Hi, James!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

AH>  I think you can relate because you seem to be interested
AH>  in music which gives the performer(s) an opportunity to
AH>  experiment with various interpretations....  ;-)

JB>  Hey... I wasn't complainin'. 


          Thankyou.  I didn't think you were....  :-)



JB>  But doesn't your learning style dissuade you from
JB>  language studies?


          Not at all!  Many linguists have a similar learning style....  :-)



JB>  I've heard that if a person has a reasoning style of
JB>  comprehension, they tend to boggle over the (seemingly)
JB>  irrational rules of English.


          It seems to me they'd probably be very uncomfortable with rules
which don't necessarily work in practice, as I am.  Sometimes I don't know
whether to laugh or cry when adults recite "i before e except after
c", then shrug & spell a word such as "either" correctly
because that is what looks correct to them... or say "between you and
I" because their use of "me" was criticized before they were
ready to learn much about prepositions & conjunctions.  Some folks like
to have rules... typically, eight-year-olds & primary teachers do...
but the rules we learned when we were eight years old may be inadequate
later on.  And what I find interesting is how people actually use language,
how they intuitively know the structure of their native language even when
they can't explain it....  :-)



JB>  I know - at least I've heard - once you dig into
JB>  the peculiarities, you can find some rational behind
JB>  the idiosyncrasies


          Uh-huh.  I've invented a corollary to the "i/e" rule
which takes into account the vast majority of exceptions.  If you'd like to
know, just ask.  ;-)



JB>  but I had little patience to for it when I could easily
JB>  learn the rational behind Pythagoras' Theorem, and
JB>  differentiation.


          Whatever the reason(s), I seem to have a gift for spelling &
grammar. As a student I often found the prescribed exercises repetitive,
simple-minded & boring... i.e. until my grade ten English teacher,
"Miss Langwidge", aroused my interest in the peculiarities &
idiosyncrasies.  But in advanced mathematics, I got the correct answer only
because I wouldn't give up until I got it....  :-))



AH>  If you can express such doubts I can see you're human
AH>  & you're not afraid to admit it.  That gives me the
AH>  freedom to be human as well....  :-)

JB>  Have at it, girl! If you reach a point where I can't
JB>  understand you, I'll let you know. <-;


          Please do!  I wish more people would do that... [wry grin].



JB>  Say, could I bother you for an explanation for possessive
JB>  nouns, and whatever else deserves a trailing "'s" versus
JB>  a "s'"? My dictionary doesn't avail the topic in the
JB>  punctuation guide. Feel free to say no.


          Heh.  That's exactly the sort of question I like to get my teeth
into because it's out of the ordinary... and now you've aroused my
curiosity!  I see your first name as an interesting challenge because it
ends with "s".  The only examples I could think of were "St.
James's Palace" & "St. James' Infirmary"... and in both
cases I was able to verify the spelling.  I did a bit more research &
concluded that the British add "s" after the apostrophe to
one-syllable names such as "James" & "Charles"
where the Americans don't.  As a Canadian you're at liberty to use the
version you prefer, but IMHO your spelling should agree with your
pronunciation.  Further details/examples with other names, such as
"Jesus" & "Xerxes", available on request.  Or you
can check out Fowler's MODERN ENGLISH USAGE, which I've found quite helpful
as a guide with various oddities....  :-)




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+