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There are certain terms (like "a software") that are never used by people who's first language is English. IANAL (I am not a linguist), but I'd consider myself
by biotech 16y ago
There are certain terms (like "a software") that are never used by people who's first language is English. IANAL (I am not a linguist), but I'd consider myself a "descriptivist" when it comes to defining a language. I think that a living language is defined by its usage by native speakers. Forms that are never used by native speakers can be defined as "incorrect". Of course, languages change (especially English), so those forms can and do become incorporated into the language over time. But, as English stands in 2010, "a software" is less correct than simply saying "software".
- BrandonM 16y agoI guess by your argument and the prevalence of usage by native speakers, who's is correct as well.
- joubert 16y agoI don't think he is saying native speakers never make mistakes though. A better example might be people using if when they should be using whether.
- kranner 16y ago"I think that a living language is defined by its usage by native speakers." First, I think there are degrees of nativeness in language acquisition. Cutting out the entire class of strictly non-native speakers is a bit of an extreme step. Second, what about differences in usage of the same language over two classes of native speaker? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_American_Vernacular_English http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_American_Vernacular_Eng... was once considered to be "incorrect" English.