An English Lesson (Ross)

.....Remember the other day I wrote that language was oral, not written. Writing is only a weak imitation of language. It does not have the rhythm or the music of language; the connotations, or the dialects. And when one attempts to teach the "grammar" of English, for example, it's not very accurate to define the parts of speech using the traditional methodology. To say a noun is a person, place, or thing is a very weak definition. A structural linguist (such as the Baron) would define a noun as a word that could be inflected for the plural MORPHEME. A morpheme is the SMALLEST UNIT in the language that carries and conveys a unique meaning and is grammatically appropriate. That includes the sound of [ess] in banks, the [iz] in catches, and the [z] in engines. All indicating that the word carries the MEANING of plural.

.....the "PHONEMES" of the plural morpheme are the SOUNDS that make the following nouns, plural: bet(s), bed(s) hors(es), ox(en). Remember a "morpheme" carries MEANING (such as denoting plural); a PHONEME is the sound of the morphemes (ess), (z), (iz), and (en). And I will make this a college lesson in English for you, so you can get your BA. All the latter morphemes, as a group, are called "Allomorphs" of the English plural morpheme. Get it? Now don't blame the Baron for this. My cousin Ruth in England wanted to know more about English (as if she didn't already know a bundle)! Now, is there any good in knowing all this? Probably not. Except that John Fitzgerald Kennedy once said, "In a time of turbulence and change knowledge is power."

.....I have nothing else to say. I'm all worn out from teaching this lesson.