A Proposal for Correcting, Improving, and Ascertaining the English Tongue by Jonathan Swift
Introduction
To the Most Honourable Robert Earl of Oxford,
My Lord,
What I had the Honour of mentioning to Your Lordship some time
ago in Conversation, was not a new Thought, just then started by Accident or Occasion, but the Result of long Reflection; and I
have been confirmed in my Sentiments by (5) the Opinion of some
very judicious Persons, with whom I consulted. They all agreed,
That noting would be of greater Use towards the Improvement of
Knowledge and Politeness, than some effectual Method for
_Correcting, Enlarging, and Ascertaining our Language; and they
think it a Work very possible to be compassed, under the
Protection of a Prince, the Countenance and Encouragement of a
Ministry, and the Care of Proper Persons chosen for such an
Undertaking. I was glad to find Your Lordship’s Answer in so
different a Style, from what hath been commonly made use of on
the like Occasions, for some Years past, _that all such Thoughts must be deferred to a Time of Peace_: A Topick which some have
carried so far, that they would not have us, by any means, think of preserving our Civil or Religious Constitution, because we
were (6) engaged in a War abroad. It will be among the
distinguishing Marks of your Ministry, My Lord, that you had the Genius above all such Regards, and that no reasonable Proposal
for the Honour, the Advantage, or the Ornament of Your Country,
however foreign to Your immediate Office was ever neglected by
You. I confess, the Merit of this Candor and Condescension is
very much lessened, because Your Lordship hardly leaves us room
to offer our good Wishes, removing all our Difficulties, and
supplying all our Wants, faster than the most visionary Projector can adjust his Schemes. And therefore, My Lord, the Design of
this Paper is not so much to offer You _Ways and Means_, as to
complain of a _Grievance_, the redressing of which is to be Your own Work, as much as that of paying the _Nation’s Debts_, or
opening a Trade into the _South (7) Sea; and though not of such
immediate Benefit as either of these, or any other of Your
glorious Actions, yet perhaps, in future Ages, not less to Your
Honour.
A Proposal for Correcting, Improving, and Ascertaining the English Tongue 1
A Proposal for Correcting, Improving, and Ascertaining the English Tongue My Lord; I do here in the Name of all the Learned and Polite Persons of the Nation, complain to your Lordship, as _First Minister_, the our Language is extremely imperfect; that its daily Improvements are by no means in proportion to its daily Corruptions; and the Pretenders to polish and refine it, have chiefly multiplied Abuses and Absurdities; and, that in many Instances, it offends against every Part of Grammar.
But lest Your Lordship should think my Censure to be too severe, I shall take leave to be more particular. (8) I Believe Your Lordship will agree with me in the Reason, Why our Language is less Refined than those of _Italy_, _Spain_, or _France_. ‘Tis plain that the _Latin_ Tongue, in its Purity, was never in this Island, towards the Conquest of which few or no Attempts were made till the Time of _Claudius_; neither was that Language ever so vulgar in _Britain_, as it is known to have been in _Gaul_ and _Spain_. Further, we find, that the _Roman_ Legions here, were at length all recalled to help their Country against the _Goths_, and other barbarous Invaders. Mean time, the _Britains, left to shift for themselves, and daily harassed by cruel Inroads from the _Picts_, were forced to call in the _Saxons_ for their Defense; who, consequently, reduced the greatest Part of the Island to their own Power, drove the _Britains_ (9) into the most remote and mountainous Parts, and the rest of the Country, in Customs, Religion, and Language, became wholly _Saxon_. This I take to be the Reason why there are more _Latin_ words remaining in the _British_ Tongue, than in the old _Saxon_; which, excepting some few Variations in the Orthography, is the same, in most original Words, with our present _English_, as well as with the _German_, and other _Northern_ Dialects.
_Edward the Confessor_ having lived long in _France_, appears to be the first who introduced any mixture of the _French_ Tongue with the _Saxon_; the Court affecting what the Prince was fond of, and others taking it up for a Fashion, as it is now with us. _William the Conqueror_ proceeded much further; bringing over with him vast (10) numbers of that Nation; scattering them in every Monastery; giving them great Quantities of Land, directing all Pleadings to be in that Language, and endeavouring to make it universal in the Kingdom.
This, at least, is the Opinion generally received. But Your Lordship hath fully convinced me, that the _French_ Tongue made yet a greater Progress here under _Harry the Second_, who had large Territories on that Continent, both from his Father and his Wife, made frequent Journeys and Expeditions there, and was always attended with a number of his Countrymen, Retainers at his Court. For some Centuries after, there was a constant Intercourse between _France_ and _England_, by the Dominions we possessed there, and the Conquests we made; so that our Language, between two and three hundred Years ago, seems to have had a greater mixture with _French_. than at present; (11) many Words having been afterwards rejected, and some since the time of _Spencer_; although we have still retained not a few, which have been long antiquated in _France_. I could produce several Instances of both kinds, if it were of any Use or Entertainment.
TO examine into the several Circumstances by which the Language of a Country may be altered, would force me to enter into a wide Field. I shall only observe, That the _Latin_, the _French_, and the _English_, seem to have undergone the same Fortune. The first, from the Days of _Romulus_ to those of _Julius Caesar_, suffered perpetual Changes, and by what we meet in those Authors who occasionally speak on that Subject, as well as from certain Fragments of old Laws, it is manifest, that the _Latin_, Three hundred Years before _Tully_, was as (12) unintelligible in his Time, as the _English_ and _French_ of the same Period are now; and these two have changed as much since _William the Conqueror_ (which is but little less than Seven hundred Years) as the _Latin_ appears to have done in the like Term. Whether our Language or the _French_
will decline as fast as the _Roman_ did, is a Question that would perhaps admit more Debate than it is worth.
There were many Reasons for the Corruptions of the last: As, the Change of their Government into a Tyranny, which ruined the Study of Eloquence, there being no further Use of Encouragement for popular Orators: Their giving not only the Freedom of the City, but Capacity for Employments, to several Towns in _Gaul_, _Spain_, and _Germany_, and other distant Parts, as far as _Asia_; which brought a great Number of (13) forein Pretenders into _Rome_ : The slavish Disposition of the Senate and the People, by which the Wit and Eloquence of the Age were wholly turned into Panegyrick, the most barren of all Subjects: The great Corruption of Manners, and Introduction of forein Luxury, with forein Terms to express it; with several others that might be assigned: Not to mention those Invasions from the _Goths_ and _Vandals_, which are A Proposal for Correcting, Improving, and Ascertaining the English Tongue 2
A Proposal for Correcting, Improving, and Ascertaining the English Tongue too obvious to insist on.
THE _Roman_ Language arrived at great Perfection before it began to decay: And the _French_ for these last Fifty Years hath been polishing as much as it will bear, and appears to be declining by the natural Inconstancy of that People, and the Affection of some late Authors to introduce and multiply _Cant_ Words, (14) which is the most ruinous Corruption in any Language. _La Bruyere_ a late celebrated Writer among them, makes use of many hundred new Terms, which are not to be found in any of the common Dictionaries before his Time. But the _English_ Tongue is not arrived to such a Degree of Perfection, as to make us apprehend any Thoughts of its Decay; and if it were once refined to a certain Standard, perhaps there might be Ways found out to fix it for ever; or at least till we are invaded and made a Conquest by some other State; and even then our best Writings might probably be preserved with Care, and grow into Esteem, and the Authors have a Chance of Immortality.
BUT without such great Revolutions as these, (to which we are, (15) I think less subject than Kingdoms upon the Continent) I see no absolute Necessity why any Language would be perpetually ; for we find many Example to the contrary. From _Homer_ to _Plutarch_ are above a Thousand Years; so long at least the Purity of the _Greek_ Tongue may be allow’d to last, and we know not how far before. The _Grecians_