LL-L "Lexicon" 2007.11.20 (02) [E]

Tue Nov 20 16:42:25 UTC 2007

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L O W L A N D S - L  -  20 November 2007 - Volume 02
Song Contest: lowlands-l.net/contest/ (- 31 Dec. 2007)
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From: Brooks, Mark <mark.brooks at twc.state.tx.us>
Subject: LL-L "Lexicon" 2007.11.20 (01) [E]

Paul Finlow-Bates wrote:  "The belief that you have to use such words ("big
words") to seem wise is a blow to our forbears."

Paul, I go along with you fully (agree completely).  I wanted what I wrote
to have a "tongue in cheek" feel to it.

At my job I write stuff to teach our new workers with.  I like to stay away
from "Latinate" words, but I must say that I find it hard to do.  Working in
a big outfit for the folks of Texas, makes for a lot of words that do seem
too stretched out.  But, I guess it just what goes with the job.  ;-)

Mark Brooks

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Lexicon

Paul, I take it you are aware that what Mark, Sandy and I wrote about
terminology was really a spoof on the gratuitous invention and use of jargon
that is at least partly designed to dazzle, mystify and exclude people of
"inferior" formal education.

Linguistics' tradition is by no means immune to this. This is not only
because the discipline grew out of classics-based philology but also because
any field of study that wants to be accepted and taken seriously as an
academic discipline needs to take on the trappings of established and
respected fields, especially in the form of already existing jargon. This
seems to be especially so in the "soft sciences" that tend to be looked down
upon by people in the "hard sciences" or "real sciences."

Furthermore, I take it you pointed at the gratuitous use of non-German
words, the "big words," as you called them. Avoiding the use of Latinate
words (especially) in Modern English is impossible, since the language is
deeply imbued with and now dependent on them, especially as far as Norman
French influences are concerned. Native speakers don't even recognize most
of these words as being Latinate, and in many cases (such as "air", "carry",
"duty", "defend", "example", "moment", "part", "point") there are no
alternatives or only awkward-sounding ones, as in Churchill's said speech,
the last part serving as an example:

I have, myself, full *confidence* that if all do their *duty*, if nothing is
*neglected*, and if the best *arrangements* are made, as they are being
made, we shall prove ourselves once again *able* to *defend* our Island
home, to ride out the storm of *war*, and to outlive the *menace* of *
tyranny*, if *necessary* for years, if *necessary* alone. At any *rate*,
that is what we are going to *try* to do. That is the *resolve* of His *
Majesty's* *Government*-every man of them. That is the will of
*Parliament*and the
*nation*. The British *Empire* and the French *Republic*, linked together in
their *cause* and in their need, will *defend* to the death their *native* *
soil*, *aiding* each other like good *comrades* to the utmost of their
strength. Even though *large* *tracts* of Europe and many old and *famous* *
States* have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the *
odious* *apparatus* of Nazi *rule*, we shall not *flag* or *fail*. We shall
go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and *
oceans*, we shall fight with growing *confidence* and growing strength in
the *air*, we shall *defend* our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall
fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight
in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall
never *surrender*, and even if, which I do not for a *moment* believe, this
Island or a *large* *part* of it were *subjugated* and starving, then our *
Empire* beyond the seas, *armed* and *guarded* by the British Fleet, would *
carry* on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all
its *power* and might, steps forth to the *rescue* and the *liberation* of
the old.

Unfortunately, the dividing line between "ordinary words" and "big words" is
a blurry one. People's perception of what is one and what is the other
depends on their formal education, the company they keep, the literature
they read, and so forth. The other day I responded to someone's plea for
advice. I thought I talked in a very ordinary, everyday way, avoiding what I
thought were big words. The response came with a smile, "OK. Whatever it is
you just said." It made me feel bad, because I had not meant to talk above
her head and at the same time I avoid jumping to conclusions about people
and end up talking down to them and thus possibly coming across as
patronizing and insulting.

So perhaps things aren't really as simple as "native or not native" where
"native" includes "nativized" (i.e., of foreign origin but now perceived
native). Perhaps there is a multi-stage process in which foreign-derived
words gradually move toward full nativization. I am pretty sure that many
foreign-derived words most or all of us now perceive as being ordinary where
not so ordinary to past generations.

I also believe that similar things happened with Scandinavian loans and with
Celtic loans before that. In many cases the native English equivalents
disappeared, at least from today's mainstream language. An example is Old
English *micel* which survices only in some dialects and in Scots, apart
from the related word "much". "Big" is believed to be a Scandinavian loan.
Old English has *mara* 'very big/large' which I assume is of Celtic origin.
And "large" is of course of Old French origin, "stout" of Dutch origin.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

•

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