Skip to content

Anglish-Language Thoughts

This’s something I became conscious of rather recently. As you go through several of these posts, you are likely aware that English is a mainly Germanic language but has likewise been affected by languages of various other origins, particularly French. Whenever we glance at the phrases used by English speakers nowadays, we are able to discover a fascinating blend of Germanic, Romanesque and Norse languages and sometimes a couple of languages from further afield.

As English is popular around the planet, this’s still correct today, as the unexpected word can come from another language or even be created by non – indigenous speakers to fill a market (French term).

And that is alright. Many of us do not actually understand that, since the words were either currently in use whenever we were born or received a constant increase in the usage through the years. To be able to use words, we do not have to discover exactly where they come from. Precisely the same holds true for any other languages: it is the way they work. They do not exist in isolation.

You will find people who’d rather it did not work the way. This is exactly where Anglish comes in. Anglish is truly not an officially recognised dialect or language. Essentially, it is an attempt at linguistic purism, regarding just the usage of words of Anglo Saxon origin. For instance, start rather than create, make rather than start. What about those instances where there aren’t any Anglo Saxon equivalents for Latin terms, well, they are able to be made up. In fairness, not completely from the blue, but sticking to the events of the pre – modern day versions of English. Coining words as wordstock to switch vocabulary.

I do not really get the reason why some individuals try and restrict English to terms of Germanic origin. I understand why an immortal person may well become disappointed with the changes on the language of the youth over the centuries. Precisely why would an individual who grew up with contemporary English want to stay away from using common English words since it came out of a Greek or french word a huge selection of years back?

There have usually been individuals that desired to keep English strictly Germanic and currently this wiki appears to be the Anglish Moot (want to examine Star Wars in Anglish!).

I go along with the advocates of Anglish. I go along with George Orwell, I do not like inkhorns. An Inkhorn phrase is a borrowed phrase from another dialect (usually French, Latin or greek) which is considered pretentious or unnecessary. I do not like using such a phrase, when I can simply use an easy word. Even though many well – established English phrases started as inkhorns, it is normal to resent them when they are introduced to English since we are acquainted with the manner the language is organized.