Language though is not science, it’s a cultural practice. Adhering to a specific set of rules to signal belonging to a specific cultural subgroup is perfectly normal; and deviation from those rules is not a socially neutral act. When and how you deviate signals a lot of things about you and what you’re saying.
That’s why slang is fascinating. It always tells a story. Whether it’s English Prep School jargon that breached containment, whitewashed AAVL, group in-jokes, unconventional emojis, etc., a slang word says a lot about the person who uses it.
That is to say, if you unironically start saying “rooves”, I can’t say whether you’ll start a trend that will ultimately change English forever (weirder things have happened). But I can assure you that the immediate effect will be that people will label you “tumblr weirdo”. Which would be a correct assessment, so that’s effective subtextual communication. Yay linguistics!
I think I’ve been saying rooves my whole life. I don’t think I’d generally write it that way, but it feels more natural to say.
If I have, I’m not sure anyone’s noticed. My speech patterns are odd though, so it might not be terribly noticable. It’s also possible I’ve never had to say the word. It’s not common that you need to pluralize roof.
Linguistics is a descriptive science.
Language though is not science, it’s a cultural practice. Adhering to a specific set of rules to signal belonging to a specific cultural subgroup is perfectly normal; and deviation from those rules is not a socially neutral act. When and how you deviate signals a lot of things about you and what you’re saying.
That’s why slang is fascinating. It always tells a story. Whether it’s English Prep School jargon that breached containment, whitewashed AAVL, group in-jokes, unconventional emojis, etc., a slang word says a lot about the person who uses it.
That is to say, if you unironically start saying “rooves”, I can’t say whether you’ll start a trend that will ultimately change English forever (weirder things have happened). But I can assure you that the immediate effect will be that people will label you “tumblr weirdo”. Which would be a correct assessment, so that’s effective subtextual communication. Yay linguistics!
Explain prescriptive linguistics
I think I’ve been saying rooves my whole life. I don’t think I’d generally write it that way, but it feels more natural to say.
If I have, I’m not sure anyone’s noticed. My speech patterns are odd though, so it might not be terribly noticable. It’s also possible I’ve never had to say the word. It’s not common that you need to pluralize roof.