T'was ever thus
How many times have you heard or read a polemic about the dreadful way that these awful modern times in which we live are eroding our beautiful English language? Heads are shaken as a flood of ‘tut tuts’ escapes our mouths and we wonder where it’s all going to end.
Typically these rants will rapidly bring in examples of writing and public speaking from around 40-50 years ago, citing them as beacons of ‘proper use’ of English in a golden era that has just slipped by, forever lost.
As the tears of nostalgia start to swell, we are asked to condemn this new trend for the destruction of such a marvellous edifice as our beloved mother tongue.
So what to make of the following statements then?
“I do here…complain…that our Language is extremely imperfect; that its daily Improvements are by no means in proportion to its daily Corruptions.” That’s Jonathan Swift writing in 1712.
“Most people who bother with the matter at all would admit that the English language is in a bad way.” George Orwell in 1946.
“Practically everyone…in those days spoke correctly, but the lapse of time has certainly had a deteriorating effect in this respect.” This is Cicero the Roman orator speaking in 46 BC.
I’ve taken these three quotes from a brilliant book called The Unfolding of Language by Guy Deutscher, which looks at the way in which languages around the world are in a constant state of destruction and construction.
It challenges our commonly held views on languages in many aspects and shows with some very clear and simple examples how our tendencies towards economy, expressiveness and analogy are powerful forces behind the way we use language and the impact on language as a result.
Deutscher examines how our natural preferences to make language as easy as possible to speak and write often results in words being shortened, vowels being changed.
He also looks at how our desire to find new ways to express ourselves results in new uses of words which may appear novel for a time but quickly become so established that we have to look for new methods.
A roaring fire, ground-breaking plans, a frosty reception. All phrases we wouldn’t even think twice about, because the in-built metaphors have become so well-established. So now if you really want to emphasise the unwelcoming reception you received you’ll need a new word. Chilling perhaps?
And he looks at how our craving for order means we use analogy to apply systems and structures of language that can sometimes start with pure anomalies.
It’s a fantastic book which covers many, many themes and ideas, but the point I want to make here is the way in which he demonstrates that language has always changed and evolved.
We may think we’re different and new, but we’re simply not. We’re nothing special, it’s been happening for thousands of years.
What is interesting is the fact that overall, while there are constructive forces at play in language, the trend for a number of millennia now is very clearly toward simplification - the most complex linguistic structures are those in very small tribal societies.
Deutscher speculates, and it is only speculation at this stage, that as societies have become more complex, with more speakers and often with multiple languages there is a natural and inevitable tendency toward the simplification of language.
If that’s proved to be the case, and it seems very possible, then what we may be able to say about our moment in history is that perhaps the explosion in additional forms of communication (mobile phones, email, text, the internet, the Web) has helped to accelerate this pace of change.
But then maybe Cicero said the same about wax tablets, Swift about the goose quill and Orwell about the fountain pen and spiral bound notebooks.