A sidelight on conversational english

Abstract

If we were to compare the spoken and the literary language we should be greatly impressed by the marked difference that distinguishes the one from the other. This renders a closer study of spoken English all the more important especially because no serious effort has been devoted to this essential aspect of linguistic training. Greater flexibility as regards syntax and grammar is pointed out as one of the distinctive features of spoken English. It can best of all be perceived in its syntactical pattern ever so different from that of the literary language. As W. J. Ball in "Conversational English" puts it: "In conversation a much looser word order than in the literary language is customary. Conversation makes its own rules and if from time to time, they run counter to those of written English they are none the less valid – but in their own territory." And elsewhere: "Conversational English is more broken up in texture and the strands of grammar are less closely knit than in written English." Thus, depended as they are on the basic facts of traditional grammar, conversational structures should be studied as a separate entity if we are to learn speaking in an easy, expressively dynamic manner. It is an urgent, but difficult task.