There are generally two schools of thought in language studies: grammarians who believe language should be governed by a set of rules instituted by a group of experts and disseminated to the masses. And then there are linguists who believe language usage should be governed the common man who speaks the language. For all those linguists in this world who believe our language needs no expert governing, I offer just one counter argument: parents naming their children.
I believe the state of baby-naming in our country is in utter chaos. Why is it parents think they need to be "creative" when naming their child? Even if a child has a normal name, like "Amy," it's spelled something like "Aymiee." No, really. After looking through a list of ridiculous names with my roommate, a junior-high teacher, I've decided parents are deliberately trying to make their children's lives difficult. Don't get me wrong: if a name is unusual because it comes from a different culture or is popular in a different language, I see no problem with that. I also see no problem with names that are a little unusual but are spelled phonetically, such as my own name (really, how hard can it be to pronounce "Maurianne"?). I just don't agree with strange new names or old names with ridiculous spellings.
Are these the people we want making decisions about how normal words are spelled, pronounced, or linked together to form sentences? I shutter to think. If those who name their children with reckless abandon (such as "Aliviyah") had control of any communication to the masses, I'm afraid we would have a true crisis on our hands. In fact, maybe we need a list of approved spellings for names. That way people who know nothing about phonetics or history of names can't mess up their children's lives by giving them names that are impossible to pronounce at first glance. Where's Samuel Johnson when you need him?
9 comments:
Odd names do seem to run rampant these days. I have seen the "Aliviyah" spelling before but when I saw "Hawley" that was new to me. In recent years I've come across such rarities as "Valanie", "DeUntate", "RaKel", and "Waltquavious" to name a few. Great people--all of them. Still, it kinda makes me glad my name is just plain old "Jill".
My friend had a girl in her class named, "La-A" pronounced, La dash a. Come on people.
Being a teacher I really agree with you. Remind me that I've got a great name story for you. Also, you need to post more often I love reading your thoughts!! I'm counting down to Saturday!!!!
I'm absolutely fascinated by names and naming trends. I'm glued to The Baby Name Wizard. I hope Ashley won't be offended if I post a link to one of Wattenberg's articles that call out Le-A as an urban legend.
http://www.babynamewizard.com/node/30322
Maurianne is a totalitarian. Do you really want to prescribe a list of approved spellings for names? What's next, approved nose sizes and hair color? It's people like you that cause genocide. I am appalled.gm
My friend named her daughter Bostyn. The first conversation for the rest of her life is going to go like this: "Hi, I'm Bostyn"
"Oh, like the city- Boston?"
"um, no, pronounced the same way but spelled with a 'y'"
"A 'y'? Where?"
"You know, like B-o-s-t-y-n."
"oh. weird."
"yeah, I know."
Yes, I do want an approved spelling list—it's called a dictionary. Then, just like normal words in a dictionary, people don't have to follow the spelling, but they look like idiots if they don't.
I think Sweden (or some other Scandinavian country) actually has an approved list. If you want to name your child something that isn't on the list, you have to have it cleared first.
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