Cory 2003-11-04

From Summa Bergania

From : David Bergan

Sent : Tuesday, November 4, 2003 10:12 AM

To : Cory Heidelberger

Subject : E-Prime?

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Hi Cory,

I _was_ browsing your webpage and found that there _is_ a section on doctoring the English language, which _is_ raising questions for me.

It states, "to be + PN commits what E-primalists call a fallacy of identity" When are phrases of identity a fallacy and when aren't they? (I chuckle as I realize that to answer the question, the E-primalist will have to give a defininion or some sort of equation which inevitably uses a form 'to be' - ie "The fallacy of identity is....")

Take math. "Six times seven is forty-two." Take logic. "A lion is a cat. A cat is a mammal. Therefore, a lion is a mammal." Take language. "A linking verb is a word or expression that links a subject with its predicate."

I agree that the word 'is' can be overused and that more passionate verbs should replace it when possible. But to remove the word from the language is to destroy the language entirely. All words are definitions of concepts. All definitions require the word is as an (in computer science lingo) assignment operator. The concept of chair (a piece of furniture designed to support one person sitting, usually having four legs, a back, and optionally has armrests) must be assigned to the word chair, or else it is impossible to use the word chair. A chair IS a piece of furniture designed to support one person sitting, usually having four legs, a back, and optionally has armrests.

I can use no word if all words are based on the sense linking verbs. If a chair merely LOOKS LIKE a piece of furniture (etc.), then I cannot expect it to look like that to you too. You might have cataracts. There must be arbitrary common agreement on what the word is.

The rest is transitive. If a wheat farmer is one who raises wheat, and John raises wheat, then John is a wheat farmer.

Although the 'to be' family is a bland bunch of verbs, they are the most powerful. Nothing else binds absolutely one concept to another. It nears audacity to even use them, because when you say "A chair is a piece of furniture designed to support one person sitting, usually having four legs, a back, and optionally has armrests," you are excluding all other possible definitions. When you say "Erin is an intelligent woman," you are excluding the possibility that she is dumb.

Second most powerful is the 'should/ought' family. And the two families are necessary for a good education. First you must supply the students with what IS good writing, and then you must persuade them that they SHOULD use its techniques.

See you this afternoon in Hartford.

Your friend,

David

--David Bergan

"I wish I had never been born," she said. "What are we born for?"

"For infinite happiness," said the Spirit. "You can step out into it at any moment..."

-CS Lewis (The Great Divorce)