Transcendental issues

Sample 1: “’Sharon’s got a boyfriend’ would be a colourful way to introduce this piece. It would help you transcend beyond the kid actor image of the five-year-old talent who starred in the 1997 movie, Narrow Escape. . .(At 20, People Still Treat Me Like a Little Girl, the Vanguard, Saturday, Dec. 22, 2012) I urge readers to pay attention to the expression, transcend beyond, which occurs in the structure, “it would help you transcend beyond the kid actor image”. We are handling here a case of pleonasm, one of verbal redundancy in that the two words convey nearly identical meanings. In other words, the words transcend and beyond purvey almost mutually inclusive semantic value. To say that something transcends a particular boundary is to say that it is beyond it, of course, situating each of the words in appropriate grammatical contexts of use. When you say, for example, that the ways of God transcend human understanding, you mean that they are beyond what man can comprehend. Or, when you say that certain issues are beyond rational permutation, you mean they transcend the ken of rationality. Transcendental issues are of supernatural scope and are, therefore, beyond the scope of the human mind.

To return to the stylistic deficiency under focus, only one of the words can be profitably retained in the context. We could say, “it would help you to have a view that transcends the kid actor image” or “ it will help you to have a view that goes beyond the actor image.”

Sample 2: “How ? Mother to child transmission do occur during pregnancy.” (Bits and Pieces About HIV/AIDS, NACA Enlightenment Campaign Cartoon, Back page, Sunday Punch, Nov. 20, 2011)

  The word of grammatical interest is the verb do which occurs in the structure “mother-to-child transmission do occur”. The error here is a fundamental one, having deleterious implications for a whole range of grammatical issues designated as grammatical concord, a concept that accounts for the harmony of grammatical forms that is expected to exist among the lexical items within a structural unit

What is the difference between the forms do and does or between go and goes or between write and writes? Now read the following sentences: 1) We do our work satisfactorily. 2) They do their work satisfactorily .3) I do my work satisfactorily. 4) You do your work satisfactorily. Please note that we have not changed the form of the verb do by adding –es to it in each of those sentences. Whenever any  one of those pronouns is used the verb remains in its basic, uninflected form. Again, read the following sentences: 1) He does his work satisfactorily. 2) She does her work satisfactorily. 3) The boy does his work satisfactorily. 4) The girl does her work satisfactorily.

We have opted for the inflected form because the subject of each of the sentences is singular; it is in fact known as the third person singular number. The subjects are: he, she, the boy, and the girl. Other examples are as follows: 1) The company delivers its services promptly. 2) The heart supplies blood to the rest of the body. 3) Surprisingly, these days the Chairman corrects erring members privately and politely.4 ) The opening allows water to move unseen into the appropriate part of the equipment. 5) The earth displays the miracles and mysteries of God, the Creator. 6) The new driver drives more carefully than the former one. 7) This device does the job more efficiently than that one.8)This business yields profit rapidly.9)The baby cries all the time.10).The disease kills quietly without giving the victim any discomfort.

Readers are to please note that we have changed the forms of the verbs in those ten sentences by adding s, es or ies to them. Why? Because each of the subjects is in the third person singular form.

In addition, let’s consider the following sentences: 1) One of the girls does strange things.2) The most imposing among the modern houses displays exotic architecture. 3) The girl with braided hair speaks far more eloquently than her friend.  4) The last meeting in the year attracts more attendance than all other meetings put together. 5) One of my friends donates blood regularly. 6) Poor visibility during harmattan poses danger to flying planes. 7) Drunkenness, no matter its cause, often leads to sorrow and misery.

Although the structure representing the subject in each of those five sentences is rather long and relatively complex, it is singular, and that is the reason for the inflection of its verb: does, displays, speaks, attracts, donates, poses, and leads. It should be clear now that the  morpheme s, es, or ies added to the verbs in those structures as well as those considered earlier is not a decorative item but a grammatical necessity. It does not matter how long or short the subject is, once common sense or longic suggests that it is singular, the verb that goes with it should attract the morpheme s or es or ies according to the type of verb it is. Of course, the verbs under reference here are in their present simple forms or in their everyday tense. The past forms of these verbs are a different matter altogether and a subject for another day.

It should interest readers to note that the grammatical difference between does and do; displays and display; leads and lead; speaks and speak; donates and donate; drives and drive; etc, is not different from that between has and have. Now read the following sentences: 1) Tunde and Ayo together have twenty oranges, but Dele alone has fifteen.2) Although Doctors have not discharged him, the patient has discharged himself.3) We have finished the exams but the lecturer has not finished grading. 4) While loneliness has almost ruined his life, healthy activities and good company have redeemed him.5) Although the boys have accepted their condition in good faith, the only girl among them has not.

READ ALSO: Concord and Grammatical Forms

It should be obvious now that the form has goes with singular nouns while the form have goes with plural nouns. Let’s have more example sentences: 1a) The businessmen have closed their shops. 2b) The businessman has closed his shop. 2a) Those devices have served us well. 2b) That device has served us well.3a) Angels have visited me. 3b)An angel has visited me. 4a) Courage, sincerity, and kindness have led him to that exalted position. 4b) Courage alone has led him to that exalted position. 5a) Three new clauses have been inserted into the constitution. 5b) One new clause has been inserted into the constitution.

Don’t let us forget that what has led us into that long discussion of an aspect of grammatical concord is the expression, ‘’mother- to- child transmission do occur’’, particularly the word do. The word do here is an auxiliary which serves an emphatic purpose. Now compare the following sentences: 1a) The lady gives me gifts once in a while.1b)The lady does give me gifts once in a while.1c) The ladies give me gifts once in a while.1d) The ladies do give me gifts once in a while.2a) The student understands your point. 2b) The student does understand your point. 2c) The students understand your point.2d) The students do understand your point. 3a) The investment yields bountiful profits.3b) The investment does yield bountiful profits. 3c) The investments yield bountiful profits. 3d) The investments do yield bountiful profits. 4a) The announcement encourages me. 4b) The announcement does encourage me. 4c) The announcements encourage me. 4d) The announcements do encourage me. 5a) The boy knows his way through the forest. 5b) The boy does know his way through the forest. 5c) The boys know their way through the forest. 5d) The boys do know their way through the forest.

In each of the five groups, there are four sentences numbered (a) to (d). In each group, the first two sentences contain verbs in their singular forms because their subjects are in their third person singular number. Sentence (a) being a value-neutral statement contains a main verb that carries the morpheme s or es or ies in harmony with the third person singular nature of the subject. Wanting to be emphatic, the ‘speaker’ in sentence ( b) introduces the word do. With the introduction of that word, the third person singular morpheme (s, es, ies) marking the main verb in sentence (a) is now attached to the word do serving as an auxiliary in an emphatic capacity. Hence: does.

Sentences (c) and (d) contain verbs in their basic, uninflected forms because the subjects are plural. Of course, when the subjects are plural, the verbs will not carry the s or es or ies morpheme. Sentence (d), unlike its (c) variant, contains the supporting verb do because its import is emphatic. Given the fact that the subject is plural, the emphatic do remains in its basic form without es being attached to it.

At any rate, the corrected version of the expression should  read: ‘’mother-to-child transmission does occur during pregnancy.’’ Why have we changed do to does? Because the subject, mother-to-child transmission, is singular.