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Comparative Language Studies A General Overview by Bibi Baxter (May 2003) Having become a global form of communication, the English language is evolving and mutating. Just as with life itself, natural selection processes will prevail in all four corners of the Earth, the greatest influence being L1-interference from non-native speakers, their logic, culture and local environmental needs. In order to form good grammatical English, it is essential not to translate prepositions and tenses; however, this advice is easier said than done. An excellent example of this can be found in American English. American society contains a rich spread of people from all over the world and Spanish speakers prevail. Spoken American English has adopted the common tense errors which are often made by European non-native speakers. Actors on American TV programmes and films can therefore be heard to say something similar to: ' I have seen him yesterday' or 'I didn't see him yet'. The correct grammar would be:
Although grammatically wrong, the above examples are regionally correct, because everyone in that region uses the same grammar format. In the same way, there are areas where to say:
is also regionally correct, even though others might wince at the grammatical errors. Most of us know the correct grammar would be:
Translating word for word does not convey the message properly; it is necessary therefore to translate the idea only, even though it does not seem to convey as much as you would like. (An example of this is given below.) With this in mind, Head Offices of international companies, which are often manned by non-native speakers, have a duty to their employees not to create a warped English which can cause confusion and misunderstandings beyond their corporate circle. The resulting hodge-podge would benefit no-one. Bibi Baxter - April 2003 |
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