Every Winter Solstice, I undertake a project for the coming year. These year-long projects generally take the form of a change in personal habit, practice, or belief, preferably in a way that impacts my everyday life. After a year, I decide whether I want to keep the change brought about by the project.
As my personal project for 2011, I chose to speak and write without using the verb 'to be'. Some call this English Prime (E-Prime), and attribute to it any number of positive qualities, to the point of advocating its use over standard English.
The benefits of E-Prime do not always seem immediately apparent. Some linguists consider E-Prime less biased and more efficient, as it discourages definitive statements (e.g. "This language is bad.") in favor of descriptive ones (e.g. "This language lacks flexibility").
Not a linguist myself, I chose this project primarily as a challenge. As well, I wanted to test the practicality of using E-Prime on a day-to-day basis. Given that I live in a society heavily addicted to using 'to be', however, I left myself some leeway. I allowed myself to use the forbidden verb when referring to it as a noun (as I did in the preceding sentence), quoting someone else, and when working on fiction that predated the inception of the E-Prime project.
So, how did it go?
Switching over to E-Prime in writing came very easily. Perhaps, as a novelist, the need to plan sentences and paragraphs gave me an edge in restructuring written expression on the fly. Whatever the case, I never experienced any difficulty writing in E-Prime--unless you count forgetting to not write in E-Prime when working on my novels!
Speaking E-Prime posed a far greater challenge. It took me weeks to train myself out of saying various forms of 'to be', and even after the first month, I often cut myself off when I realized I could not complete the sentence without using 'to be'. Conversing with more than two people at once, especially while under the influence of alcohol, led to a large number of infractions. Contractions became the bane of my existence, since many of them 'disguise' the use of 'to be'.
E-Prime has certainly helped me gain a greater awareness of what I (and people around me) say and mean. I find myself using a greater variety of verbs now, and speaking more descriptively--if sometimes awkwardly. I also noticed some other, unexpected benefits, such a decreased incidence of triggering out-group hostility. For example, I received far fewer defensive responses to saying "I do not eat meat", compared to "I am a vegetarian" (the previous post addressed this phenomenon in greater detail).
However, I have also found that E-Prime eliminates many useful and elegant constructions, especially in terms of metaphors. While technically accurate, "I compare the world to a stage" just does not sound as poetic as "all the world's a stage". Also, sometimes a definitive statement, far from judgmental or vague, simply makes sense. "This pen is blue" gains little by conversion into E-Prime: "this pen has a blue color".
As the Solstice approaches, I have no trouble coming to the conclusion that 2011's project must end. Through my experiences, I have developed vast respect for E-Prime and what it can teach us, but also severe doubts about its utility as a living language. While I hope the lessons I have learned about language and communication will stick, I look forward fondly to the end of my 'to be' prohibition.
As my personal project for 2011, I chose to speak and write without using the verb 'to be'. Some call this English Prime (E-Prime), and attribute to it any number of positive qualities, to the point of advocating its use over standard English.
The benefits of E-Prime do not always seem immediately apparent. Some linguists consider E-Prime less biased and more efficient, as it discourages definitive statements (e.g. "This language is bad.") in favor of descriptive ones (e.g. "This language lacks flexibility").
Not a linguist myself, I chose this project primarily as a challenge. As well, I wanted to test the practicality of using E-Prime on a day-to-day basis. Given that I live in a society heavily addicted to using 'to be', however, I left myself some leeway. I allowed myself to use the forbidden verb when referring to it as a noun (as I did in the preceding sentence), quoting someone else, and when working on fiction that predated the inception of the E-Prime project.
So, how did it go?
Switching over to E-Prime in writing came very easily. Perhaps, as a novelist, the need to plan sentences and paragraphs gave me an edge in restructuring written expression on the fly. Whatever the case, I never experienced any difficulty writing in E-Prime--unless you count forgetting to not write in E-Prime when working on my novels!
Speaking E-Prime posed a far greater challenge. It took me weeks to train myself out of saying various forms of 'to be', and even after the first month, I often cut myself off when I realized I could not complete the sentence without using 'to be'. Conversing with more than two people at once, especially while under the influence of alcohol, led to a large number of infractions. Contractions became the bane of my existence, since many of them 'disguise' the use of 'to be'.
E-Prime has certainly helped me gain a greater awareness of what I (and people around me) say and mean. I find myself using a greater variety of verbs now, and speaking more descriptively--if sometimes awkwardly. I also noticed some other, unexpected benefits, such a decreased incidence of triggering out-group hostility. For example, I received far fewer defensive responses to saying "I do not eat meat", compared to "I am a vegetarian" (the previous post addressed this phenomenon in greater detail).
However, I have also found that E-Prime eliminates many useful and elegant constructions, especially in terms of metaphors. While technically accurate, "I compare the world to a stage" just does not sound as poetic as "all the world's a stage". Also, sometimes a definitive statement, far from judgmental or vague, simply makes sense. "This pen is blue" gains little by conversion into E-Prime: "this pen has a blue color".
As the Solstice approaches, I have no trouble coming to the conclusion that 2011's project must end. Through my experiences, I have developed vast respect for E-Prime and what it can teach us, but also severe doubts about its utility as a living language. While I hope the lessons I have learned about language and communication will stick, I look forward fondly to the end of my 'to be' prohibition.
tl:dr: E-Prime is bad.
ReplyDelete;-)
Hah! Until next Thursday, I have to say "E-Prime lacks flexibility".
ReplyDelete