The study of the evolution of language, famously banned by the

I too had similar doubt. Eliminated option A as "famously banned.... in 1866" modifying language instead of study.

Can someone explain why option E is incorrect

E is incorrect due to 2 reasons:
it uses during 1966, which should be in 1966
also, it uses has been: the tense usage is inappropriate.

when we read the original choice, try find the meaning error, not structural errors. the structural errors will appear to us and we can realize easily. the focus of sc is to test us meaning analysis. we have to realize which meanings among answer choices will make most sense.

when trying to find the meaning errors, we focus our mind on meaning problem. this is what gmat want us to do and we are in the right direction. of course, we have to know many sentence pattern to understand meaning relations among entities in the sentence.

Please find the response in-lined.

the study has returned to respectability
the study was famously banned by Societe de Linguistique de Paris IN 1866
the study was dismissed...

error analysis:
banned and dismissed - noun modifiers that correctly modify "THE STUDY". note that these two cannot modify the language, since language lies in the prepositional phrase.

A. The study of the evolution of language, famously banned by the Société de Linguistique de Paris in 1866 and dismissed as idle story-telling ever since, has returned to respectability.
looks good.

B. Although the Société de Linguistique de Paris famously banned the study of language evolution during 1866 and dismissed the same as idle story-telling, the field has since returned to respectability.
1st..THE FIELD - which one??? is the study = the field? don't know..
2nd - during 1866 - changes the meaning.
3rd - dismissed the same - same what?

C. The study of language evolution, famously banned by the Société de Linguistique de Paris during 1866 and dismissed as idle story-telling since the same, has regained its respectability.
same error as in B - during..
regained - did the study do the action? no, it is illogical. so regained can't be.
its - ambiguous - it can refer to the study, but also to Societe...

D. The study of the evolution of language, dismissed as idle story-telling ever since being famously banned by the Société de Linguistique de Paris in 1866, has regained its respect.
dismissed SINCE - changes the meaning.
regained - again incorrect.

E. Language evolution study, famously banned by the Société de Linguistique de Paris during 1866 and dismissed as idle story-telling ever since, has been returned to respectability.
during - incorrect
passive voice - dubious...

I would go with A

‘During 1986’ is wrong diction; it should be in 1986. Therefore, B, C and E are gone, notwithstanding other errors. Between A and D: The phrase ‘ever since being famously banned’ is wrong for using ‘being’ for an act that was already over. Therefore, A.

The study of the evolution of language, famously banned by the Société de Linguistique de Paris in 1866 and dismissed as idle story-telling ever since, has returned to respectability.

A. The study of the evolution of language, famously banned by the Société de Linguistique de Paris in 1866 and dismissed as idle story-telling ever since, has returned to respectability.

B. Although the Société de Linguistique de Paris famously banned the study of language evolution during 1866 and dismissed the same as idle story-telling, the field has since returned to respectability.

C. The study of language evolution, famously banned by the Société de Linguistique de Paris during 1866 and dismissed as idle story-telling since the same, has regained its respectability.

D. The study of the evolution of language, dismissed as idle story-telling ever since being famously banned by the Société de Linguistique de Paris in 1866, has regained its respect.

E. Language evolution study, famously banned by the Société de Linguistique de Paris during 1866 and dismissed as idle story-telling ever since, has been returned to respectability.

Another reason why I found E to be wrong : the sentence says Lang Evo study has been returned to respectability (Returned to respectability by whom ?)
similarly D and C, say that the field regained its respect -------> I cant quite put my finger on it but after reading truck loads of articles from the Economist, I dont think this context makes sense. The sentence is assuming the field had some respect of its own and hence it regained its respect. Does it make sense ?

Between B and A. The last part (has returned to respectability. and the field has since returned to respectability.) no two ways about it. The 1st construction is very clear

I was not sure about the differences between using "during XXX" and "in XXX"

If someone can care to confirm my reasoning it would great
Thanks in advance

A lot of people are saying E is wrong for passive voice, which is not a good decision point. E can be eliminated for much better reasons such as "language evolution study" - this changes the meaning. A study is also a special kind of room. Be wary when GMAT switches around words in noun+prep phrase. We say Hall of Fame and not Fame Hall; the man from Calcutta, not Calcutta man. Messing with the preposition can ruin the intended meaning.

Now, to address your qualms about "famously banned" modifying language. Let's quickly review verb-ed modifiers, and such modifiers are very straightforward.
If a sentence starts with a verb-ed modifier, it will modify the subject of the following clause:
Ex: Discouraged by the ongoing political and civil unrest, many people moved to Canada.

If a verb-ed modifier follows a clause, it generally modifies the closest noun.
Ex: A large influx of immigrants, discouraged by the unrest in their country, will occur once travel restrictions are lifted.

However, tougher SC questions will test those rare instances where the rules don't seem to apply; strict, by-the-book adherence to grammar "rules" will cost you points on 700+ SC. A verb-ed modifier in this case, correctly modifies study and not language. A verb-ed modifier that does not begin the sentence ALWAYS modifies the preceding noun OR noun phrase.

If you still find yourself unsure, test the meaning and logic. "A large influx of immigrants, discouraged..." - a large influx can't be discouraged, so it's pretty clear the modifier is modifying immigrants.

In this case, maaaaaybe language altogether could have been famously banned by some society, but also dismissed as idle storytelling ever since? That seems a bit far fetched. It's not that ambiguous here that the modifier refers to "the study of.."

Hope this helps!

The study of the evolution of language, famously banned by the Société de Linguistique de Paris in 1866 and dismissed as idle story-telling ever since, has returned to respectability.[/u]

A. The study of the evolution of language, famously banned by the Société de Linguistique de Paris in 1866 and dismissed as idle story-telling ever since, has returned to respectability.- Correct proper modifier usage
B. Although the Société de Linguistique de Paris famously banned the study of language evolution during 1866 and dismissed the same as idle story-telling, the field has since returned to respectability.
C. The study of language evolution, famously banned by the Société de Linguistique de Paris during 1866 and dismissed as idle story-telling since the same, has regained its respectability.
D. The study of the evolution of language, dismissed as idle story-telling ever since being famously banned by the Société de Linguistique de Paris in 1866, has regained its respect.
E. Language evolution study, famously banned by the Société de Linguistique de Paris during 1866 and dismissed as idle story-telling ever since, has been returned to respectability.

The study of the evolution of language, famously banned by the Société de Linguistique de Paris in 1866 and dismissed as idle story-telling ever since, has returned to respectability.

A. The study of the evolution of language, famously banned by the Société de Linguistique de Paris in 1866 and dismissed as idle story-telling ever since, has returned to respectability.

B. Although the Société de Linguistique de Paris famously banned the study of language evolution during 1866 and dismissed the same as idle story-telling, the field has since returned to respectability.

C. The study of language evolution, famously banned by the Société de Linguistique de Paris during 1866 and dismissed as idle story-telling since the same, has regained its respectability.

D. The study of the evolution of language, dismissed as idle story-telling ever since being famously banned by the Société de Linguistique de Paris in 1866, has regained its respect.

E. Language evolution study, famously banned by the Société de Linguistique de Paris during 1866 and dismissed as idle story-telling ever since, has been returned to respectability.


E is change in meaning as The study of the evolution of language is a collective as a whole,cannot be changed.
D is wrong because being famously banned is confusing
C is wrong because 'since the same' use is confusing.
B is wrong because change in meaning.
A is correct.

The study of the evolution of language, famously banned by the Société de Linguistique de Paris in 1866 and dismissed as idle story-telling ever since, has returned to respectability.

A. The study of the evolution of language, famously banned by the Société de Linguistique de Paris in 1866 and dismissed as idle story-telling ever since, has returned to respectability.

B. Although the Société de Linguistique de Paris famously banned the study of language evolution during 1866 and dismissed the same as idle story-telling, the field has since returned to respectability.

C. The study of language evolution, famously banned by the Société de Linguistique de Paris during 1866 and dismissed as idle story-telling since the same, has regained its respectability.

D. The study of the evolution of language, dismissed as idle story-telling ever since being famously banned by the Société de Linguistique de Paris in 1866, has regained its respect.

E. Language evolution study, famously banned by the Société de Linguistique de Paris during 1866 and dismissed as idle story-telling ever since, has been returned to respectability.

One can ban something at some specific time i.e in 1866 rather during 1866. We can't keep banning during 1866 suggesting that something was being banned during the entire period in 1866. Basis this reasoning, B,C & E are out leaving A & D only. In option E, Study can't regain its respect by itself. It seems weired. Hence A