tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8217060.post3695064303652218097..comments2024-02-11T16:14:47.073-07:00Comments on AE's Blog: The Language of Riddley WalkerƵ§œš¹http://www.blogger.com/profile/13324731014829877532noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8217060.post-45955172482002577222016-04-18T20:45:40.207-07:002016-04-18T20:45:40.207-07:00Brian,
That is catchy. However, since what is and ...Brian,<br />That is catchy. However, since what is and is not "standard" is linguistically arbitrary, some sort of official arbiter would be necessary to consider something "new standard." I haven't read the whole book, but I'm pretty sure it is the case that there are no such arbiters in Riddley's society. "Standard" is typically understood to be contemporary standard (and many of these features are present in contemporary non-standard dialects), so consider my calling it non-standard as an easy shorthand.<br /><br />Regarding punctuation, I see your point (though there are definitely exceptions to this even on the first page) but it doesn't make Riddley's prose any more readable. Ƶ§œš¹https://www.blogger.com/profile/13324731014829877532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8217060.post-9074641169364784802016-02-02T04:42:11.616-07:002016-02-02T04:42:11.616-07:00I got as far as rule 4 and decided to add what I h...I got as far as rule 4 and decided to add what I hope are corrections.<br />The main thing is your use of the term "non-standard English." It is not "non-standard;" it is "new standard." Imagine if we judged modern English literature according to standards in place over 2000 years ago. What I found distracting was how little the language had changed in so much time and upheaval. I believe Hoban could have written something more realistic, but chose to limit the differences so as not to lose readers.<br />Punctuation is most definitely not haphazard. The idea of what counts as a sentence has shifted. Picture it as invisible semicolons and parentheses. Phrases that constitute an indivisible whole (from the perspective of whoever is speaking or writing) are grouped into a single sentence.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02985654181313382329noreply@blogger.com