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English:
Gross abuse, or just Singlish? 'Tea taster'
we had heard of, but not 'copy taster'. However, one thing that
the interesting designation seems to reflect is a long overdue realisation
of the need to rewrite or copy edit the news items, letters to the
editor, regular columns, photo captions and even editorials and
a myriad other items that go to make a newspaper. The errors
that appear in our newspapers day after day are not mere slips of
the pen or proof-reading lapses; some of them are gross errors resulting
from a disregard for the basic rules of grammar and syntax. R. L. Stevenson
is said to have revised the first chapter of his Treasure Island
no fewer than thirty-seven times and Gustave Flaubert to have spent
days and weeks perfecting the rhythm of a single paragraph. Our
English language newspapers owe it to their readers to ensure that
they do not contain too many errors, particularly to help those
who have learnt English as a second language and the growing numbers
of young people now more eager than ever to get a handle on the
global language. While waiting
for our turn for a medical appointment recently, we killed time
drawing circles round the errors on just the front page of one of
that day's newspapers. We had drawn as many as 84 such circles before
it was our turn to see the doctor. This is a pastime we have continued
on and off during our long mornings in retirement; it also makes
us nostalgic for a time when our teachers (God bless their souls)
exhorted us to read the English newspapers, particularly their editorials,
for they contained models of good English prose. Front page
gaffes The caption
of a front page photograph showing film director Prasanna Withanage
being congratulated by actress Nita Fernando, on his arrival at
the Katunayake airport, read: 'Purasanda Kaluwara' (Death on a Full
Moon Night) won the Gone Free award at the French film festival. And what does
the reader make of this sentence in a Letter to the Editor: These engineers,
doctors pretended to be so wild that their collected meagre amount
of money will be used by the ministers instead for the armed forces, Or of this
sentence from a centre page feature? The image of
a patriotic and dedicated service personnel are better served if
these incidents happen with impunity, but are swept under the carpet? One area where
errors abound is Subject-Verb agreement where singular subjects
carry plural verbs, and vice versa. Such errors stick out like a
sore thumb, among excellent ideas, comments and news stories. The ethnic
conflict has been the most significant issue in the election and
the people once again has Placed their confidence in this government
to find a lasting solution to the menacing problem facing the country.
(Feature) In other words
are the voting public to go by what the President says or what the
Prime Minister says? (Editorial) We do not want
to see this country divided into eight virtually independent regional
states which has almost full autonomy. (News report) Once those
in public life twists the arm of the law enforcement men and ask
them to give certain situations the Nelsonian eye, it leads to the
certain erosion of legal values. (Column) Today there
is a theory called 'Chandrika Theory'. This theory is that two wrongs
makes a right. (Report of Parliamentary debates) A year or an
year? An year, (a
common Sri Lankan English mistake) continues to appear and reappear
in our daily newspapers. A newspaper supplement celebrating fifty
years of a professional association had this title for one of its
articles: An year of progress and commitment. A provincial
news report said, "A 25-year old Tamil youth employed in a
tea kiosk at Wattegama for nearly an year was arrested by Wattegama
Police.” A sports feature
said, "And when one remembers that Sri Lanka reached such heights
after being down in the dumps just over an year ago, Sri Lanka's
golden era in international cricket now seems just a memory.” The indefinite
article a, like the definite article the, is another problem for
our writers. The oblique line in the following shows its omission. Now we have
the problem of air pollution with thick black smoke hanging over
our highways and there have been loud public complaints and/increased
number of people suffering from respiratory diseases. (Editorial) Double prepositions
also account for many writing errors. "This is a unique performance
of which Sri Lanka can be proud of," said a sports review.
"There is no depth to which the state media will not stoop
to," said a feature article. Using double
prepositions is bad. Not to use a preposition at all when one needed
is equally bad. The slash in these sentences indicates where a preposition
is required. Chandrasekera
told Minister Moulana that the party has (sic) not decided on whom
to support and added that a decision would be arrived/on Tuesday.
(Political Column) The theme song
was itself so touching and its rendering by Nanda Malini was a treat
to listen/. (Review of the teledrama 'Gajaman Nona') Another common
error is to use a preposition when it is incorrect to use one. These
are some of the many examples of departures from idiomatic English: Somebody was
stressing on the need to have Elders Homes in the provinces as the
habit of abandoning ones (sic) elders was no longer peculiar to
the metropolis and major cities. (Column) Others condoned
in the nepotism and patronage that denied our country the opportunity
of making the best use of its talents. (Column) (The) Diyawadane
Nilame stresses on protection for Buddhism. (Headline) There should
be an elections commission comprising of more than one commissioner
so that pressure cannot be brought on just one individual. (Editorial) The council
also decided to appoint a formal board of inquiry comprising of
two deans and a senior professor. (News item on university ragging) The list of such daily abuse seems inexhaustible, but our pointing out these lapses in no way implies a disparagement of the noble work of our English language journalists of today but only a lifelong practice of correcting students' English errors as a livelihood! We have many more in our collection! |
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