The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-08-25
CORRECT ENGLISH AND HOW TO USE IT.
 By Josephine Turck Baker.
ARTICLE VI.

The le function of language is to communicate. thought. The function O. grammar is to indicate those forms, o1 language by which thought Is most clearly expressed. Use is the law Of language" and usage regulates the grammatical construction of sentences and the uses and pronunciation o. wcids. Grapmars and dictionaries re- cord these forms and derive their authority and value from their con formity to usage.
 Much has been said in regard to good usage being the law of language. If by this is meant the usage of good speak CTS and writers, then this definition is correct. If. on the other hand, by good usage Is meant correct usage. then good usage is not. strictly speaking. the absolute law of language, for many forms used by good writers and good speakers are incorrect according to the rules of language. Thus, many words have lost their original significance and have undergone changes. and these changes, often in the form of idiomatic phrases. incorrect according to the : rules of grammar. when once adopted by speakers and writers have in time [ the authority of usage and form an in- tegral part of spoken and written lan' guage. The careful use of correct forms win preserve language in it's purity just as the careless use of words will promote its deterioration. Many crude expres- sions slang words and phrases creep into ones vocabulary to the exclusion of correct expressions.
 Pure usage should be the criterion of examination in each case. for although one person cannot produce radical , changes. either for better or for worse, fAk ig !, tnJ Ji.yfd off c prime agent in the promotion of change P Each one should be the guardian of g correct speech. The educated person should express his thoughts with ease and clearness. leaving incorrect forms of expression to those who have not had the means of acquiring knowledge ; of these subjects. It is not the aim Of this series of papers on Correct Eng : hsh. and How to Use It" either to pro-
 mote a pedantic style of utterance, or to create. elf-consciousness 60 such an |, extent that. the thought shall be subor- cinote to the expression. The purpose of this series nf papers is to inspire , the reader to form the habit of using only these forms which best express his meaning and to exclude from his 7 vocabulary and faulty and incorrect ex- 7 spressions. Let each reader assist in itfe preservation of the beauty. e
 guage.
 ERRORS OF THE CARELESS nt A<.5 SPEAKER
 s It Is the careless speaker who says: T can't hardly wait.
 ts "I don't hardly know"
 z The person who makes these erIors would feel aggrieved if he were accus- ed of using two negatives. He would
 never think of saying I can't wait ID longer" and yet 1t is as incorrect to say T cant hardly wait" as to say
 "I can't wait no longer" and "I don't hardly know what to say" is as incor- rect as "I don't know no more." is The correct forms are:
 +s- T can hardly wait .. F. Y ''T hardly know what to say.
 It Is the careless speaker who says "He hadn't ought to do It," instead of the correct form The ought not to do it." It is as incorrect to use ought
 with had" as to use do" with had"