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From what I've read (in the newsletter of the society for General
Semantics), E-prime does _not_ refer to standard English, but rather
English that eliminates the use of all forms of the verb "to be"
except where the goal is to express a state of being. (E = English,
prime = the set defined by English but without some component, here,
the verb "to be".)
The E-prime movement seems to have arisen largely in response to our
aversion to passive voice ("the experiment was conducted") and
laziness in the form of not using an explicit verb instead of a "to
be" construction (e.g., "I was made to do something" vs. "they forced
me to do it").
Further information? Try contacting the International SOciety for
General Semantics, Box 728, Concord, Calif., 94522, (510)798-0311.
Some of their written material is impenetrable psychobabble, but they
also have much important information if you can wade through the rest
of the material.
--Geoff Hart geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
#8^{)} <---So how do you say "cogito ergo sum" without using a form of
"to be"???
