Job Discussion Forums

[DMcK]

The question was asked the other day but I have no idea and can't find anything about any official institution with final say on all English linguistic matters.

[johnslat]

Dear DMcK,

"Who is officially responsible for developments of English?"

I am - and I'm afraid I'm going to have to edit you:

"Who is officially responsible for the development of English?"

If you have any questions regarding the development of English, please address them to my assistant, naturegirl321.

(OK, just joking - nobody's "officially responsible," and thank heavens for that.)

Regards,
John

[DMcK]

after 9 contact hours and a bottle of ribera del duero i offer neither an apology nor an excuse.
I simply can't be fkd.
Thanks for the advice though.

[Glenski]

Short answer: your boss is responsible.

Long answer (in condensed form): whoever your boss answers to is responsible, be it BOE, institution president/principal/director, or some government office. Could also be taken to be any publisher!

Actually, there is no central agency or office overseeing the development of English in terms of controlling who teaches and what is taught.

[johnslat]

Dear DMcK,

"after 9 contact hours and a bottle of ribera del duero i offer neither an apology nor an excuse."

No apology needed, but while the above isn't an excuse, I'd say that it would certainly qualify as a darn good reason.

Regards,
John

[DMcK]

[Justin Trullinger]

John lies. I AM RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH.



But seriously- some languages have governing bodies, like the Academia Real de la Lengua Espa�ola. Some don't, like English. It seems to just grow, mutate, change, and live on its own accord. There's certainly no official institute with any kind of authority, though there are numerous pedants, sometimes myself including, with strong opinions and a desire to regulate the language.

My students often want a "right" answer, though, and insist on the authority of various dictionaries and grammar texts.

Linguists sometimes refer to corpus studies as the final authority, as they supposedly show English as it is really used. I use corpora a lot in research, and find them interesting, but of course somebody has to decide which language samples go into the corpus, so it's still anybody's guess where the real authority lies.


Best,
THE SUPREME DICTATOR OF ENGLISH USE


PS- but you can call me Justin

[Justin Trullinger]

Thoughts about WHY English doesn't have an official academy like French or Spanish?

Here's mine:

While both French and Spanish are spoken in a variety of places, the cultural "seat" of the language (where it originated) and the economic and political clout are in the same place. When their academy was set up, Spain, for example, had clear influence and jurisdiction over a lot of places Spanish was spoken.

In the case of English, the country that is really the origin, England, isn't necessarily the most influential country where English is now spoken. For the US to create a "language authority" would seem a little presumptuous, as we aren't anyplace close to the origin of the language, yet if England, or even the UK, were to do so, it would seem equally weird given the profound influence of American English in the world.

SO...better to let sleeping dogs lie, and live without a an "official" version of English.


Best,
Justin

[DMcK]

[Stephen Jones]

The New World was unimportant when the Spanish and French academies were set up and London was very much the seat of both political and linguistic power, so Justin's suggestion doesn't hold water.

[DMcK]

It may be more to do with cultural and religious influences as Spain and France are both Catholic whereas Britain is Protestant. The tendency of Catholicism to preach standardised rules is quite opposite to that of Protestantism which could indicate why English is, I suppose, de facto.

[Justin Trullinger]

[spiral78]

I vote for this one

Pendantic English Normative Institute of Scholars

And I'll join. Please consider my application: 12 years of posting on Dave's and I'm clearly pendantic

I'll even send you my real CV by pm - I can prove my 'scholarship' credentials, too (processing a backspace to add the comma after 'credentials' and to take away the original period I put before this parenthetical comment).

It'll look nice on my CV

[jdl]

Proud members of *beep* it is then....oops ..... guess we had better avoid the acronym usage. Maybe more fitting than funny?

[spiral78]

Hmmm, hadn't realised. Reconsidering the inclusion on my CV