my heart wuz mos’broke bekase you wuz los’, en I didn’t k’yer no’ mo’ what become er me ende raf’. (Twain, p.302)

If American standard English is the benchmark, should our famed writer Mark Twain be prejudiced? Should we deduce that his language is inferior to others’? The answer is obvious.

My enduring exposure to prescriptive English grammar has taught me a lesson during my study in L.A. Having been incapable of fluent and effective communication with native speakers, I started to reflect on this problem. Listed above are three apparent advantages or merits of descriptivism. Language is largely about communication while prescriptivism is to some extent a departure from the essence of a language. But being a radical descriptivist does not necessarily mean a full denial of the merits of prescriptivism, which might make global communication more convenient and efficient with a set of fixed and prescriptive grammatical rules guiding them in terms of phonology, morphology, syntax and semantics. But descriptivism is not only an edge over prescriptivism; it is the inevitable trend in linguistics in the days to come.

                                                         Works Cited

[1] Mark Twain. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Classics of World Literature. Portugal. Atlantico Press, 2013: 302.

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