Comments on: To Be Or To Not Be, Or, The Causes of Language Change http://blog.oup.com/2008/10/split_infinitive/ Academic insights for the thinking world. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:14:32 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: OUPblog » Blog Archive » Monthly Gleanings: February 2011 http://blog.oup.com/2008/10/split_infinitive/comment-page-1/#comment-206905 OUPblog » Blog Archive » Monthly Gleanings: February 2011 Wed, 23 Feb 2011 13:29:30 +0000 http://blog.oup.com/?p=2193#comment-206905 [...] I said, when I first broached this subject, discussing the merits and demerits of the split infinitive is an unprofitable occupation: all the [...] [...] I said, when I first broached this subject, discussing the merits and demerits of the split infinitive is an unprofitable occupation: all the [...]

]]> By: Monthly Gleanings: May 2009 : OUPblog http://blog.oup.com/2008/10/split_infinitive/comment-page-1/#comment-151675 Monthly Gleanings: May 2009 : OUPblog Wed, 27 May 2009 12:39:25 +0000 http://blog.oup.com/?p=2193#comment-151675 [...] Infinitive. I keep collecting examples of what in the post “To Be or To Not Be” I called gratuitous splitting. Both of my latest excerpts are from reputable newspapers. “In [...] [...] Infinitive. I keep collecting examples of what in the post “To Be or To Not Be” I called gratuitous splitting. Both of my latest excerpts are from reputable newspapers. “In [...]

]]> By: Virtual Linguist http://blog.oup.com/2008/10/split_infinitive/comment-page-1/#comment-147624 Virtual Linguist Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:52:59 +0000 http://blog.oup.com/?p=2193#comment-147624 Sometimes it is difficult to phrase a sentence without splitting an infinitive eg 'We expect to more than double our sales this year'. Some phrases would mean something different if the infinitive wasn't split eg: 'He failed completely to satisfy his critics' and 'He failed to completely satisfy his critics'. Sometimes it is difficult to phrase a sentence without splitting an infinitive eg ‘We expect to more than double our sales this year’.

Some phrases would mean something different if the infinitive wasn’t split eg:
‘He failed completely to satisfy his critics’
and
‘He failed to completely satisfy his critics’.

]]> By: Virtual Linguist http://blog.oup.com/2008/10/split_infinitive/comment-page-1/#comment-147623 Virtual Linguist Fri, 17 Oct 2008 11:11:10 +0000 http://blog.oup.com/?p=2193#comment-147623 There are instances where there doesn't seem to be an alternative to splitting the infinitive eg 'We expect to more than double our sales this year' (unless 'more than double' is assumed to be a verb in its own right). 'He failed to completely satisfy his critics' is different in meaning from 'He failed completely to satisfy his critics', so you'd have to split the infinitive to convey a particular sense. There are instances where there doesn’t seem to be an alternative to splitting the infinitive eg ‘We expect to more than double our sales this year’ (unless ‘more than double’ is assumed to be a verb in its own right).
‘He failed to completely satisfy his critics’ is different in meaning from ‘He failed completely to satisfy his critics’, so you’d have to split the infinitive to convey a particular sense.

]]> By: Fab-10 http://blog.oup.com/2008/10/split_infinitive/comment-page-1/#comment-147621 Fab-10 Fri, 17 Oct 2008 10:17:21 +0000 http://blog.oup.com/?p=2193#comment-147621 I remember reading somewhere that at the end of the 19th century there was a fad for publishing books of "correct" usage of the English language and that many of these were written not by linguists but by 'experts' in good manners! So all sorts of "rules" got invented then, such as not splitting infinitives, ending sentences with prepositions, and all sorts of other nonsense up with which I shall not put; to fittingly quote Winston Churchill! I remember reading somewhere that at the end of the 19th century there was a fad for publishing books of “correct” usage of the English language and that many of these were written not by linguists but by ‘experts’ in good manners! So all sorts of “rules” got invented then, such as not splitting infinitives, ending sentences with prepositions, and all sorts of other nonsense up with which I shall not put; to fittingly quote Winston Churchill!

]]> By: mollymooly http://blog.oup.com/2008/10/split_infinitive/comment-page-1/#comment-147613 mollymooly Wed, 15 Oct 2008 23:56:47 +0000 http://blog.oup.com/?p=2193#comment-147613 As to celebrity, there's the famous Star Trek catchphrase "To boldly go where no man has gone before". I think it's Fowler's group (1) which has grown rather than group (4). Personally, negatives are the only things I find jarring as splitters of infinitives. Among the examples you cite, "have proven to frequently be" seems to me to be slightly but definitely distinct from "have frequently proven to be". Maybe the frequency of occurrence of split infinitives correlates with that of gapping constructions ("I don't want to!", "Do we have to?", etc) where the verb is not merely separated from the to-particle but omitted altogether. Some anti-splitting traditionalists would oppose these as "ending a sentence with a preposition". As to celebrity, there’s the famous Star Trek catchphrase “To boldly go where no man has gone before”.

I think it’s Fowler’s group (1) which has grown rather than group (4). Personally, negatives are the only things I find jarring as splitters of infinitives. Among the examples you cite, “have proven to frequently be” seems to me to be slightly but definitely distinct from “have frequently proven to be”.

Maybe the frequency of occurrence of split infinitives correlates with that of gapping constructions (“I don’t want to!”, “Do we have to?”, etc) where the verb is not merely separated from the to-particle but omitted altogether. Some anti-splitting traditionalists would oppose these as “ending a sentence with a preposition”.

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