To me English (and I imagine it is so with any language) written and spoken properly is like a symphony or to be more musically personal, like listening to the classical guitar being played.
Are if and whether freely interchangeable in sentences like Venkatesh wants to know whether…? Prof P T Thomas, who has asked this question, continues: ‘If comes easier than whether in speech and writing. I don’t know if he is at home now rather than I don’t know whether he is at home now. But is that a sufficient reason for choosing if?
Continuing Prof Thomas writes: ‘Some of the best British prose writers consistently use whether in these kinds of hypothetical sentences.’ He mentions Ronald Knox, famous writer and translator (he translated the Bible into English from Latin - the Knox Bible) and says: ‘I have never caught him using if in place of whether in these kind of sentences although, at the same time, I have noticed many equally distinguished British writers using if sentences. So it is difficult to decide which is better or whether either is equally good.’
The point raised by Prof Thomas is an interesting one and deserves a fuller treatment than can be given now. I will come back to it in a week or two.
2. Reacting to the column which appeared on November 29, 2007. Mr Roger De Freitas, Toronto, writes: ‘I found this article very educational, entertaining and unusual in that I have never seen in our Canadian dailies any reference to the current usage of grammar.
To me English (and I imagine it is so with any language) written and spoken properly is like a symphony or to be more musically personal, like listening to the classical guitar being played.’ What a sensitive comparison! Those who dismiss all attempts at ensuring a proper use of language, in terms of grammar, usage, and style on the plea: ‘Isn’t it enough if we communicate?- should ask themselves whether they are not degrading and vulgarising the language and denying themselves the refinement and sensitivity that comes from a proper use of words.
Indirasish writes: ‘I had almost forgotten about having asked you any question as you were taking a long time to answer. On 6th Nov. while I was waiting to board my flight to Calcutta, I picked a copy of Deccan Herald and flipped to your article and bingo, there was my name and the reply to my question.’
Yes, there was some delay in answering Indirasish’s question (the particle with strip) but I’m afraid a delay of one month or so is inevitable. I have worked out a sequence for these articles. Questions are generally answered in the column titled Question Box. And this appears once a month. Questions requiring a longer reply are taken up and answered as independent articles e.g. the question on if / whether raised by Prof Thomas. Perhaps we can have more than one Question Box in a month, when necessary.
Apropos the column titled ‘Frenzied Fluency’ S. Ravinder writes: ‘I thoroughly enjoyed reading your article titled Frenzied Fluency. Arising out of this some thoughts come to my mind. The desire to speak or write short sentences is often missing among orators and writers. Many a time sentences are long and at the end of it, incomplete. It is not a sentence at all.’
Well, here is a sentence from a Management expert. For instance if a set of old hands try to isolate newer recruits and work to undercut their new ideas, efforts or processes, the clannishness may actually be a defensive reaction to what they perceive as a threat to their value and control. This is not a particularly long sentence and it doesn’t end as an incomplete sentence. But it could have been easily split into two sentences. Suppose a set of old hands…efforts or processes. This clannishness may actually be…value and control. Apart from everything else the length of a sentence is an important point to consider. The goal of all writing (and speech) should be not to impress but to illumine, not to confuse but to clarify.
Dr Rao has sent this sentence for comments. Kamala Ganeshan, widow of late actor Shivaji Ganeshan, died at a private hospital –DH Oct. 3, 2007. Shouldn’t it be: “widow of Shivaji Ganeshan’ or “the wife of the late actor Shivaji Ganeshan?’ asks Rao.
Rao has a point here. When you say ‘widow of Shivaji Ganeshan’ it can’t be that Shivaji Ganeshan is still alive. And when you say: wife of late Shivaji Ganeshan’, there is no mistaking that Shivaji Ganeshan is still alive.
The point is: widow of late is a tautology. And no objection can be raised to ‘wife of late’ because in law, she is the wife (although the man is dead) and is entitled to a share of his property. Simply because we have the term widow, it doesn’t mean that the surviving spouse of a man cannot be called ‘wife of’…. There is no term parallel to ‘widow’ in the case of husbands. If the wife is dead does the man cease to be her husband?
Are if and whether freely interchangeable in sentences like Venkatesh wants to know whether…? Prof P T Thomas, who has asked this question, continues: ‘If comes easier than whether in speech and writing. I don’t know if he is at home now rather than I don’t know whether he is at home now. But is that a sufficient reason for choosing if?
