Wednesday 6 March 2024

Anglish

I have been asked to post this link: Anglish. The article refers to Poul Anderson's "Uncleftish Beholding." I had never heard of Anglish. 

7 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

English is a mongrel language, more than willing to take in words from any language. And that is one of its strengths, IMO. Unlike in France no English speaking gov't has tried to legislate what words can be used in English.

Ad astra! Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

It is interesting to experiment with different word roots and coinages but I agree that there should be no legislation.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

I do think Churchill made some useful suggestions in how to use English for making effective speeches.

Ad astra! Sean

S.M. Stirling said...

Ah, yes, subtracting the Franco-Latinate part of English... which makes an enormous difference, even if you assume the same syntactical developments!

Note that English uses English roots for more 'earthy' and 'emotional' communication, and more Latinate ones for more 'formal' and 'elevated' diction.

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Guts and intestines.

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Gods, deities and divinities.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Mr. Stirling!

Not just words with Franco-Latinate roots, but also words of Greek origins. And it's good to have such high brow words, because their use will allow for greater precision, accuracy, and nuance in formal writing writing and speaking.

Ad astra! Sean