On learning languages

THE DEBATE on this topic has been raging ever since the time of Plato and Aristole, with views falling into two main groups, the rationalists and the empiricists. Modern computing power and techniques have recently had an impact on this field (SCIENCE Vol 275 and Vol 283).

There is a well-known school of thought claiming that, almost like learning a language in childhood, one develops the ability to speak it without knowing anything about grammar.

Steven Pinker, a cognitive scientist working in M.I.T. (U.S.) brings out in his recent book ``The Language Instinct'', the difference between learning words and learning grammar; they are different computational problems. He observes ``you simply have to memorise words, you cannot learn rules for putting syllables together to form particular words. Sentences, by contrast, have grammatical structure for which there are rules'' (NEW SCIENTIST, August 21,1999)

A profound practical book by William Cobbett ``Grammar of the English Language.'' (1800), written in the form of a series of letters to his son, puts forth interesting perspectives on language learning.

Language is made use of for one of these three purposes: to inform, to convince and to persuade. The first is routine, just telling facts; the second goes a step higher, requiring reasoning; and the third demands skills.

Grammar teaches us to use words in a proper manner and to avoid errors in forming sentences. Cobbett gives instructions on the subject which are reproduced here.

It seldom can happen that we do not need more than one sentence; therefore, others must be added. There can be no precise rule, with regard to the manner of doing this. But, we ought to take care, and great care, if any words in a sentence relate, in any any, to words that have gone before. We make these words correspond grammatically with those foregoing words.

There are certain connecting words such as therefore, but and for, which should be used properly. The sense of our sentences requires such words to be used. Otherwise, such words if improperly used, will throw all into confusion.

The adverbs when, then, while and there are connecting words, but sometimes, they are not used in their strict literal sense. For example, `Well, then, I will not do it': here it means, in that case. One has only to accustom oneself to reflect on the meaning of these words.

Figures of speech add lustre, no doubt, but they are two-edge tools. They are called figures, because they represent other things than the words in their literal meaning stand for.

Cobbett cites graphically an example from a school address. In an address to his students, a learned speaker tells them they are in the morning of life, and that is the season for exertion. Cobbett hastens to remark the morning is not a season; the year has seasons, but the day has none.

If the speaker had said the spring of life, it would complete the figure of rhetoric. This is succinctly summed up in the words of R. L. Stevenson, ``the difficulty is not to write what you mean; not to affect your reader, but to affect him precisely as you wish.'' To do this obviously calls for precision in handling the language.

R. PARTHASARATHY

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Features
Previous : The English mania
Next     : Help across continents