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stella41b -> RE: Question about addressing. (6/18/2008 4:58:01 PM)
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English is a funny language as there are grammar rules, and then there's usage. Quite often the usage or even indeed the context can affect the grammar or even make an exception of it.
Master and Mistress are proper nouns, particularly in the context we all share here. For this reason I personally will also capitalize Dominant, Dom and Domme, which isn't strictly speaking grammatically correct, but I do this because the context and the usage supercede grammatical correctness when it comes to communication, which is the most important function of language.
You see you've got 'universal grammar' which is what we all carry inside us from childhood which is that instinctive awareness that any language has a grammatical structure. This is often what catches out learners of English through what is known as L1 interference, i.e. an inhibition of their comprehension of English caused by their comprehension of their own language.
Then you have generative grammar which is grammar as a body of knowledge possessed by users of a language which is considered part of universal grammar, as native English speakers only need to learn the parochial features of English in order to be able to use English correctly, but there are also other branches such as head driven phrase structure grammar, also lexical functional grammar and also combinatory categorial grammar which are all generative in nature.
But then again I'm splitting hairs and drawing on what I know of Noam Chomsky's theory of linguistics.
It's also worth considering usage because unlike most languages there is only one gender, two cases, two basic tenses and most importantly here for the purpose of this thread - no distinction between formal and informal language. The best example is a lack of distinction when speaking in the second person, as in French ('vous' and 'tu'), German ('Sie' and 'du') or Polish ('Pan/Pani' and 'ty').
The only way of indicating whether English is formal or not is through usage where contractions ('do not' becoming 'don't' for example), ellipsis (missing words out), words such as 'ain't' and a relaxation of grammar rules. Therefore (grammar police please note) a sentence or phrase may not be grammatically correct but because it is commonly used and understood by many people as a part of English it is considered to be correct English.
Therefore you have to decide for yourself where you draw the line as to correct usage based on both the context of what you're saying and who you are addressing at any particular time.
I personally for example don't accept slashy speak and admit to poking fun at it on occasions, I detest txtspk far more stronger, but then again I'm but one of hundreds of thousands of members here, it's not my website, we're writing these postings purely for our own pleasure and enjoyment, it's not like it's going to be pubished anywhere else, I know not everybody is a native English speaker, which is why on the whole I tend to take a chill pill when reading the boards.
Each to their own.
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