keep up the good work

@theqthateducates

Жыл бұрын

Thanks

great video! loved the perceptive into this issue from a linguistic standpoint, which i feel is either glossed over or skipped entirely by those defending the use of singular they, neos, and xenos

great video :) loved how this was from a purely linguistic standpoint

@theqthateducates

Жыл бұрын

That’s what I do best

I haven't finished the video yet so maybe Q mentions this at the end but can someone link specific instances of Shakespeare using a singular "they"? I haven't read much Shakespeare yet and that sounds interesting

Since you have a knowledge of linguistics, I assume you know the difference between content words and function words?

@theqthateducates

Жыл бұрын

Content words have a certain lexical meaning encoded within them whilst function words perform grammatical tasks and don’t necessarily have any meaning associated to them. Content words generally include nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. whilst function words are like determiners, conjunctions, pronouns, etc. In the case of Standard English, content words tend to be comprised within an open class, meaning new words are frequently added whilst function words tend to be comprised within a closed class, meaning it’s less likely for new words to be added. However, this isn’t a phenomenon that occurs in all languages and could in theory shift around somewhat. The main point of the video I was trying to make was that languages are constantly changing, so grammar would of course end up changing. And English isn’t immune to that. I’ll also address the other thing I said about standardized languages not being the only forms of communication. The evolution of both Standard English and other dialects of English are occurring. But to answer your question, yes I do know the difference between content and function words. Also, the definition of Standard English kind of depends where you live. Like you know, General American (USA), Received Pronunciation (UK), etc. Hence you could call it a “pluricentric” language

@nicbrown1304

Жыл бұрын

Okay. You clearly know your stuff, which is more than can be said for the majority of people who try to defend neopronouns. But I still don't think you 100% understand. To get an idea of just how much of a big ask it is for someone to use neopronouns for you, let me quote analogies by two other linguists: 1: "Pronouns are different from other kinds of English words. Words like "cat" and "jump" have pretty concrete meanings, what are called "lexical meaning." But pronouns have a more abstract meaning. They're used to refer to topics that you already know about. Pronouns are what are called "grammatical" or "functional words." They're a lot more similiar to grammatical suffixes like "-ed" or "-ing" than they are to lexical words like "cat" or "jump." Grammatical words and rules are generally learned unonsciously. We know lots of information about the grammar of English, but we don't know that we know it. This makes it really hard, if not impossible, for one person to change their grammar. Imagine someone said, "I want you to start using "-en" instead of "-ed" for the past tense." You probably couldn't do it. Some people's preferred pronouns are what are called "neopronouns," which means that they're trying to add a new pronoun to the language. But, because pronouns are function words and subconscious, people are cognitively hindered from using neopronouns." 2: "Closed/Open class distinctions are part of a language's fundamental grammar. Grammar is baked deep, deep in our brains from a very young age. Imagine someone told you that, from now on, you have to place adjectives after the noun. "A green apple" is now "an apple green." You can say it, and you could probably even get yourself in the habit with a lot of practice, but it won't be easy or feel natural. You'll probably make a lot of mistakes. Asking someone to add new words to a closed class is very similar - you're asking them to violate the fundamental grammar structure their language skills are built on. It can be done, but not easily." Granted, it's not impossible for function words to change. A good example to look to is all the makeshift plurals for "you," like "y'all," "you'uns," "youse," etc. But it's a slow, slow process. The evolution of function words takes decades, even centuries. A random teenager on TikTok, telling everyone to call them "bun"/"buns"/"bunself," is not an example of authentic language evolution. Also, I can only speak to the grammar of English and Japanese, since those are the only languages I speak, but pronouns in Japanese are a lot different than pronouns in English. They actually act more like nouns than pronouns. They don't even decline, and they can be dropped if the context is clear, because Japanese is a pro-drop language. Thus, it makes sense that pronouns in Japanese are content words rather than function words. Contrastly, verbs in Japanese are function words and closed class; if you want to make a new verb in Japanese, you have to attach "suru" ("to do") to a noun: eg, "kekkon suru" ("to do marriage"), "ryouri suru" ("to do cooking"), etc. True adjectives ("i-adjectives") are also function words in Japanese; any new adjectives in Japanese will be nominal adjectives ("na-adjectives"), which, as their name suggests, work more like nouns than adjectives. Basically, if you ask someone to refer to you with a neopronoun, you're asking them to fundamentally alter their grammar, which is a big ask and not at all comparable to simply asking someone to call you "they"/"them." At the very least, people who use neopronouns should give people the option to refer to them with a regular pronoun, and not get angry when people choose to use the regular pronoun over their neopronoun.

@theqthateducates

Жыл бұрын

@@nicbrown1304 I do agree that it isn’t an easy adjustment to be made. And yes grammar is pretty baked into our minds, so it would be quite difficult for people to begin to referring to others using neopronouns. To be honest, I also feel that people shouldn’t be forced to use neopronouns (it would be cool if you tried though!). In the video, I was more so addressing that neopronouns are indeed valid and that people are definitely able to use them, but I never said that people MUST refer to others using neopronouns. I don’t use neopronouns personally, nor have I ever referred to someone by neopronouns. People shouldn’t be getting pissed at people for getting their pronouns wrong if it isn’t deliberate. Key word: deliberate

@nicbrown1304

Жыл бұрын

It looks like we're in agreement. Sorry if I came off as hostile or facetious initially.

@theqthateducates

Жыл бұрын

@@nicbrown1304 No, you’re fine! I’m actually glad that you brought that comment up :)

Nounself pronouns don’t have anything to do with neurodivergent people. Nounself pronouns were made up by a neurotypical and many neurodivergent people have a lot of difficulty understanding them and using them.