This week’s
post on a twentieth-century volume in our collection (A
937a) comes from our
collections intern Robin Craren.
post on a twentieth-century volume in our collection (A
937a) comes from our
collections intern Robin Craren.
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American language,
you say? Although you may balk at the term, H.L. Mencken wrote a whole book about it (The American Language: An Inquiry Into the Development of English in the United States), explaining the divergence of American English from British English; and he wasn’t the first to notice the changes inflicted on the English language by the Americas. |
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English began to
change almost immediately after the first settlers came to the Americas. America’s first colonists were at first rather loyal to the English language and denounced the “Americanisms” of the new colonies but as Mencken describes, some words were necessary to adopt because they simply did not exist in the English language, representing objects, plants, and animals new to settlers.
Mencken illustrates
several borrowed words from Native American languages and how they developed into the words we use today. One example shows raccoon’s transformation from rahaugcum to aracoune to rarowcun and finally to raccoon. On the same page, he discusses the word opossum, which came from apossoun, which changed to opassom, to the word we use today (which has been clipped to possum, something I will discuss later in this post). Words such as skunk, hickory, squash, caribou, pecan, and persimmon also come from Native American origins. |
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While these words
were created out of necessity, meanings of other words changed from their
British equivalents, causing the English to disparage the nuances of the new
“Americanisms.” For example, the word American corn now refers to what
the Spanish called maiz (from the Native American word), while its
British origins referred to grain for human consumption, in particular wheat.
The settlers began to call maize by the term Indian corn. But, by the
middle of the 18th century, the Indian was dropped and corn
referred to maize while grain was referred to as breadstuffs.
were created out of necessity, meanings of other words changed from their
British equivalents, causing the English to disparage the nuances of the new
“Americanisms.” For example, the word American corn now refers to what
the Spanish called maiz (from the Native American word), while its
British origins referred to grain for human consumption, in particular wheat.
The settlers began to call maize by the term Indian corn. But, by the
middle of the 18th century, the Indian was dropped and corn
referred to maize while grain was referred to as breadstuffs.
After the
Revolutionary War ended and the new country was formed, the general feeling in
America was that the United States would rise in the world as England declined
and a widespread contempt for everything English extended to the canons of the
mother-tongue. Very quickly “the common speech of the United States [had] departed very considerably from the standard adopted in England.” The War of
1812 would not help with the contempt that the Americans felt towards the
English, nor how the English felt of what the Americans were doing to their
language, and began a new series of complaints across the pond.
Revolutionary War ended and the new country was formed, the general feeling in
America was that the United States would rise in the world as England declined
and a widespread contempt for everything English extended to the canons of the
mother-tongue. Very quickly “the common speech of the United States [had] departed very considerably from the standard adopted in England.” The War of
1812 would not help with the contempt that the Americans felt towards the
English, nor how the English felt of what the Americans were doing to their
language, and began a new series of complaints across the pond.
One English writer,
speaking of her travels in America, wrote that she had seldom “heard a sentence
elegantly turned and correctly pronounced from the lips of an American;”
there was “always something either in the expression or the accent” that jarred
her feelings and shocked her taste. Another writer observed that “it is
remarkable how very debased the language has become in a short period in
America.” While the English were disgusted with the adaptations of the American
language, the United States was not only eager to differentiate itself from its
former rulers but was also quite literally an ocean away during a period in
which sea travel back and forth across the Atlantic could take the better part
of a year.
speaking of her travels in America, wrote that she had seldom “heard a sentence
elegantly turned and correctly pronounced from the lips of an American;”
there was “always something either in the expression or the accent” that jarred
her feelings and shocked her taste. Another writer observed that “it is
remarkable how very debased the language has become in a short period in
America.” While the English were disgusted with the adaptations of the American
language, the United States was not only eager to differentiate itself from its
former rulers but was also quite literally an ocean away during a period in
which sea travel back and forth across the Atlantic could take the better part
of a year.
One feature of
American English was the American notion to shorten or condense words. This was
done through new word formation, either by clipping, back-shortening, or
back-formation (in which part of the original word is retained, i.e. influenza
to flu); blending which began in the 19th century (bringing two or more
words together to create a new term and meaning, i.e. brunch from breakfast
and lunch); or by the use of suffixes such as -ize, -ate, -ify, -ous-
and –ment (i.e. to Americanize).
American English was the American notion to shorten or condense words. This was
done through new word formation, either by clipping, back-shortening, or
back-formation (in which part of the original word is retained, i.e. influenza
to flu); blending which began in the 19th century (bringing two or more
words together to create a new term and meaning, i.e. brunch from breakfast
and lunch); or by the use of suffixes such as -ize, -ate, -ify, -ous-
and –ment (i.e. to Americanize).
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The book
illustrates many words created from shortening or clipping. Among the examples are the words moving picture changing to movie, promenade changing to prom, cabriolet to cab, photograph to photo, gasoline to gas, telephone to phone, drapery to drapes, etc. |
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Interestingly, the
author illustrates the ways in which companies and advertisers have created words through blending. A footnote describes the etymology of the word Vaseline coming from the German word wasser (meaning water) and the Greek elaion (meaning oil), thus describing the product in a unique way. Other companies to use blending are Nabisco for National Biscuit Company, Listerine from Lord Lister, the surgeon who brought the aseptic to surgery, etc. |
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In addition to these
new word formations, Americans of the 19th century were concerned with
condensing complex thoughts into a shorter phrase, some of which we still use
today. For example: to keep tab, to keep a stiff upper lip, to
go it blind, to run into the ground, to get ahead of, to
crack up, to bark up the wrong tree, and to let it slide.
new word formations, Americans of the 19th century were concerned with
condensing complex thoughts into a shorter phrase, some of which we still use
today. For example: to keep tab, to keep a stiff upper lip, to
go it blind, to run into the ground, to get ahead of, to
crack up, to bark up the wrong tree, and to let it slide.
American English has
developed as an adaptation of British English, and while our languages interact
more often now than in the 19th century (due to the electronic age and better
political relations), each language still has its own set of terms, words, and
phrases that represent the culture in which they were created. While our
countries now share many of the words previously considered “Americanisms,”
there are still very distinct differences between what we call everyday objects
and things (for example: lift vs. elevator, jumper vs.
sweater, post vs. mail, petrol vs. gasoline,
the list goes on and on). There are innumerable ways in which our countries
differ from one another (geographically, linguistically, and culturally) and
Mencken’s book seeks to investigate some of these differences in order to
understand the development of the American language alongside the development
of the United States as a country.
developed as an adaptation of British English, and while our languages interact
more often now than in the 19th century (due to the electronic age and better
political relations), each language still has its own set of terms, words, and
phrases that represent the culture in which they were created. While our
countries now share many of the words previously considered “Americanisms,”
there are still very distinct differences between what we call everyday objects
and things (for example: lift vs. elevator, jumper vs.
sweater, post vs. mail, petrol vs. gasoline,
the list goes on and on). There are innumerable ways in which our countries
differ from one another (geographically, linguistically, and culturally) and
Mencken’s book seeks to investigate some of these differences in order to
understand the development of the American language alongside the development
of the United States as a country.
I’ll conclude this
blog entry as Mencken did his book, with this quote from the 16th century:
blog entry as Mencken did his book, with this quote from the 16th century:
And who in time knows
whither we may vent
whither we may vent
The treasure of our
tongue? To what strange shores
tongue? To what strange shores
This gain of our best
glory shall be sent,
glory shall be sent,
T’ enrich unknowing
nations with our stores?
nations with our stores?
What worlds in th’
yet unformed Occident
yet unformed Occident
May come refin’d with
th’ accents that are ours?
th’ accents that are ours?
–Samuel Daniel,
Musophilus, 1599
Musophilus, 1599