Frank Antonson
Senior Member
- Joined
- Dec 7, 2009
- Member Type
- English Teacher
- Native Language
- English
- Home Country
- United States
- Current Location
- United States
At some point I heard the gradual disappearance of the case endings from Old English to Modern English described as the "decay" of the cases, this coming after a time when, I believe, Proto-Indo-European had seven (or maybe eight cases). I believe that the same word could be applied to the reduction of the importance of gender; and, in a related thread, the suggestion that "If I were" and "If I was" carry the same meaning strikes me as a decay in the use of subjunctive mood.
I start this thread with some trepidation, but I would like to see a discussion. English, I believe has BY FAR the biggest vocabulary of any language, but does it have the same GRAMMATICAL ability to deal with nuances as other languages do?
I start this thread with some trepidation, but I would like to see a discussion. English, I believe has BY FAR the biggest vocabulary of any language, but does it have the same GRAMMATICAL ability to deal with nuances as other languages do?