Versed in Vast Areas of Knowledge

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SAMPLE I

“Ahmed Sani Yerima’s political dynasty represented in some Islamic scholars was believed to be disenchanted against the governor over his perceived lack-lustre disposition to Sharia… In the same vein, Abdulaziz Yari, the governor elect, is regarded as very knowledgeable and vast in Islamic jurisprudence… (How Muslim Clerics Floored Shinkafi, Sunday Life, May 1, 2011).

We are interested in the word vast which occurs in the structure, “regarded as very knowledgeable and vast in Islamic jurisprudence”. The choice of the word vast is the result of the confusion of its identity with that of versed. Spelling similarities, and sometimes pronunciation similarities, help scant familiarity with the two words to generate the confusion and the resulting mistaken identity. Uncertainties and doubts, which should have been cleared by diligent reference to good dictionaries, are the chief facilitators of confusion in lexical identities.

To return to the solecism before us, the writer has been misled by his own limited knowledge of the language and the surface similarities between vast and versed. A person is not vast in an area of knowledge, but versed in it.

Now we demonstrate the usage of the word versed: (1) Versed in theoretical Physics, the scholar surprisingly veered into linguistic and literary studies at a later stage in his scholarship. (2) To have a brilliant and outstanding career in Medicine, you must be versed in Chemistry and Biology. (3) His eloquent delivery, which held the audience spell-bound, left nobody in doubt that Olu Adenle is versed in the art of public speaking. (4) All intending participants must be versed in elementary Mathematics and Principles of Accounting. (5) Versed in constitutional law, the new Special Adviser to the President is certainly an asset to this government. (6) Only two of those who were invited for the interview are versed in architectural design.

From those sentences, it should not be difficult to learn that the word versed (and not vast) is used to indicate that a person is well-grounded in an aspect of knowledge or area of human activity.

On the other hand, the adjective vast means extensive, large in extent, wide or wide-ranging. Illustrations: (1) The government should acquire a vast area of land for the purpose of large-scale farming. (2) According to the World Bank, the vast majority of Nigerians live below the poverty line. (3) A vast expanse of land has been cleared in preparation for the establishment of the university. (4) A vast amount of money has been set aside for the project (5) The UNO is a vast organisation spending vast sums of money every year. (6) There is a vast yet unexplored market for our products.

At any rate, our phrase should read, “regarded as very knowledgeable and versed in Islamic jurisprudence”

Next, we examine the phrase “believed to be disenchanted against the governor”. The part of that phrase that is of special interest is disenchanted against. We note especially the particle against following the word disenchanted. That particle is certainly an inappropriate one in the context. People are said to be disenchanted not against a person or situation but with it. As we have noted repeatedly, particles are not decorative elements, and are not meant to be randomly selected in collocation with certain words. Collocations involving particles in idiomatic contexts do not permit of variations. The choice of particles is not to be inspired by capricious mental waves. The choices are to be made cautiously and deliberately. At any rate, the phrase should read, “believed to be disenchanted with the governor”.

SAMPLE II

“The turnout is very impressive; you can see people are queuing up orderly and really the process is moving faster… Across the state, one could notice there was ease on queue as people had learnt to do things orderly and the process was moving smoothly” (…Where They Voted According to Conscience, The Daily Sun, Wednesday, April 20, 2011).

The word that commands our attention is orderly which occurs twice in the except: “people are queuing up orderly” and “people had learnt to do things orderly”. The first appearance is part of the speech of “the Katsina – born Comptroller – General of Customs, Abdullahi Inde”. The second appearance, however, belongs to the reporter. In whatever case, we note the way the word orderly is used in both instances.

It is obvious that the reporter regards the word orderly as an adverb. The word is certainly not an adverb but an adjective. Since it is an adjective, it will be inappropriate to use it as follows: (1) The benches and chairs have been arranged orderly. (2) Students and their teachers queued up orderly in front of the hall. (3) If the union leaders will not behave orderly the Police Commissioner will not address them. (4) The clothes were hung on the line orderly. (5) What impressed me about the whole exercise was the fact that the presentation was done orderly. (6) The policemen lined up orderly before the visiting Inspector – General of police.

The better versions of those sentences are presented as follows: (1) (b) The benches and chairs have been arranged in an orderly manner. Or: (1) (c) There has been an orderly arrangement of the benches and chairs. (2) (b) Students and their teachers queued up in an orderly manner in front of the hall. (3) (b) If the union leaders will not behave in an orderly manner the Police Commissioner will not address them. (4) (b) The clothes were hung on the line in an orderly fashion. (5) (b) What impressed me about the whole exercise was the fact that the presentation was done in an orderly manner. Or: (5) (c) What impressed me about the whole exercise was the orderly presentation. (6) (b) The policemen lined up in an orderly manner before the visiting Inspector – General of police.

Other examples of proper usage of the word orderly are as follows: (1) After the stampede and the unfortunate but avoidable injuries, the tourists have learnt to move in an orderly manner. (2) No arrangement can be more orderly than the one we witnessed in the last general elections. (3) The House of Representatives has had its rowdy sessions, no doubt, but the House has almost always conducted its business in an orderly manner. (3) I cannot be part of any organisation whose affairs are not conducted in an orderly fashion. (4) Court sessions as examples of civilised conduct are expected to be as orderly as possible. (5) There are better and more orderly ways of arranging these papers. (6) The Exams Officer was commended for the orderly conduct of the exams. (7) An orderly society is where we have law and order.

At any rate, our samples should read, “people are queuing up in an orderly manner”; “people had learnt to do things in an orderly way”.

SAMPLE III

“When Sunday Tribune contacted the Commissioner of police in Oyo State, Mr. Baba Adisa Bolanta, he said there was no report of such to his office, while calls to the Area Commander’s mobile phone number was unanswered as at the time of filing this report” (Charms Found in ACP’s Office, The Sunday Tribune, 5 June, 2011)

I draw attention to the verb was, inviting readers to note its singular form. In view of the singular form of this verb, readers should be interested in finding out the relevant noun which precedes it and which has conditioned its singular form. The only noun, within the logic of the structure, which could serve as subject of the verb is calls. Definitely, there is a conflict of forms between the noun calls and the verb was, a conflict that has to be resolved in favour of the former (the noun, calls).

That being the case, the verb has to be changed to were, a plural form.

Finally, please note the presence of the particle at in the expression “as at the time of filing this report”. Let’s change that particle to of so that we have “as of the time of filing this report”.