The San Francisco call., 1897-07-24
NEW WORDS NEEDED.

Possibly no one realizes the necessity for
some new words in English SO greatly as the
reader of many novels and short stories,
writes Christopher Bannister in the Chicago
Times Herald. If there is another who feels
the lack as much it is the historian of con-
tempo aneous times.
Within a month there have been two vol
umes of short stories published which deal,
generally speaking, with the world where
English is the language customarily heard.
One OF them had tales OF Australia, the
Southern Pacific and its islands, India, Mime
sofa and California. The other included India
and Australia, England and Scotland, Canada
and cyprus. Recently works on countries as
remote as Manitoba, New Zealand, Georgia,
Eastern Africa. Jamaica, the Bahamas, Siberia
and the Sandwich Islands have appeared,
some OF them novels, some histories.
1t must of course be conceded that these
countries (all OF them and a great many
more) have languag and litera ture in
common. It may be granted that there are
certain other characteristics shared among
them which are not held in common with the
world without. For example, English and
American travellers in savage Africa almos t
invariably leave so good an impression with
the natives that it becomes easier tor other
white men to pass through their territory,
while the explorers of other nations produce
a impression directly Irary. How shall
We include the two and exclude the others?"
"Anglo-Saxon" does hot in the least express
the racial condition of affairs either here or
elsewhere, and "English-spe aking," though
sometimes accurate enough, is always clumsy
and sometimes includes nations where no
connection can be traced, Liberia, for example
in the case at hanc.
English is to-day the language of the nations
in the British Isles, in Gibraltar, st. Helena,
Cyprus Malta and other European islands I;
in vast tracts OF Africa, including Zanzibar
4, Ia 60 Ca,
Elements, Ceylon, Borneo, Hongkong, Alden
and any number of places in Asia; IN Aus
tralia, Tasmania New Zealand, Hawaii and
host of Pacific islands and in Canada and the
United States. In all these lands. except those
first named, there is a population not wholly
variance with the English-s peaking rulers es-
tabllshed over them. What words of distinc-
ton have we in English for them or ourselves?
How set off the Canadian and the Ameri can
from the North American Indian, or the Eng
lishman and resident American from the
Hindoo? There is no way of doing 1t any
more than of making sim pie dis crimin alton
by word instead OF a sentence between the
French of Quebec and Louisiana and their
neghbors.
However long this state of affairs NAV have
been going on, it is only now that it is coming
to reflect itself in our literature. These late
stories are, of course, later than those of
Robert Louis Stevenson, but not so much lat
as q matter of logic, for he was really the first
to feel this world universally of the English
peoples. He deals with them in England.
America, the South Seas and all manner of
places. How are you going to describe the
quality it will surely give?
One thing is reasonably assured: We who
speak English generally obtain word when
we find that thought is to be expedited in lis
adoption. Just as soon as the feeling indi-
Gated by these books of which mention has
been made becomes widespread, some one-it
may be an arab OF the streets-will give us a
plain. practical and simple name for orr
selves and our brethren throughout the world