The Irregular Verb: An Endangered Species - Alejandro Lee

“The common myth in American society is that the English language is now following a single path of change under the irrepressible, homogenizing influence of mass media. However, the truth is that language is far too resourceful and social structure far too complicated to follow any single path.” [n.a., pbs.org]

        There is an endangered species that no one talks much about. There are but a mere 160 members left but, through wanton neglect and shortsightedness, they have been pushed to the fringes of their domain and may someday be gone for good. I am talking about the English irregular verb. They have been with us for centuries, but like the vestigial wings of a flightless bird, have felt their relevance diminish with each generation.

[Illustration; theme: “Verbs Dying Off”]

       Words come and go all the time; English is always evolving. I’ll probably make up at least a few new terms before this article is done. However, I cannot help but wince when people use “bringed” and “breaked” without hesitation. This is not just an online phenomenon; I hear the same blunder when a journalist reads from prepared statements. What’s happening? Have we become so acclimated to our lackadaisical use (and misuse) of basic grammar, via looking at online type, that we’ve ceased to perceive their audible clunkyness?

        It’s 2009. Children born after 1994 (the advent of the World Wide Web) have begun entering their formative years. Consider: this is a whole new generation of human beings who will have never known a world without the Net. And, with the Net, came unprecedented new terms and definitions for our English language:

       - Google: to search for (even in real life)
       - Spam: to send too much useless information
       - Bandwidth: a metaphor for our attention span

        Where once people were nourished in the form of books, high-minded journalism, and yes- complete sentences, the preeminent form of mass communication comes to us in a medium that breaks and reshapes the rules and proliferates at warp speed. The Net encourages mish-mashing amongst its users for two basic reasons: the true democratization of discourse, and the social pressure to fit in.

        Beginning with Gutenberg and lasting for another 500 years, the printed word was factual and authoritative. It gave rise to popular revolution and government by the people. However, print (and subsequently radio and TV) were still roundly criticized as tools of the elite- after all, how many of us own our own metal press or geostationary satellite? Then there came the Internet. “The Net, as it developed, became imbued with hacker principles and characteristics. For example, the hacker maxim, ‘Information wants to be free,’ is mainly responsible for the oft-seen desire to share data with anyone who requests it as well as, to a lesser extent, the reluctance of many people to want to pay for information purveyed online.” [McFederies, pbs.org] “In the process of connecting everything to everything, computers elevate the power of the small player.” [Kelly, Harpers] So there you have it: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of the Press, Freedom of Assembly, and now Freedom of the Upload. We are closer now to giving everyone their say than ever before in human history.

        Nonetheless, even with that freedom we find patterns to coexist and share ideas. In other words, we continue to seek a common culture via how we communicate online. “Language has always helped to signify who we are in society, sometimes serving as a basis for exclusion.” [Fought, pbs.org] Tragically, I believe, this new common culture is has taken off on a maddening, ADHD-stricken roller coaster that will only accelerate to the nth degree.

[Illustration; theme: “Culture Spinning Out of Control”]

        Indeed, the sheer speed and bulk of information coming our way forces us to think faster and filter more. Users who crave attention (or your dollars) continue to be BOLDER and FLASHIER to grab just one extra iota of your mental bandwidth. “In online dialogue, spelling and punctuation are loose and playful. On Web pages, in chat rooms, and across blogs, we see the rules of writing loosening as tone and style become more informal.” [Hale, pbs.org] The results have been atrocious. Typos become lauded and embraced (a classic was “teh” in place of “the”, and “1” instead of “!” especially in a major exclamation). Ignorance and outright stupidity of our language has become the new wit. People who criticize poor sentence structure are labeled “Grammar Nazis” (and not surprisingly, they’re proud to be labeled thus).

       Irregular verbs continue to brave this toxic gumbo of slang, but the odds are stacked against them. Before Modern English, the language was dominated by irregulars. Now it’s entirely reflexive to attach “-ed” to a past tense verb (“I’ve been getting spammed”, not “I’ve been getting spum”). Exacerbating the predicament of irregulars is that they’ve been passed on in schools and books, but those are the realm of authoritativeness and snobbishness; of looking backwards against the tide.

       Still, These long-lived conjugations have survived many changes to the language. Perhaps, because they thankfully sound correct to our ears, they will continue to live on, even if they’re only preferred by an elite class.

Citations

n.a.
       pbs.org/speak/words/sezwho/

Kelly, Kevin. (1994, May 1). "Embrace it."
       Harper’s Magazine, 20-21, 24-25.

McFedries, Paul. “World Wide Web of Words.”
       pbs.org/speak/words/sezwho/cyberspace/

Hale, Constance. “Wired Words.”
       pbs.org/speak/words/sezwho/wiredwords/

Fought, John G. “Gatekeeping.”
       pbs.org/speak/speech/correct/gatekeeping/


BTW: here's where I got the HTML code for paragraph indents http://webdesign.about.com/od/faqsandhelp/f/bl_faq5_3a.htm
(I used the & nbsp; trick) Also, I'm using Firefox.