I'm not sure why I'm so obsessed with the origin of the sentence, but for anyone who's interested...
Here is one of the OED definitions of a sentence:
6. a. A series of words in connected speech or writing, forming the grammatically complete expression of a single thought; in popular use often (= PERIOD n. 10), such a portion of a composition or utterance as extends from one full stop to another. In Grammar, the verbal expression of a proposition, question, command, or request, containing normally a subject and a predicate (though either of these may be omitted by ellipsis).
In grammatical use, though not in popular language, a Ħsentence˘ may consist of a single word, as in L. algeo ĦI am cold˘, where the subject (= I) is expressed by the ending of the verb. English grammarians usually recognize three classes: simple sentences, complex sentences (which contain one or more subordinate clauses), and compound sentences (which have more than one subject or predicate).
1447 O. BOKENHAM Seyntys, Agnes 682 Fro sentence to sentence, I dar wele seyn, I hym haue folwyde euen by & by. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 160 Euery lettre, syllable, worde, & sentence of his prayer & duty from the begynnynge to ye ende. 1538 ELYOT Dict., Tetracolon, a sentence hauyng .iiii. membres. 1600 SHAKES. A.Y.L. III. ii. 144 At euerie sentence end; Will I Rosalinda write. 1631 in Rymer Fdera XIX. 305 The Statute before mentioned, or any Clause, Sentence, Matter or Thing whatsoever therein conteyned. a1653 BINNING Princ. Chr. Relig. Wks. (1735) 27 There is some hidden Secret that you must search for, that is inclosed within the Covering of Words and Sentences. 1712 ADDISON Spect. No. 550 5 , I have so well preserved my Taciturnity that I do not remember to have violated it with three Sentences in the space of almost two Years. 1728 CHAMBERS Cycl. s.v., Every Sentence comprehends at least Three Words. 1748 RICHARDSON Clarissa VII. 177, I
would not lose a sentence that I could gain from lips so instructive. 1787 REID Let. to Gregory 26 Aug., In speech, the true natural unit is a sentence. 1819 SCOTT Ivanhoe iii, His displeasure was expressed in broken sentences. 1848 THACKERAY Van. Fair l, The combat, which we describe in a sentence or two, lasted for many weeks in poor Amelia's heart. 1870 JEVONS Elem. Logic vii. (1875) 61 What the logician calls a proposition the grammarian calls a sentence.
--- On Wed, 6/18/08, Spruiell, William C <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
From: Spruiell, William C <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: The Death of the Sentence?
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Wednesday, June 18, 2008, 4:42 PM
Anyone who thinks that abbreviations and "squiggle" notations like
":-)" are a problem in current writing should be forced to try to
read medieval manuscripts. Start with really expensive writing materials
(vellum anyone?), make the writing process laborious (sharpen quill, grind
stuff for ink, blot the vellum...) and throw in a bunch of insular monks (well,
insular even for monks), and you get pages of squigglefest. At least the
computer environment prevents some of the excesses of calligraphy that would
otherwise occur.
I suspect that the comments about sentences in that piece were actually
comments about punctuation. If so, I'm not really sure how to maintain the
claim that clearly demarcated sentences are necessary for clear thought, given
that -- in all probability -- Plato, Aristotle, etc. didn't mark sentence
boundaries in writing at all. Languages always have clause complexes; writing
systems may or may not orthographically mark these in various ways.
All that having been said (I don't usually adopt absolute positions, but
I'll certainly use absolutes), I *do* tend to notice a link between
orthographically-unstructured writing, etc. and bad argumentation in my
students -- but I don't think the first causes the second. Instead,
it's simply that students who don't read much good argumentation tend
not to argue well, and if they're reading mainly text messages from other
students, they're not reading much good argumentation. Other studies
(including something from NCTE that I may be able to dig out later) have shown
that students *are* reading a good bit -- but I suspect what they're
reading is the kind of texts that are produced by others in their age group,
and that emphasize easy social interaction over critical thinking. "U R
teh uber-newb, d00d!" is fascinating in its own right, but if that's
the kind of thing you're used to, you'll find academic or business
writing quite alien.
Bill Spruiell
Dept. of English
Central Michigan University
-----Original Message-----
From: Assembly for the Teaching of English Grammar
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Craig Hancock
Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 1:35 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: The Death of the Sentence?
>
Carol,
I read the article in part because the inbox announced that Martha
Kolln had been consulted. Martha's comments are about the only
thoughtful part of it. It left me thinking that it's not the death of
the sentence that's a problem, but the general shallowness of
conversation about it, including those (Martha the main exception) in
our "discipline" of English who weighed in. I suspect they thought
any
working journalist could handle the topic, but the results in this case
are comic.
The idea that the sentence was "invented several centuries" ago
and
"brought order to chaos" is the sort of silliness that fills the bulk
of the article.
It's high tine for NCTE to begin advocating at least some direct
teaching about language.
Craig >
Hi everyone. This was in my NCTE inbox this morning, so some of you may
> have read it. (This is only part of the article). I bolded the second to
> last line because it interests me: Does anyone know who
"invented" the
> sentence?
>
> The Fate of The Sentence: Is the Writing On the Wall?
> By Linton Weeks
> Washington Post Staff Writer
> Sunday, June 15, 2008; Page M01
>
> The demise of orderly writing: signs everywhere.
> One recent report, young Americans don't write well.
> In a survey, Internet language -- abbreviated wds, :) and txt msging --
> seeping into academic writing.
> But above all, what really scares a lot of scholars: the impending death
> of the English sentence.
> Librarian of Congress James Billington, for one. "I see creeping
> inarticulateness," he says, and the demise of the basic component of
human
> communication: the sentence.
> This assault on the lowly -- and mighty -- sentence, he says, is
> symptomatic of a disease potentially fatal to civilization. If the
> sentence croaks, so will critical thought. The chronicling of history.
> Storytelling itself.
> He has a point. The sentence itself is a story, with a beginning, a middle
> and an end. Something happens in a sentence. Without subjects, there are
> no heroes or villains. Without verbs, there is no action. Without objects,
> nothing is moved, changed, destroyed or created.
> Plus, simple sentences clarify complex situations. ("Jesus
wept.")
> Since its invention centuries ago, the sentence has brought order to
> chaos. It's the handle on the pitcher, a tonic chord in music, a stair
> step chiseled in a mountainside.
>
>
>
>
>
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