Jane, would you please give some of examples of what you mean by “the vowel shifts occurring in American English”. This whole topic is very interesting and I’m afraid I’ve found at least one example of my own mispronunciations. My pet peeve: News presenters and newspaper writers who are afraid to use “me” when they should (objective case). Val Sonora, CA > On Sep 18, 2020, at 1:34 PM, Robert Parks via pbs <pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> wrote: > > Haha! No. I'll be with the old grumpy taxonomists it is a DYC not another > DYA (Damned Yellow Asteraceae). I grew up through the upheaval of taxonomy > with the old guard still jealously guarding descriptive taxonomy while the > young scientists were pushing chemotaxonomy and later DNA sequencing. > > On Fri, Sep 18, 2020 at 1:22 PM Aad van Beek via pbs < > pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> wrote: > >> To put things in perspective. >> >> Same word new meaning. People call themselves old and grumpy and we should >> revert as soon as possible to the old meaning. >> >> Same plant new name. People get excited and we should as soon as possible >> use the new name. >> >> Does this mean science behind linguistic and taxonomy are not aligned. 😆 >> >> Aad. >> ________________________________ >> From: pbs <pbs-bounces@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> on behalf of Jim >> McKenney via pbs <pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> >> Sent: Friday, September 18, 2020 9:55:01 PM >> To: pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net <pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> >> Cc: Jim McKenney <jamesamckenney@verizon.net> >> Subject: Re: [pbs] Additions to the lexicon >> >> Speaking from the point of view of an old person who automatically gets >> annoyed at quickly spreading changes (e.g. "woke") I'll share some pet >> peeves.Words I have used all of my adult life not only seem to no longer >> mean what I thought they meant but sometimes have become antonyms of their >> former selves.Here are two examples.In a recent pandemic-related article >> in the Washington Post, a sentence describing the effects of the pandemic >> in a particular area began by describing the decimation of the region being >> described. At the other end of the same sentence the same effects were >> described as affectmg 80-90% of the population. Since the word decimate >> strongly suggests 10%, I had no idea what was meant.And then look a what >> has happened to the word "literally". In everyday spoken English. most of >> us do not have precision as a goal. We speak not so much to convey precise >> meaning as to impress the hearer. Everyday speech is so full of hyperbole, >> metaphor and downright lies that generations of carefull speakers used the >> word "literally" to indicate that they actually meant what they said. >> Merriam Webster no longer makes the case that the word "literally" means >> what it seems to be indicationg. To them it now simply indicates an >> emphasis of the misleading hyperbole, metaphor or lie in question.The new >> right is now left. Jim (grumpy old guy) McKenney >> >> >> >> On Friday, September 18, 2020, 03:05:41 PM EDT, Jane McGary via pbs < >> pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net> wrote: >> >> As someone speaking from the field of linguistics, I'd say yes, language >> change is an important part of the discipline. It happens constantly in >> all actively spoken languages. Spoken usage errors are not equivalent to >> being "illiterate," although a semiliterate person reading from a >> teleprompter is likely to make such errors, much to the delight of the >> news media. We have to compartmentalize our reactions to the language we >> hear, especially if we are old and automatically get annoyed at quickly >> spreading changes, such as the vowel shifts occurring in American >> English, or the spread of Estuary English in Britain. The important >> thing is that a change can't abruptly impede understanding, and we're >> pretty adaptable there too. We will continue to have our pet peeves >> (like "track record," always misused now), but we still understand our >> interlocutors and email correspondents, whether or not they know what >> "regale" means. >> >> Jane McGary, Portland, Oregon, USA, where it's finally raining. >> >> >> On 9/18/2020 9:22 AM, Cody H via pbs wrote: >>> Hahaha! Exasturbated is definitely a new one for me. >>> >>> I believe there are branches of study within the field of linguistics >>> dedicated specifically to understanding how words and lexicons change >> over >>> time—an important, natural, and inevitable process that contributes to >> the >>> development of language diversity. So I try to channel my inner >>> dispassionate linguist every time I hear someone who I otherwise wish to >>> respect say “fustrated” or “nukular” in a non-ironic way. >>> >>> >> _______________________________________________ >> pbs mailing list >> pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net >> http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… >> >> _______________________________________________ >> pbs mailing list >> pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net >> http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… >> _______________________________________________ >> pbs mailing list >> pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net >> http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… >> > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net > http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/… _______________________________________________ pbs mailing list pbs@lists.pacificbulbsociety.net http://lists.pacificbulbsociety.net/cgi-bin/…