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Saying Hello from the UK

Stuntie

後輩
26 Nov 2014
25
1
13
Stuntie saying hello.
New member from the UK
(Stuntie being my nickname)

Wizened old git seeking a new challenge and thought I'd give Japanese a go.
Found of weird scripts and have studied Old Norse for the Runes, Middle Egyptian for the Hieroglyphs and now am giving Japanese a go. Heck It's got not one, but THREE weird scripts, so should be fun.
 
Welcome to JREF ! Experts say for us old folk , learning a language is a great way to exercise our brain and keep it young.
 
I'm interested in this idea that the subjunctive is a relic of Victorian literature, long neglected and now on the endangered list. I think this is something that needs to be challenged. The use of "were" in the subjunctive is still quite commonly used - does anyone who hears the song "If I Were A Rich Man" think the grammer of the title is archaic and/or slightly Victorian?. No, of course not. It is a funtional part of the living language, and a decent editor will correct any subjuntive phrase written as "was" to "were".

It may be that the subjunctive will fall out of use eventually, but I think the reports of its demise are slightly exaggerated, as are the reports that its use is confined to textbooks and Oxford professors.

Welcome to JREF, Stuntie. I'm not always an opinionated old geezer, but I do what I can to keep up my reputation.
 
Hi Majestic.
It is my opinion based on lingustic and literature changes since the end of Victorian period. Since then we have seen the rise of new media formats such as first film and the gramophone, next TV and portable music, and finally our new digital environments. The majority of these new media types stress immediate active action and have a language to match. Whereas books are often stuffed with reflective and contemplative passage which are more passive and subjective in language.

Given the fall in reading levels and the focus on modern media with an active tense I can see the use of the passive and subjunctive forms slowly become less and less common in everyday speech leading to their repalcement in normal usage by the active forms. That we already have people using 'was' instead of 'were' shows the start of that slide.

Give it a couple more generations and I beleive the active voice will become dominant to such an extent that the subjunctive forms will be seen as very old fashioned indeed. A few more generations and they will fall from common usage completely.

The Internet, text speak, and the globalisation of English with it's attendent simplification of gramamtical and spelling matters, is also exacerbating the problem.
 
Hello Stuntie san,

Welcome on the list. I enjoy your postings. The three scripts is also part of what attracts me to Japanese. (Another attractor for me is the difference between Japanese grammar and "Indo-European" grammar.)

Are you also studying Chinese ?

With best regards from Germany,

Menno ( メンノー )
 
Guten Tag Menno,

Sticking with Japanese for now. May extend it to include Korean and Chinese in the future, but already have enough languages on my 'to do' list to keep me going into my twilight years.
Having learnt English and Scandinavian (including Old Norse), I should really get around to learning German as well at some point.

The difference in grammar is a draw for me too. I like seeing how how different langauges lead to realise more about your own langauges shortcomings, or assumptions.
 
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