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From | To | Subject | Date/Time | |||
Alexander Koryagin | Ardith Hinton | They knows? |
March 5, 2019 9:19 AM * |
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Hi, Ardith Hinton : Alexander Koryagin! I read your message from 04.03.2019 14:42 AK>> I found in Wikipedia information that "they" can be used as single AK>> pronoun: AK>> _SINGULAR THEY_ is the use in English of the pronoun _they_ or its AK>> inflected or derivative forms, _them_, _their_, _theirs_, AK>> and _themselves_ (or _themself_), as an epicene (gender-neutral) AK>> singular pronoun. It typically occurs with an unspecified AK>> antecedent, as in sentences such as: AK>> "_The patient_ should be told at the outset how much _they_ will AK>> be required to pay." "But _a journalist_ should not be forced to AK>> reveal _their_ sources." AH> I can see some justification for it here, because it is easier than AH> writing "s/he" and "him/her" or trying to reason with a person who AH> feels their (!) gender is being ignored although they don't notice AH> when the shoe is on the other foot. My CANADIAN OXFORD, however, AH> lists "themself" as "disputed". :-) I remember that in Russia a tsar used plural pronouns for a single person. He wrote his decrees in the following way: "We, the great tsar of Russia, declare..." AK>> The singular _they_ had emerged by the 14th century, about a AK>> century after plural _they_. It has been commonly employed in AK>> everyday English ever since then, though it has become the target AK>> of criticism since the late-19th century. AH> Hmm. Fowler's cites some evidence in support of this idea, but I'm AH> doubtful "they" was commonly used as a gender-neutral pronoun AH> between the late 1900's & the 1960's or early 1970's... when the AH> feminists adopted it... except maybe when people thought the AH> government should fix something. Typically when grammarians voice AH> an objection they encounter more popular resistance.... :-Q It is difficult to fight with people when they have a bad habit. I remember a thing from Pygmalion, by Bernard Shaw: -----Beginning of the citation----- HIGGINS. How the devil do I know what's to become of you? What does it matter what becomes of you? LIZA. You don't care. I know you don't care. You wouldn't care if I was dead. I'm nothing to you -- not so much as them slippers. HIGGINS [thundering] THOSE slippers. ----- The end of the citation ----- I still cannot see the logic why she used _them_ instead of _those_. ;-) It is not a kind of error a Russian could make. AK>> Its use in formal English has become more common with the trend AK>> toward gender-neutral language, AH> It has become more common in recent years, but not because the mood AH> at the time of its resurgence took into account that our ancestors AH> knew things we might well pay attention to. Quite the contrary... AH> Jerry Rubin, e.g., made headlines when he advised other folks not AH> to trust anybody over 30. I suppose they must have followed his AH> advice because he doesn't make headlines now. ;-) I imagine what does a foreign student think when he hears the sentence like the first sentence in last paragraph. After reading it ten times I think I understood what you meant. ;=) Bye, Ardith! Alexander Koryagin english_tutor 2019 --- * Origin: nntps://fidonews.mine.nu - Lake Ylo - Finland (2:221/6.0) |
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