“Would you [single eye contact] like to have a meal with me?”
“Would you [multiple eye contact] like to have a meal with me?”It is an odd thing that we should think about language as if it were a
machine invented to serve the purpose of communication, and thus open to
criticism on the same grounds in which we talk about our lawnmowers and
food processors. In the next sections we will see that these misconceptions
have less to do with inherent qualities of language than they do with a
preoccupation with form (as opposed to function), which in turn originates
in part with struggles over authority in the determination of language and
social identity.
Grammaticality does not equal communicative effectiveness
Linguists and non-linguists both see grammar as a set of rules which must
be obeyed, but they differ on the nature and origination of those rules.
When linguists talk about grammar, they are thinking about the rule-
driven structure of language. On the basis of those rules, individuals
generate sentences. Children have acquired a working knowledge of this
grammar of their native language by the age of 4.
A linguist would not call any of the following example sentences
ungrammatical:
If you’re going out, I’m coming with.
I might could stop at the store on the way home. You know
Vicky be working after school.
For reals, he won the lottery!
If I had had three of them, you could’ve tooken one.
Here are five things Joe should have went to jail for.
I would of helped if I had known.
We misunderestimated them.
That’s just what Maria said to Marcos and I.
Ain’t nobody can beat me no how.
Which of the three boys was less troublesome?
The house needs painted.
He’s the kind of guy that’s always borrowing money.
The data does not support your conclusion.
Put it in your pocket.