Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1898-11-15
Tho Enslish Language Of tn. F.tur.

A fascinating theme for the specula
ton Of students IL found In the future
evolution Of the English language.
Fixity 10 death, growth is Nfe-that is
the law Of all organism in affairs Of the
mind and spirit as well a. Of the body.
The evolution Of modern English from
the age and practice Of Chauoer to the
time Of Shakespeare aud his Elizabethan
galaxy, and thence down to the period
of Tennyson and Browning, Longfellow
and Lowell can be studied as infinitely az
the victim Of the vivisectionist g knife
The changes in the language In its &C.
erection of words, even in some usages
Of construction, within a generation are
quite noticeable. It is u sign Of the
magnificent vitality Of our great tongue.
alike in its written and spoken phases.
that it responds so quickly to each in.
tellectual and social need. Perhaps its
very lack Of a great aud finally author.
itative dictionary like that Of Littre in
French, made under the sanction of the
academy, which is so tyrannical In it,
claims, is not without advantage.
Professor Brander Matthews CT Co.
lumbia college, who has written with
spirit and 'ivacity on kindred topics,
has something to say on the future Of
English in the current issue Of Nun.
sey's Magazine. This critic is aggres.
sively, even ferociously; American in
his claims for this country as being the
fated arbiter Of the coming language
He says:
The English Of the future will be the Eng
lish that we shall use hero in tho United
States, and it IL for US to hand it down to our
children fitted for the service 1t il to render.
This task IL ours. not to be undertaken
boastfully or vaingloriously or in any spirit Of
provincial self assertion on the ono hand or Of
colonial self depreciation on the other, but
with q full sense of the burden imposed upon
US and Of the privilege that accompanies it. 1t
is our duty to do what we can to keep our
English speech fresh and vigorous, to help 1t
draw new life and power from every proper
source, to resist all the attempts Of pedants to
cramp it and restrain its healthy growth and
to urge alorg the simplifcation Of its grammar
and Its photography. SO that 1t shall be ready
against the day when it Is really world Ian
guage
No doubt this responsibility rests in
considerable degree where Professor
Matthews puts it. But does he conoede
no share in it to our English cousins, to
the influences which stir at the very
fountain head Of English speech? This
is little selfish in the pundit Of Co.
lumbia. America has certainly greatly
affected England in its habits, usages
and modes Of speech, and England has
returned the pleasant compliment Wig
orously. If the one country has been
Ame=ie /ized, the other has been Angli-
o:zed In many familiar usages Of life
and speech. That this country adds
fresh verbal wealth to English more
rapidly than does the more conservative
people is true. But the process is really
reciprocal. It is sure to become more
and more SO in the future, for more in
innate acquaintance and the sense of q
common heritage are making constant
strides. Englishmen are more particular
in using and pronouncing words than
we in America, if we are more prolific
and creative. Both functions are need
ed by healthy growth. Let the spirit Of
cooperation extend to literature and
language as we'll as to public affairs.
The proper way to phrase Professor
Matthew'S prophecy is not that the new
English will grow out of its American
notifications, but that it will or. y
simultaneously by them and by British
changes and by Australian variations
The United States will only play its
big part, though that will be great one
indeed.