Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-02-28
GROWTH OF AMERIOANESE.
An English Editor Thinks II VIII be the UNI
versnl Lapguage-Ifs Origins and Pecni'
Iarifies-Our British Cousins Appreciate

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IFS sComprehenstveness.
From the London Standard
Is there to be a universal language of the
! future, And If thara ;e 1rhicb viii IL be?
English. according to the view lately expressed
by the venerable Dr. Dollinsar, and the rea-
sonableness Of the preference commends itself
to every patriotic Anglo-Saxon breast But
that is only answering the question by halves.
Assuming that in the struggle for existence,
the tongue Of our ancestors proves itself to be
the fittest, we have still to ask in what form it
will continue to exist. But of that language
there are many varieties already. There is the
English, written in books, and which ID still 20
De found in some of the newspapers. There is
the English spoken in Picadilly and Pail Mall,
and that which ia tn ba baard-verv distinctly-
Eno,,st 20 -, % u,.,4.r,i ~ " sS s'th. IT..
%nsisn oi Tue mhtsnire laporers, anu 'l,o ~
giisn OF the Northumbrlan miners, who almost
require an interpreter before they become mu-
tually intellirible There is the Enelish of the
tinkers' carnn and the thieves, kitchen. SO
sprinkled with Gipsy and old Celtic words that
none but the Initiated can understand it, and
the old Frisian English of some of the East
coast fishing villages. which could be more cas-
iIy learnt nv n Dnfcb,man % or a q German than by
a middle.class Iondoner. And, lastly, there is
mi and cyrn in0 cd NJ
people American and by some Americanese.
and which. whatsoeyer it be styled. is a tongue
very well worth studying. since IL is not at all
improbable that it wili share with the pidgin
world language" of the future
Striking Features OF Americnnese.
What strikes one most about "Americanese'
Is its copiousness, its expansiveness, and its
assimilatiye power. It viii take anything into
its comprehensive embrace-slang coIloquial-
isms, casual Jokes and catch words, even we'll
chosen profanity. A happy phrase in a novel,
play, or public speech is promptly caught
up, and added to the common stock. Like the
vigorous race by which it is used, the language
is brimming over with vitality. 1t is no stereo-
typed literary form, which may not be touched
or tampered with without the sanction OF an
american invents words and phrases as ne goes
along Like the Atnenlanst ne Is Always nun
ger1ng after some new thing; ana wnen ne
gets IL ne caiis II py some new name. A. 70 sne
orgn ana sne cnaTacter OF sne iass9r ne - nSs I's
ve,y lasuuious. ~ may pe tr.viai, ~ u may ~
vulgar, IL Is sometimes coarse, IL ls olten paln-
Iully lneupnonlous; out IL mas THIS Ieoeemlns
9uanty. tnag IL ls almost certain 20 pc e4pIes-
slVe. W all know the meaning OF setIhg th9
Duige on announcer person, OF takng Iss
ous OF MIN; nor are we un1amilar WIN sne sls
M.lncance Oh pulldose anu mygwnunPE, ns II, any, anu
copper,nead ana scaliyWag VI poss
ana OF masaer, Oh dude anu OF Doom,
we 40 not speak, they have caught on" and
are 20 pc met with In these lsianas aimosI as
frequently as IN tne country OF tnelr na'iSity'.
They Are nIlIearping Il.
.,
An iact we are all learning Sne American IAN