medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
(However, I will concede that the language was marvelously
> > enriched as a result.)
>
> Enriched? What was wrong with Old English before the conquest? I
> prefer
> the term 'Diluted'. Even today one prefers the good strong manly
> Anglo-Saxon word-hoard to the feeble, effeminate, louche, degenerate,
> decadent French vocabulary. I trust all will agree that I speak
> without
> bias or lack of objectivity.
>
> Guillaume.
>
Perhaps some members will think I was indulging in uncharacteristic
levity in the above posting. I assure you it is only a very slight
parody of the opinions which I was fed when studying the English
language. For example, here are some excerpts from Otto Jespersen,
"Growth and Structure of the English Language":
"If briefness, conciseness and terseness are characteristic of the
style of men, while women as a rule are not such economizers of speech,
English is more masculine than most languages . . .
"An excessive use of this emotional tonic accent is characteristic of
many savage nations; in Europe it is found much more in Italy than in
the North. In each nation it seems as if it were more employed by women
than by men. Now, it has often been observed that the English speak in
a more monotonous way than most other nations . . . Even English ladies
are in this respect more restrained than many men belonging to other
nations . . .
"The business-like, virile qualities of the English language also
manifest themselves in such things as word-order. . .
"Now, it seems to be characteristic of the two sexes in their relation
to language that women move in narrower circles of the vocabulary, in
which they attain to perfect mastery so that the flow of words is
always natural and, above all, never needs to stop, while men know more
words and always want to be more precise in choosing the exact word
with which to render their idea, the consequence being often less
fluency and more hesitation. It has been statistically shown that a
comparatively greater nmber of stammerers and stutterers are found
among men (boys) than among women (girls) . . .
". . . our assertion is corroborated by the fact, observed by every
student of languages that novels written by ladies are much easier to
read and contain much fewer difficult words than those written by men.
All this seems to justify us in setting down the enormous richness of
the English vocabulary to the same masculinity of the English nation
which we have encountered in so many various fields."
His remarks on the language of Hawaii may be thought too offensive to
reproduce, but I shall do so anyway:
"Can any one be in doubt that even if such a language sound pleasantly
and be full of music and harmony the total impression is childlike and
effeminate? You do not expect much vigour or energy in a people
speaking such a language; it seems adapted only to inhabitants of sunny
regions where the soil requires scarcely any labour on the part of man
to yield him everything he wants, and where life therefore does not
bear the stamp of a hard struggle against nature and against
fellow-creatures. In a lesser degree we find the same phonetic
structure in such languages as Italian and Spanish; but how different
are our Northern tongues."
Discuss.
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