1. The Meaning of Words Should Not be Allowed to Vary or Change
This myth is about the changing of words in English over the years. Words like 'nice' lead us back to the origin of itself. Nowadays nice would mean pleasant or agreeable, but a long time ago it would mean silly or ignorant. I disagree with the writer's opinion in this myth, because I think that if you change or vary meaning of words, it will improve the language.
2. Some languages are just not good enough
Harlow is saying in this myth that every language serves a purpose and in relation to this, no language is useless or ‘not good enough’. It is just a matter of opinion if you think that a language is not good enough. Some languages are unable to combine words to compounds and instead they have to use phrases. And then there is German versus Italian, Italian is a beautiful flowing language and German is the opposite of that. I agree with the Harlow, you cannot say that some languages are just not good enough, you just have to see their purpose.
3. The media are Ruining English
The media are influencing English in a bad way. People misuse ‘you and me’ instead of ‘you and me’. They use a strange language, like for instance slang, and make English as a language less important. On the other hand, language is spread worldwide by the influence of the media.
5. English Spelling is Kattastroffik
English spelling is really catastrophic, because you don’t spell it the way you pronounce the words. Luckily it is not the case, if people were encouraged to spell as they spoke, there would be a number of written dialects of English. If English is your mother tongue you can spell words by heart, without looking up. If it isn’t then you must often use phonetic symbols to understand how words are pronounced.
8. Children Can't Speak or Write Properly Any More
Milroy disagrees with the fact that children can’t speak or write properly any more. It is true that children nowadays use different language, because they have to cope with changing social circumstances. He also claims that there has never been a time when English was perfect. Although this suggest that language is a bad thing, but this is in my opinion not true. New words need to be developed in order for our language to move forward.
10. Some languages Have No Grammar
This myth explains the definition of grammar and its content, like spelling, word placement and intonation. Latin is often use as the standard, because many languages are based on it. Baur thinks that all languages have grammar, because a language by definition must have a grammar, otherwise communication would make no sense. So in my opinion any language that claims to have no grammar is not really a language at all.
11. Italian is beautiful, German is Ugly
If you think of German, the language is strong and strict. The opposite of that are French and Italian, they are more romantic and smooth. Americans are energetic, maybe a bit too, and interested. British are calm and traditional, quite serene in their talking. This stereotyping really affects our images when we talk about their languages. So you often relate your opinion about the one who is speaking with the language, even though that’s not fair.
13. Black Children are Verbally Deprived
Black American children aren’t verbally deprived despite their low test scores and the bad grammar many seem to have. There are lots of reasons for whites to believe that blacks speak bad English. Anyone of any race can learn a language, so the human brains are not different from others because of their race. Even their lip shape doesn’t affect how these children speak. The myth talks about Ebonics, white people think that this language is bad English. Ebonics is often spoken by black Americans, because they do not grow up with Standard English. So their hardly verbally deprived, they’re just not taught to speak Standard English.
14. Double Negatives are Illogical
A double negative is when you say two negatives in one sentence following each other. For example: ‘you won’t get nothing from your grandmother’. This is wrong, because with this sentence you’re actually saying you will get something from your grandmother. The myth says that double negatives aren’t illogical. I agree on this, because if you say a double negative, you actually just emphasizes your station. Erasmus thought that ‘not ungrateful’ should mean very grateful, so he emphasizes that it is grateful!
15. TV Makes People Sound the Same
Television does not make people sound more alike. There is no proof that it changes pronunciation or grammar, it is just good at spreading words. Some words like ‘dove’, past tense of dive instead of dived, is used on television. This word is not common enough to affect how anyone talks. I think that people mainly learn language not from television or teachers or even parents, but from children or immigrants. So everyone has their own dialect and television doesn’t make people all sound the same.
18. Some Languages are Spoken More Quickly than Others
Some languages are spoken rapidly and some more slowly. This is a normal result of the way their sounds are produced. Sometimes it is more some sort of illusion that some languages are spoken more quickly. Another aspect is that in some societies it is socially approved to speak rapidly and in others slow speaking is preferred. I think it also has something to do with your own speed language, because some people are naturally fast speakers. It can also depend on personal and social/emotional factors, because when you’re tired you speak slower.
This myth is about the changing of words in English over the years. Words like 'nice' lead us back to the origin of itself. Nowadays nice would mean pleasant or agreeable, but a long time ago it would mean silly or ignorant. I disagree with the writer's opinion in this myth, because I think that if you change or vary meaning of words, it will improve the language.
2. Some languages are just not good enough
Harlow is saying in this myth that every language serves a purpose and in relation to this, no language is useless or ‘not good enough’. It is just a matter of opinion if you think that a language is not good enough. Some languages are unable to combine words to compounds and instead they have to use phrases. And then there is German versus Italian, Italian is a beautiful flowing language and German is the opposite of that. I agree with the Harlow, you cannot say that some languages are just not good enough, you just have to see their purpose.
3. The media are Ruining English
The media are influencing English in a bad way. People misuse ‘you and me’ instead of ‘you and me’. They use a strange language, like for instance slang, and make English as a language less important. On the other hand, language is spread worldwide by the influence of the media.
5. English Spelling is Kattastroffik
English spelling is really catastrophic, because you don’t spell it the way you pronounce the words. Luckily it is not the case, if people were encouraged to spell as they spoke, there would be a number of written dialects of English. If English is your mother tongue you can spell words by heart, without looking up. If it isn’t then you must often use phonetic symbols to understand how words are pronounced.
8. Children Can't Speak or Write Properly Any More
Milroy disagrees with the fact that children can’t speak or write properly any more. It is true that children nowadays use different language, because they have to cope with changing social circumstances. He also claims that there has never been a time when English was perfect. Although this suggest that language is a bad thing, but this is in my opinion not true. New words need to be developed in order for our language to move forward.
10. Some languages Have No Grammar
This myth explains the definition of grammar and its content, like spelling, word placement and intonation. Latin is often use as the standard, because many languages are based on it. Baur thinks that all languages have grammar, because a language by definition must have a grammar, otherwise communication would make no sense. So in my opinion any language that claims to have no grammar is not really a language at all.
11. Italian is beautiful, German is Ugly
If you think of German, the language is strong and strict. The opposite of that are French and Italian, they are more romantic and smooth. Americans are energetic, maybe a bit too, and interested. British are calm and traditional, quite serene in their talking. This stereotyping really affects our images when we talk about their languages. So you often relate your opinion about the one who is speaking with the language, even though that’s not fair.
13. Black Children are Verbally Deprived
Black American children aren’t verbally deprived despite their low test scores and the bad grammar many seem to have. There are lots of reasons for whites to believe that blacks speak bad English. Anyone of any race can learn a language, so the human brains are not different from others because of their race. Even their lip shape doesn’t affect how these children speak. The myth talks about Ebonics, white people think that this language is bad English. Ebonics is often spoken by black Americans, because they do not grow up with Standard English. So their hardly verbally deprived, they’re just not taught to speak Standard English.
14. Double Negatives are Illogical
A double negative is when you say two negatives in one sentence following each other. For example: ‘you won’t get nothing from your grandmother’. This is wrong, because with this sentence you’re actually saying you will get something from your grandmother. The myth says that double negatives aren’t illogical. I agree on this, because if you say a double negative, you actually just emphasizes your station. Erasmus thought that ‘not ungrateful’ should mean very grateful, so he emphasizes that it is grateful!
15. TV Makes People Sound the Same
Television does not make people sound more alike. There is no proof that it changes pronunciation or grammar, it is just good at spreading words. Some words like ‘dove’, past tense of dive instead of dived, is used on television. This word is not common enough to affect how anyone talks. I think that people mainly learn language not from television or teachers or even parents, but from children or immigrants. So everyone has their own dialect and television doesn’t make people all sound the same.
18. Some Languages are Spoken More Quickly than Others
Some languages are spoken rapidly and some more slowly. This is a normal result of the way their sounds are produced. Sometimes it is more some sort of illusion that some languages are spoken more quickly. Another aspect is that in some societies it is socially approved to speak rapidly and in others slow speaking is preferred. I think it also has something to do with your own speed language, because some people are naturally fast speakers. It can also depend on personal and social/emotional factors, because when you’re tired you speak slower.