Not sure if any of my Malaysian friends noticed, but a letter I wrote to the Star appeared in the paper the other day.
People often write letters to newspapers when something gets them all riled up. And there are so many things that I could get all riled up about these days, like my immigration woes, or Malaysian politics (don’t get me started on the Ijok by-election), or world politics, or Islam, or world politics AND Islam (they kind of go together these days), or things I see that annoy me, like how some Malay parents make their very young daughters wear headscarves (last night I saw a little covered head sticking out of a baby carriage; I mean come on people). Yup, so many things.
But if I want to write about those things, I’ll do it in my blog. So what was my letter about?
The subjunctive mood in English. Ooooh. Aaaah.
Okay, so that’s not as interesting as politics or religion or whatever. But I’m a bit of a language geek, so I find it interesting. So there.
Anyway, my letter was in response to one that someone had written wondering about the phrase ’till death do us part’. Fadzilah Amin, one of the language gurus at the Mind Our English column, wasn’t quite sure what to make of the phrase either and asked if any Christian readers would be able to shed some light on the matter. Here’s what I wrote:
I’m not a Christian, but I hope I can still provide an adequate answer to the questions posed by reader Zexabyte and Fadzilah Amin regarding the archaic phrase “till death do us part” (April 25), which is to this day used in many Christian marriage cermonies.
Fadzilah was right to point out that the phrase, which looks and sounds incorrect now, was at one time grammatically correct. It’s an example of the subjunctive, which is not really a tense but a mood. That is, it deals with intent, among other things, whereas tense deals with time.
According to its entry in Wikipedia (http://en.wiki pedia.org/wiki/Subjunctive_mood), the subjunctive mood “typically expresses wishes, commands (in subordinate clauses), emotion, possibility, judgement, necessity, and statements that are contrary to fact at present”.
The subjunctive is not as well known as the other two English moods: the indicative mood (which we use most of the time) and the imperative mood (used for giving commands).
Unlike in some other languages, notably Romance languages like French and Portuguese, the use of the subjunctive in English has declined over the years. However, it is still used in a wide variety of phrases, including “so be it”, “if I were you” and “God bless you”. These and several other examples can be found on the abovementioned Wikipedia page.
I hope this helps.
(Just in case you’re still awake, here’s a link to the letter.)
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18 Comments
*sigh*
I miss my English lessons.
Thanks Jordan!
My mother has been an English teacher for more than 20 years. And I still don’t know what she talks about when she talks passionately about grammar and stuff. 0.o
So that’s why!
Thanks for shedding light on this…..
Jordan, in many cases you might find that it is the small girls themselves who wish to wear a head scarf in public to be just like their mother. Perhaps against the desires of their parents, but fighting with a young kid as you are about to leave the house is not a lot of fun. Of course, a young baby who cannot express their desires beyond crying certainly doesn’t fit into this situation and I would also have to question the parents thinking by putting a head scarf on babies.
you and your dirty subjunctives… me and my imperatives will beat you up with all this dirty talk! But don’t let the indicatives hear…
aaaaannnnndddd, you spelt wear wrong you ninny!
So what really does “til death do us part” mean?? Does it mean a thing at all in today’s society, or just tradition? Something that one says during the ceremony, like the exchange of the ring?
‘Speak now or forever hold your peace/piece’? I waited and waited, no one ever said anything, and even the JP assured me that during his 10 years of marrying ppl off, no one ever said anything.
Marry off? If it’s off, why get married? Shouldn’t it stink even more after the marriage??
Sigh.. you, long arms with lots of red hair, (try picturing it, what does it remind you of?) language is so …. hm…. what’s the word. Confusing?!?!
….you, long arms with lots of red hair, (try picturing it, what does it remind you of?) … hmmm i can only picture Julia Roberts with red armpit hair waving her hands showing off the bush beneath her arm… i see that in LRT a few times too… nice girls with armpit hair.. eeee
Eeee Nizar, you notice that kind of things ar???? Wow.. detail nya!! :) hehehe
Dear Jordan,
Babies with headscarves! Isn’t this sexualising little children? No different then from parents over here who put their two year old girls in a functionless bikini-bras and tiny bikini bottoms.
Dear Chiwi,
‘Till death do us part’ - From old english prayer allegedly. That what marriage is; you are stuck forever until one of you snuffed it. I pray that my husband does not pre-decease me; although I just want to ‘kill him’ sometimes!
I am worried about Nizar’s affinity for arm-pit hair…I am sure there is a medical term for this: Axillae Trichophilia? Any thought?
I do not wish to but I use public transport most of the time in KL and being an (observant?) person… plus some ppl just love to wear things that doesn’t cover much, so next time if you think of wearing sleeveless shirt, make sure u shave ur armpit hair *thouroughly* cleanly… use *Veet*… I can be a perfectionist! Don’t blame me if I see ur armpit hair, it’s them who choose to show it! :P Am far from being Axillae Trichophilia and I am not phe..philo.. phileo damansara?? phedofilio.. urgh whatever… when I see kids, I tend to judge them based on how cute they r. I think pure Malaysians look ugly. Mixed children look adorable.
Najwa: You’re welcome!
Kamy: I don’t know why I’m so interested in grammar. I wasn’t really interested in it when I studied French in school. But now some people at work call me ‘the grammar man’. Scary.
Theta: You’re welcome too!
DQ: That could be it too, but I have a feeling it has more to do with the parents’ wishes than what the kid wants. Still, could be that the toddler wanted to look just like her mommy, who knows. One of my sisters wouldn’t wear anything but purple when she was about four years old.
Maddog: Haha, fixed the typo.
Chiwi: Do I have lots of red hair? I did at one time, but my hair colour keeps changing. The only colour left is white.
Nizar: If it’s ladies with armpit hair you want, I think a trip to China would be just the thing for you. Especially northern China. You could braid it, I tell ya.
Ida: I agree. As for Nizar, Dr. Jordan says he’s simply FUBAR. But I like him anyway.
Ida,
Don’t worry about me. Worry about what u think of marriage coz the word ’stuck’… sounds like there’s unhappiness. If ur married to a oreng-putey, u have one less bad habit of a typical Malay husband - leaving his kain pelikat coiled on the floor like an phyton until he returns from work - get back into that coil. I know there are many things Malaysian wives complains about their husbands - boros… gaji tak pernah cukup, kuat bohong, flips channels when watching TV, boroi, lepas makan tak reti nak basuh pinggan sendiri, malas jaga anak, lepas ‘puas’ terus tidur… and the list grows…
For me, marriage is for both the husband and the wife to accept the weaknesses of each other’s until one of them dies. I won’t pray that my wife doesn’t pre-decease me becoz that’s the will of God’s to determine who goes first or later. I’ll just pray that if I go first, the ones I leave behind won’t suffer from my death. Anyways, other than on my head, I have less hair on my body, so I don’t like hairy girls… strange laaaa huhu. Bini rambut panjang I suka tapi kalau panjang tang lain… ish.. macam tidur ngan monyet plak.. ish2…
Nizar : …Malaysian wives complains about their husbands - boros… gaji tak pernah cukup, kuat bohong, flips channels when watching TV, boroi, lepas makan tak reti nak basuh pinggan sendiri, malas jaga anak, lepas ‘puas’ terus tidur… and the list grows…
Totally agree!! We don’t have kain, but still, towels and pants! :) hehehehe boys will be boys!!
Hahaha… ok thanx Chiwi for reminding me of the towels and pants. I will add that to my list of things I should not leave scattered everywhere. I don’t have that issue but… I have problems with books. I sleep with them since Form 1! Do you think a wife can tolerate that? I’m just afraid when I get married, my wife has to share her space with my books. Oh.. I will also remember not to make my laptop as her rival! Anything else, pls share…
Hi everyone & Jordan;
If you want to know what makes a successful marriage then look to Jordan and Leen. Togetherness is the key and tolerance! The biggest issue is help with the children. They are both your’s and so both have to share in that equally. That is the key right there. I am very proud of Jordan as he is doing his part in bringing Al up. I am sure that there are some things Jordan does that drives Leen crazy (vice-versa) but my advice to them is “don’t sweat the small stuff”.
hugs, MOM
Dear Nizar.
You said:
Don’t worry about me. Worry about what u think of marriage coz the word ’stuck’… sounds like there’s unhappiness.
Unhappiness? Hardly! I love being stuck with him and on him - in the metaphorical and literal sense (use your imagination)
Sorry, Jordan. I’m afraid I’ve lowered the tone of your august forum/ blog.
Use the word ‘tied’ then :)
Easier to imagine :)… literally!
It’s just Early Modern English (EME), the language of Shakespeare, the King James Bible, the Book of Common Prayer, and their times.
In EME, they were trying out a lot of varieties of syntax; some didn’t make it, some did. Many of Modern English (ME)’s relatively fixed word order amd many of its most common syntactic construction types, are only a few hundred years old.
What it really means is “Until Death parts us“, as we’d phrase it today in ME. That’s it’s semantics. The question “what does it all mean now anyway?” is not semantics, but pragmatics, which has to do with motives and effects rather than “meaning” per se.