The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-03-10
OURS A WORLD OF WORDS.
Over 100000 in the English Lam
Euage, Yet Speakers Use Barely 800.

New York Recorder
The philologist, an American, said: II
admit that you speak English well, with a
slightly foreign accent, of course, though
twenty years in this country; but your en-
tire vocabulary is less than three hundred
words. And do you know how many words
there are in the English language
mot so many as in Italian, / am sure"
returned the distinguished singer, a for
eigner. I'm my country We have the low
Italian and the pure Italian, made up of
the Latin and the Greek, and the words
there are thousands of them. Why, it re-
quires whole lifetime of earnest, hard
work to master our language. In America
you have but English words, and there are
not many of them think your language
very easy.
."Yet you are not familiar with three hun
dred, English words, and there are nearly
have about 100000 words in our language"
Impossible! There is living no man who
can remember SO many as 100000 words of
knows so many words?'
Neither living nor dead. Even Shak-
speare the greatest of English writers,
knew but sixteen thousand words Milton
struggled along on eight thousand. Many
other great writer's used less than five thou
sand. The average educated men of the
day. the graduates of the great universities,
get along through life with a vocabulary
of $500 or 5000 words, and use only fourth
of them except on state occasions Men
use more words in writing than in speaking.
In ordinary conversation few use more than
four or five hundred.
I'VE have built the English language upon
a foundation of all the tongues of the earth.
BY and by English will be the universal
language. In three thousand years you will
hear nothing else spoken.
There being no new lands to settle, we
want to get together once more and speak
a common tongue. The neutrality-suspicious.
race is the strongest on earth to-day, and
will eventually rule the world.
I'm the beginning of the present century
English was spoken by only 20.OO0000 peo-
pie. It is the language to-day OF more than
becoming the common language of the
world but the polite tongue, as we'll
'sThe traveller finds to-day English Well
spoken in all the capitals of Europe, while
ten years ago he was unable to get along
without a knowledge of French. English
is being taught in all the great universities
of the world, modern educators conceding
it to be the coming language.
And yet, with 12o. 600 900 persons speaking
/ per cent. of the words. OF what use can
the other words, many of them, be?
Why do you continue to increase the num-
Der of words so rapidly?'
Before the phiiologist could reply man
approached the table ana bowsd 70 the for for
asked him to sit down, after presenting him
20 the philo1ogist.
.Gentlemeh," he began, your converse
ton on the subject of words and their uses
interested me- and ] couldn't help coming
over to say something OF practical ma
lure For seven years was a stenOgrapher
and reported IN that time many of the best
speakers in this country.
I'm system We nave 10 1nd1y1dual
characters, or signs, which we are required
to learn by heart and remember. Each has
its particular meaning. Words or express
sions not covered by them We are expected
to invent ourselves.
Now, with such a system we are en-
abled 70 tell accurately the number of words
used by an orator in the course of public
speech Henry George used about $50
words. Chauncey Depew uses less, should
saw not more than $50. Mr. Blaine was a
fluent speaker, always clear and to the
point, with a vocabulary of less than five
hundred words.
I'm his great speech before the New Eng
land Society Henry w. Grady used only
four hundred words. Colonel Ingersoll is
one of the purest speakers in this country;
I do not think he uses more than four hum
1rad words