Interference in English

Answer 1

Interference abounds in English "as she is spoke." English speakers seem to be uncomfortable with two ways of saying something; one way interferes with another, and creates a synthesis form that is non-sense when examined. For example, there are two similar expressions, "I cannot help reacting," and "I cannot but react." Most speakers erroneously combine these two into a third expression "I cannot help but react."

The same is true when the apodosis ( "then" clause) of a condition interferes with the protasis ( "if" clause) so that instead of "If I had known, I would have gone," some people say " If I would have known..."

Currently, there is a trend in English to introduce a glottal stop before the vowel sound that begins a syllable, so that people pronounce "to us" or "the ocean" as tuh 'us or thuh 'ocean instead of the proper too wuss and thee yocean. This tendency to replace the y-glides with a glottal stop can interfere with an actual y sound in a word, as in "be'ond" instead of beyond.

One more example. Plurals in the predicate interfere with the singular subject of a verb. For example, instead of the correct "The problem is the broken studs" some say "The problem are the broken studs."