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»>.«» School Committee of the City ot Hector c ADMINISTRATION LIBRARY Pure Saxon English; AMERICANS TO THE FRONT. ELIAS MOLEE, Author or "A Plea for an American Language." chicago and new york: Rand, McNally & Company, Publishers. 1 890. Copyright, 1890, by Rand, McNally & Co. Pare Saxon. INDEX. PART I. l'AOE. Introductory, 5 Wby is a Self-defining........Word Better? 15 Americans and Englishmen Quoted, . ..... 19 • Phonetic Spelling, 30 Euphony of Language, ........ .35 A Moderately Simple Grammar, 41 The Value of Homogeneity, . ...... .42 What Material to Select 48 Fortunate Coincidence, . .53 Appearance and Reality, 56 Mental Companionship, . ....... .60 Present Utility of Pure Saxon English, 61 Americans to the Front, . ..... .63 ♦ Umlaut, 69 What Can be Done 69 Pure Saxon English in the Pulpit, . 78 A Word to Foreigners, 75 A Plea for Visionaries, ............. 78 PART n. Grammar of Saxon English, 3 Brief Keys to Spelling and Grammar,...... 19 Synopsis of Reason in Favor of, . ..... .21 Specimen Readings— Matthew, Chapters I and II, . .23 Russian Wolf Story, 25 Religious Service, 28 , Abram II. Hoge, . ....... .33 A Love Letter from Martha, 37 Prefixes and Suffixes, ..... 55 Zoological Classification, ....... 62 Optional List, ...... 63 " " List of Substituted........Words (Vocabulary), ... 64 (?) PURE SAXON ENGLISH. (THE LANGUAGE FOR THE WORLD.) Before beginning my story, I wish to say a few words by way of preamble. I have not undertaken to work out a proposed scheme for beautifying and simplifying our language, in the way I have done, because I feel more friendly toward any other form of speech, for English is my native language, and I can speak it better than I can any other tongue; but being philanthropically inclined, and a lover of the true, the beautiful, and the good, I have been pondering, for the last twenty-five years, over the idea how we might work up into a true, beautiful, and good language, and I have come to the conclusion that it can be done if the leaders of American thought and society will, and that it would be right and honorable and highly profitable to do so, taking into full account the trifling disadvantages which would follow a change, after many years of struggle. Old books could only be read with extra study, as we now read Chau cer or Alfred the Great; but then, few read old books, and linguists will cheerfully translate all the worthy ones the people want translated, and probably more. The learned professions, as ministers, lawyers, and doctors, can study the old language for old authorities as they now study Greek, Latin, German, and French. The change will not come hard on the people, as it will necessarily come so slowly that all will have plenty of time to learn (5) 8 PURE SAXON ENGLISH. and remember the comparatively few new words needed before a general introduction is possible. New books are constantly being printed. All would be in the same boat, and have the same disadvantages that were experienced in England when Parliament ordered English to be employed in the courts instead of Norman-French; or, as in Ger many, when home-made words were substituted for French and Latin ones; or, as in Ireland, when English took the place of Irish; or, as in Norway, when Danish was substi tuted for the Old Norse. A part of these changes have been brought about willingly, and a part by coercion. I believe it true, however, that what people can do, when forced by others, they can do much better and quicker . when working willingly. Labor was at first performed by slaves, but as man became more civilized, work has become a pleasure. Taxes were at first a matter of conquest and force, now men come together in a quiet village and vote upon themselves a greater burden than a Roman general would have demanded of such a place. In the same way a great people can change, will ingly, their dress and their institutions, and adopt foreign ones, as in Japan. The progressive Japanese were, at one time, seriously considering the question of changing their language and adopting English or German, but their scholars found fault with the English spelling and with the German genders; hence, they came to the conclusion that the best way to enrich their own euphonious language would be by derivation and com pounding, as in Greek and German, and for extra tech nical terms they draw from the related Chinese; and I. C. Heburn, M. D. L. D., author of a large Japanese grammar and dictionary, says, that: "These words are quite as expressive as those which we have developed from the Greek and Latin." PURE SAXON ENGLISH. The most conspicuous example of a deliberate and con scious change of grammar, by a great public assembly, comes to us from France. On the 3d day of June, 1679, the French Academy, after due discussion and delibera tion, passed the decree that the French present participle should no longer be declined, but simply retain the form of ent and ant (equivalent to our ending ing). One of the reasons for establishing this famous academy, was to have it watch over and refine and enrich the French lan guage. The decree was obeyed. The present participle has not been declined in France since. In the year 1864, a German scholar, under the name of Dr. P—, endeavored to systematize the German language and make a world's German of it (Welt-deutsch). He formed plurals on s, and had a regular declension and conjugation; but so that every German could understand it it, while would be easy for foreigners to learn, as the transparency of the vocabulary was preserved. To those understanding German a few specimens will be highly interesting: "Das Woltat —Hast du einen groser woltater unter die tiers als mich? Das biene fragte den mensch. Ja wol, dieser erwiederte. Und wen? Das schaf; den mir ist notwendig sein wolle, aber mir ist nur angenehm dein honig." We are told by. travelers how rapidly the languages of some savage tribes change, and that this is principally caused by the decree of their chiefs. Thus, if a great warrior dies his memory is held in so great reverence that he must not be mentioned except by his attributes, as, the great, the brave, the fierce; nor must any word, after his death, begin with the first letter of his name. In this way, we are told, language changes so rapidly that one generation can hardly understand the words of the preceding. 8 PTTRE SAXON ENGLISH. Man has a conscious or unconscious influence over lan guage. A conscious one, if he will. We know how the Gothic people have consciously hunted up old roots from which to form new compounds on Greek and Latin models. The Russians and the Japanese are now deliberately enriching their languages by home compounds; just as the famous French Academy simpli fied, with premeditation and forethought, the participles; in like manner the Russian grammarian, Kopitar, is a champion for the idea of simplifying the numerous com plex conjugations in his language, by taking a regular verb and letting that stand as a model for all verbs. Mr. Schis- kow, in his treatise on the Russian language, urges the expulsion of all words not of Russian or Slavonic origin, though the Russian language is already very pure and self- explaining. The reasons he gives for building on home roots are the same reasons as given in Germany and Hol land, and Scandinavia and Japan, namely, that the lan guage will be easier understood, and more facts in science can be remembered by all men. The Russians have some very talented men and authors, and when school- houses become as common as in the United States, in Ger many, and in England, they will be a very intelligent and great people, for they have a clear, homogeneous, and economical tongue, and a large country. Professor Whitney, of Yale College, in his very learned work, "Language and the Study of Language," dwells at length on the idea that man has power over language. He says: " A man has power over language to the extent to which he can get his fellow-men to agree with him." He gives several examples of this truth. He says the choice of words is subjective, depending on our preferences. It is admitted by linguists, that the ascendency of High German over many other dialects, spoken at that PURE! SAXON ENGLISH. 9 time and since, is principally due to the fact that Martin Luther translated into High German the Bible, which became a general reading book. Here is another example of man's influence over language. As man has power over language, I desire to call the attention of the honorable members of Congress to the importance of doing some act which will cause a discussion of this question, as, for instance, to offer three prizes for " an essay on, The best plan of improving and beautifying the English language." This would bring out a general discussion, and many valuable thoughts, now slumber ing, would be likely to come to the surface. Two years' time might be given for preparation. This would be no more than what has been done by the French Academy, and than was lately done by the Norwegian Legislature which printed, at public expense, the grammar and diction ary of Mr. Ivar Aasen, who has so bravely fought for the purity of the Norwegian language. To improve our language in spelling and self-explanatory words, will have more educational influence throughout the land than could be obtained from the building of a hun dred new colleges.

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