Frank W. Fitzgerald schrieb:
 
> Why do we do this sort of thing?  Is it the influence of other languages?
There might be something in this. Certainly, standard English usage does not
encourage the wholesale joining of two nouns, unlike, for example and most
particularly, German. But a lot of organ-building theory has been written in
that language since the origins of the "Orgelbewegung" in the twenties, and
ALL of the terms which you mention are written as one word in German.
 
> And if so, will the Internet influence a more standardized
> usage?
>
> This last suggestion hardly seems likely, given the awful state of spelling
> and grammar and syntax which I read daily (with great pleasure [the content,
> not the errors]) in the PIPORG-L digest!
>
> We can't spell the possessive "its" correctly.  I have seen "their's."  So far
> I have not seen "her's," but it is just a matter of time.  But I digress,
> sorry.
 
The general decay of the English language is unfortunately to be observed all
around. One respected or at any rate widely read English organ journal routinely
allows its contributors to capitalise substantives widely and wildly, without
any reference at all to the principle obtaining in the English language that
substantives are not capitalised except in titles. Interestingly, this is also
a characteristic of German, although there of course *all* nouns are
capitalised.
 
The high level of error in postings on this list is, I think, partly
attributable simply to the reflex action of some participants to press the
"Reply" button as soon as they recognise the topic under discussion. Bruce
suggests that they type as fast as they think; I sometimes wonder whether they
don't do it considerably faster. On the other hand, liberal education theory has
bred a widespread ignorance of and indifference to correct English grammar and
orthography. I think that this is a pity; although it is true that a single
generally valid systemic English usage is a relatively modern phenomenon, one
could at least argue that it has been one of the gifts of civilisation, along
with organ builders and wind chests.
 
 
Barry Jordan
Domorganist/Cathedral organist, Magdeburg
http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/Choir/1586/magdeburg_contents.html
 
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