Re: Definition of Contraction:

Yvette:

Question:  are the contractions you bring up here actually in the 
written version of Dutch, and used as acceptable contractions in written 
Dutch.  Or is this more a spoken issue, as with Charles' example of 
"most any" instead of "almost any."  I would posit that Charles' example 
is simply poor grammar, and if found on sites would be hard to 
regulate.  Do grammar checkers catch such a thing? 

was not
wasn't

are both grammatical contractions.  It just seems like we will need to 
differentiate between grammatical contractions and colloquialisms (which 
I would argue are not regulatable).

-kerstin

Yvette P. Hoitink wrote:

>Hello all,
> 
>In the examples of contractions I have seen "o'clock", "isn't", etc. Can
>someone explain to me what accessibility problems are involved in those? I
>can't see much problems with those. Can someone give me examples of
>contractions that really limit accessibility? 
>
>In our language, Dutch, we have some contractions that have been used
>instead of the full versions for decades, maybe even centuries. Examples: "
>'s morgens" instead of "des morgens", "zo'n" instead of "zo een". The full
>word 'des' has all but disappeared from our language, and won't be familiar
>to people with learning disabilities. 
>
>For these examples, most people won't even realize that they are
>contractions and might get confused and even not understand you if you
>provide the full version. In my estimate, this will be especially true for
>people with learning disabilities. The contracted versions are the simple
>versions, providing the full archaic versions won't benefit anyone. 
>
>It seems to me that there are contractions that would benefit from providing
>the full version for better understanding, and that there are contractions
>where providing the full version could be harmful. I don't know that we can
>come up with a clear definition to separate the two but we have to be
>careful not to do more harm than good. 
>
>Yvette Hoitink
>Heritas, Enschede, the Netherlands
>E-mail: y.p.hoitink@heritas.nl
>WWW: http://www.heritas.nl
>
>
>  
>

Received on Wednesday, 19 May 2004 14:38:27 UTC