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> I agree: there are no rules in a language. Really? Isn't that a bit broad? It may be half true for some languages but definitely not for all. For example in
by mh-cx 9y ago
> I agree: there are no rules in a language.
Really? Isn't that a bit broad? It may be half true for some languages but definitely not for all.
For example in Germany we have the "Der Duden" which is not only a dictionary that defines the correct spelling of words but also contains a huge set of grammatical rules. It's still the de-facto standard for correct language in German.
And even in english you'd probably agree that there are some rules, e.g. when it comes to the correct spelling of words.
- pluma 9y agoThe Duden doesn't define correct spelling, it merely documents it. It's decidedly not a prescriptive work. What you're likely thinking of is the German orthography rules defined by the Rat für deutsche Rechtschreibung and in turn strongly influenced by actual practice rather than just dogma -- the most recent revisions are very forgiving with regard to acceptable variations. Linguists on the other hand have given up on prescriptivism decades ago. Scientific linguistics are entirely descriptivist, studying how language is used rather than prescribing how it ought to be used.
- bmn__ 9y agoOne particularly nasty hold-out of minority prescriptivists among those lexicographers was the renouncement of capital sharp s. It took about a good century to force them to not deny reality anymore.