The English Language - Reflection on articles

“Politics and the English Language” George Orwell

I enjoyed reading the article by George Orwell, as it made me think about things I take for granted, like the ineffective use of ‘dying’ and ‘incompatible’ metaphors and how people often write with a lack of precision using ‘phrases tacked together’ thereby manipulating the reader. I often notice this when proof reading my friends’ assignments or editing my own work, although I’m not consciously aware that I do this when I am writing. Generally, I think you can express yourself more clearly when you use fewer words. I thought the five examples Orwell used of ‘staleness of imagery and ‘lack of precision’ were well chosen and he conveyed his points very well.

I had never heard the term ‘simple verbs’ or ‘operators’ before, however I always remember an English teacher at school trying to encourage us not to use ‘get’ and phrasal verbs all the time and to search for alternatives, which I think is important in helping to improve children’s writing skills.

I don’t necessarily agree with the point that Orwell makes about ‘pretentious diction’. Sometimes it is more suitable to use such synonyms of simple words to add variety, and now more than ever, it is important to appear impartial and word things carefully in order to be politically correct.

I understand that there is “no real need for any of the hundreds of foreign phrases now current in the English language”, however I don’t believe this is such a big problem. In fact, I think it is a celebration of our multi-national culture and as long as the meaning is widely understood, it is perfectly acceptable.

The six rules that Orwell refers to (which includes avoiding typical metaphors, similes and figures of speech, preferring active verbs to passive and avoiding jargon) seem to be quite useful as pointers which will improve our use of language, although “Never use a long word where a short one will do” seems to be a little simplistic. Short words are not necessarily better than long words in my opinion.


“A proposal for Correcting, Improving and Ascertaining the English Tongue” Jonathan Swift

The letter from Jonathan Swift is useful as it gives a history of how the English language has developed over time and compares English with other ‘more refined’ languages such as Italian, Spanish and French. Swift complains that “its daily improvements are by no means in proportion to its daily corruptions” and argues for the standardisation of English, believing that we should “fix it for ever”. He does not understand the ongoing changes in the English language and compares it to Greek and Chinese which have been preserved “for many ages”.
Swift holds the poets from the restoration responsible for the “spoiling of the English tongue” as they often abbreviated words “to fit them to the measure of their verses” and formed “harsh unharmonious sounds” that were difficult to pronounce. He also criticises the ‘roughness’ of our syllables and ‘frequency of consonants’ in our language which derives from the languages of the “northern nations from whom we are descended”. He then advises the Earl to carefully select people to reform the language “without any regard to quality, party or profession” using French as a model. Swift refers to the translators of the Bible as “masters of an English style much fitter for that work, than we see in our present writings...”

I agree with Swift that spellings of words should not reflect their pronunciation as there are such a wide variety of accents in Britain that our phonics vary enormously and it would also ruin our etymology.

Swift dislikes the idea of the English language changing, “it is better a language should not be wholly perfect, than it should be perpetually changing”, although he contradicts himself later by saying, “I do not mean that it should never be enlarged”. Near the end of the letter, Swift emphasises how strongly he feels about improving the English language by addressing the Earl of Oxford in a somewhat threatening way:- “...if you will not take some care to settle our language, and put it into a state of continuance, I cannot promise that your memory shall be preserved above a hundred years, further than by imperfect tradition”. He continues to say, “...if genius and learning be not encouraged under your lordship’s administration, you are the most inexcusable person alive”.

Swift’s letter shows just how strongly he felt about this matter and allows us to reflect on his point of view.


“The Preface to Johnson’s Dictionary”

I think Johnson made a good point about how commerce heavily influences language; however it is ethnocentric to view this as a negative effect. I think it is old fashioned and nationalistic to perpetuate Johnson’s views and something which I oppose. As I mentioned before, it is inevitable that different languages will influence the English language as other nationalities have more and more links with English in our global world, just as each area of working life now has its own jargon. However, I believe this only extends our existing language rather than replacing it.

Johnson is realistic in his prediction of the potential changes in the English language saying “no such constancy can be expected in a people polished by arts” and “every increase of knowledge...will produce new words, or combination of words” and “as any opinion grows popular, it will innovate speech in the same proportion as it alters practice”. He also considers the preference of some words over others and the influence that poetry and figures of speech will have on language. Another observation that Johnson makes is the scathing comment about how illiterate writers will use language “with colloquial licentiousness”.

Johnson ends his preface by condoning the absolution of words that convey “an offensive idea” and are “unfamiliar’. It is easy to see the advantages of this, and I can think of many examples of words that are no longer in use because they cause offence.

i agree about short and long words - i think there's more to language than just getting the meaning across, just as with music or art - short words can be boring!