1. There are a number of factors that went into the reaction against prescriptive grammar. Its theoretical base turned out to be bollocks: there is no god-given "right" way to speak, though some ways are clearer, and some more comfortable for some people. In the USA, prescriptive grammar went hand in with racism, since black dialects have a distinctive grammar. But US opposition to prescriptive grammar also has a strong anti-intellectual component.
2. The strongest prescriptivists are usually the middle classes, not the upper classes. It's the wannabes that are most willing to emulate the upper classes, even the failings and errors of the upper classes. (Ironically, I had to look up the spelling of "wannabe" in The Urban Dictionary, one of the ultimate descriptivist sources.)
3. Prescriptive grammar has had a very large success as a result of the introduction of mass media in the past century. Television and radio are enormously effective immersive teachers.
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Date: 2010-11-16 02:01 pm (UTC)Some notes on this:
1. There are a number of factors that went into the reaction against prescriptive grammar. Its theoretical base turned out to be bollocks: there is no god-given "right" way to speak, though some ways are clearer, and some more comfortable for some people. In the USA, prescriptive grammar went hand in with racism, since black dialects have a distinctive grammar. But US opposition to prescriptive grammar also has a strong anti-intellectual component.
2. The strongest prescriptivists are usually the middle classes, not the upper classes. It's the wannabes that are most willing to emulate the upper classes, even the failings and errors of the upper classes. (Ironically, I had to look up the spelling of "wannabe" in The Urban Dictionary, one of the ultimate descriptivist sources.)
3. Prescriptive grammar has had a very large success as a result of the introduction of mass media in the past century. Television and radio are enormously effective immersive teachers.