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Re: Evidentials for a future English

From:Chris Bates <chris.maths_student@...>
Date:Thursday, October 21, 2004, 21:37
Mark J. Reed wrote:

>On Thu, Oct 21, 2004 at 08:30:11PM +0100, Chris Bates wrote: > > >>Can't we go with the irregular spelling option (like dwarf -> dwarves... >>I know that's a noun changing, but I mean along similar lines) and write >>them timzed and timzing or... wait, that's no better.. >> >> > >Not at all, and it removes the etymological information from the >orthography. Which is about the only good thing about English orthography, so for Pete's >sake don't get rid of it, too. :) > >
I really wish we can have spelling reform, so the spelling gave a better idea about pronunciation, but it'll never happen. :(
>>Its like "text"... its becoming a verb >> >> > >It is a verb. In English, you can verb any noun. The case of "times" >and "minus" and "plus" is interesting because they're *not* nouns; >they're prepositions. So the verbification process is less direct. > > >
I still don't like it. "Text" is a very awkward verb.
>> but never mind spelling it how the >>hell do you pronounce the past form? >> >> > >It seems very clear to me that the past tense form is "texted" and is >pronounced /'tEk.st@d/, which I don't think sounds stupid at all. > > >
Over here the commonest past tense force is clearly /tekst/ at least where I am in england. If people say "texted", about 50% correct themselves.
>You're just getting stuck by analogy, since English doesn't have any >(other) verbs ending in -xt, but it does have verbs ending in -x, which >have a past that sounds like -xt. However, that's different. I don't >think "texted" is any stupider than "rested" or "bested" or any of that >ilk; you don't argue that the past tense of "to rest" should be "rest" >because the past tense of "to bless" is "blessed", do you? > >-Marcos > > >
I think texted does sound silly. Its a personal sense of aesthetics reinforced by the fact that the majority of people I know clearly consider it to be at best borderline correct.