From: Colin Hales (colin@versalog.com.au)
Date: Tue Mar 05 2002 - 06:05:17 MST
Lee Daniel Crocker wrote .................
> Also, I should point out that the reflexive form of the ey/em/eir set
> is "emself", not "eirself", since the plural is "themselves" (by analogy
> to "himself"; use of "hisself" and "theirselves" is a shibboleth of poor
> education) I don't particularly find the superfluous added "l" to have
> any value, but if you insist it should still be "lemself", not "leirself".
>
> Also, the i-before-e rule is not violated the least here, since every
> rational version of that rule mentions explicitly that all cases
> pronounced as the "ay" diphthong are properly spelled "ei".
*scrabbles for dict...shibboleth diphthong shibboleth diphthong AHA! fetches
ventolin because of layers of dust around shibboleth*
> Wanting to change the laguage to correct its flaws is a noble goal,
> but let's not be sloppy about it, or we just create more problems than
> we solve.
I don't think I'm correcting flaws - just trying to help fill a hole for AI
folk. I was waiting for input from someone not so grammatically challenged
(as me that is). Thanks for the input. My new de-shibbolethed set now looks
like this:
Lexeme nominative accusative reflexive weak genitive strong genitive
(adjective) (posessive pronoun)
she she her herself her hers
he he him himself his his
se se sem semself ser sems
ve ve ver verself ver vis
ey ey em emself eir eirs
ley ley lem lemself leir leirs
I'm still not happy with the "em" thing. It clashes with the colloquial
usage:
stack 'em, rack 'em and pack 'em, move 'em out, Send 'em down, Huey
stick 'em up, knockin'em dead, if you cant beat 'em, join 'em
The colloquial spoken usage somehow undermines the intent of the proper
usage. One's youngster AI could get quite confused as well. (Anyone remember
HIMY from Get Smart?)
Colin
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