December 14
I'm going to admit a dirty little secret. One that as a writer is really quite embarrassing, but here it goes. I have terrible grammar. It sticks out when I first begin writing something, however, once I find the flow of the story it settles down and I discover the natural tone of our language. I have a fabulous editor and many grammars that save my skin, but it's still there lurking. I've never put too much thought into where or when these grammar rules began. Was it an ancient Queen who decided as she sat about at tea that took was simple better sounding than taked? Was it further back when English was formed from a mesh of Germanic derivations? And why am I thinking about this now?
I have a son who is just beginning to put this confusing unexacting language together. He's doing quite well. Sentences flow out of his little mouth that were impossible only a few months ago. He's also making connections in the language, creating the past tense of words on his own. For example, he'll say "I saved you." Which works. Yet, he'll also say, "I catched you," which doesn't. He's making these
language leaps which is very exciting, but I still feel the need to correct him. I don't say he's doing it wrong. I simply say the correct phrase so he can hear it. "I caught you." I assume this is a natural way of learning our language because I know I've never said, "I maked dinner." And sometimes he'll say things with spot on accuracy.
It's interesting to me as a lover of words how our mind grasps and builds our speech patterns. Really, it's beyond the diagraming of sentences because before we ever get to school so much of these rules are already in use, if not completely understood. We're processing the natural pacing of conversations, speaking with a decent vocabulary, and communicating rather clearly before we ever learn to read. So why is it that what seems natural to a child, and perhaps within the language itself, is wrong? What's wrong with shaked rather than shook? Who decided? Why is it i before e except after c? Why is c so special?
I realize that language is a living thing. That these changes and grammar rules did not all come about at once. And being part of a civilized society we agree to these rules as we do to the constitution. But I can relate to those school children who question just why our language is so quirky. It's not like that in the romance languages, most of their rules are absolute. Exceptions are a rarity. Not the norm.
It's funny that I never thought about grammar as having an origin before my son brought this to my attention. I've always tried so hard to squeeze my creative mind into the uniformity of English grammar. Hated myself for the abundance of red on my diagramed sentences. Wanted so badly to conform that I did not question. Alas, it is time. For out of the mouth of babes I've seen that our language does have a natural pattern that we have imposed our uppity rules upon. Could I let my son be the rebel that I myself cannot be? Allow him to lead a grammar revolution. (Text language not withstanding.) Try as I might I cannot, for I must correct him, I can't help myself.
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