Trudgill in Vocabula

[Robert Hartwell Fiske]

<A HREF="mailto:GordonMJ at MISSOURI.EDU">GordonMJ at MISSOURI.EDU</A> wrote (without permission):

   Even today -- subjected as we are to the apotheosis of popular
    culture -- using the English language respectfully helps us maintain
    a sense of ourselves and our values. To do otherwise, to disregard
    the ways of our words, is to forsake our humanity and, perhaps, even
    forfeit our future. A society is generally as lax as its language.
    And in a society of this sort, easiness and mediocrity are much
    esteemed.

Well written, don't you think? That paragraph is no longer on the Vocabula 
site, so where you found it I am not sure. TVR's manifesto, which I dare say 
will thwart your interest still more, is this: 

Along with the evolution of language — the thousands of neologisms that new 
technologies and new thinking have brought about, for instance — there has been 
a concurrent, if perhaps less recognizable, devolution of language. The 
English language has become more precise for some users of it while becoming more 
plodding for others. Not a small part of this new cumbrousness is due to the 
loss of distinctions between words, the misuse of words, and other abuses of 
language. 

That a U.S. presidential candidate can cry Is our children learning, an 
admired basketball star can use the word conversate, a well-known college professor 
can say vociferous when he means voracious, and another can scold a student 
for using the word juggernaut because she believes it means jigaboo is 
disturbing. The Vocabula Review strives to combat the degradation of our language. 

Equally important, we celebrate its opulence and its elegance. The English 
language is wonderfully expressive and infinitely flexible. There are many 
thousands of words and many hundreds of ways in which to use them. The Vocabula 
Review seeks to promote the richness of our language. 

In sum, TVR battles nonstandard, careless English and embraces clear, 
expressive English. We hope we can encourage our readers to do as much. 

***

More interesting than the TVR manifesto though is the feeling among some ADS 
members that if you are politically liberal minded you must surely be a 
descriptivist. Still more fascinating is the apparent conservatism (and of course 
judgmentalism) of descriptivists who seem wholly unwilling to entertain other, 
more catholic views. I also write on one of TVR's free pages:

> The Vocabula Review — not meant to be solely a forum for our prejudices — 
> invites readers to submit articles about issues related to the English 
> language. In the spirit of thoughtful inquiry and personal essays, we wish to 
> encourage writers to submit articles about what they themselves think. 
> Well-written, insightful, creative articles are far more appealing to us than 
> overreferenced, overannotated articles. What's important to us is not what everyone 
> else has ever thought but a clear presentation of one's own thoughts. Today, 
> there are few opportunities for people to enjoy the freedom that comes with 
> writing for oneself and others in a nonacademic way. The Vocabula Review offers 
> one such opportunity. 

Trudgill's article is in the June issue (and one or two articles by ADS 
members have appeared in earlier issues of Vocabula). 


Robert Hartwell Fiske
Editor and Publisher
The Vocabula Review
www.vocabula.com
______________________

The Vocabula Review 
A measly $8.95 a year
www.vocabula.com
______________________

The Vocabula Review
10 Grant Place
Lexington, MA 02420
United States
Tel: (781) 861-1515












Robert Hartwell Fiske
Editor and Publisher
The Vocabula Review
www.vocabula.com
______________________

The Vocabula Review 
A measly $8.95 a year
www.vocabula.com
______________________

The Vocabula Review
10 Grant Place
Lexington, MA 02420
United States
Tel: (781) 861-1515