The times., 1901-03-30

more and more evident that ancient
languages and dialects are bound to
lapse into oblivion, unless preserved in
some artificial way. The question is
whether it is worth while to try to pre-
serve them
The English language has practically
absorbed many ancient tongues and va
rieties of patois. 1t has superseded, in
every part Of Great Britain. the dialects
and languages once spoken by the in
habitants almost exclusively. The Gae-
lie, the Welsh. and the Irish languages
were once commonly spoken in the
Highlands in Wales, and in Ireland, by
mobiles and by peasants alike. Nova
days there are many natives Of these
countries who do not understand the
speech of their ancestors, and most OF
the people speak English, whether they
know the ancient language of their hab-
itat or not Cornwall, Devon. Lanca-
shire. and Yorkshire had each dialect
amounting almost to a separate Ian
guage, in fact. it used to be said that
Cornish was so much like Low Dutch
that sailors from Holland. shipwrecked
on the coast of Cornwall, made them
selves understood without difficulty,
speaking their native tongue. All these
languages and dialects have SO nearly
passed away that the well-educated ma
tive Of Great Britain prides himself on
having not even an accent.
The same thing has. of course, hap
pened on a much larger scale in this
country. Practically all Americans
speak that variety Of the English Ian
guage which some of them are fond Of
calling United States" The German,
the Irishman, the Frenchman, the Span
lard, the Russian. the Pole. the Hun
garian, all drop their native speech as
soon as possible and acquire the lam
guage of their new neighbors. They
are forced thereto by commercial neces-
sity. There is no way that they can
make a living conveniently if they do
not know English. When there is
large settlement Of foreigners, all work.
ing people. they can get along without
English, but the moment a man aspires
to be well-to-do and more than ordi-
narily intelligent, ne has to know the
common speech Of America.
There is no question that English is
most convenient and useful Ian
euage for everyday life. The object of
preserving Gaelic, Irish. and Welsh is
purely esthetic. There are quaint, poet
ic. beautiful. or historic words and
phrases in these and other like Ian
guages, which express certain things
more picturesquely than one can eX-
press them in English-to those who
understand. 1t is with these as with
the Scotch dialect. To those who thor
oughly understand and enjoy the speech
of Burns and Scott. Scotch words and
phrases are in some ways superior TO
Such words as bonnie son
sic. 'eldritch," express somehow or
other a meaning which the correspond
ing English word does not.
The matter is. at all events, too large
a one to be handled arbitrarily, or to be
much affected by artificial devices The
chances are that it will be settled in the
future much as it has been in the past.
The English language has gathered
from every source words whose useful |
ness or beauty commended them TO
writers or speakers When a word has
proved indispensable, it has not been
given up: when it was made familiar to |
the people through some fashion it has
in the language. Through |
medieval learning, Latin words were in |
into all the European Ian
by the thousand Latin was
the mother tongue Of the educated man. |
He learned his English, French, or Ger /
nan from his mother or foster mother; |
his Latin when the university, which |
ne called his alma mater, gave birth to |
his intellectual life. 1t was, therefore, !
natural that he should in his speech and /
writing weld the two together
On the other hand. there are quaint |
Dld-fashiOned idioms which are floating /
about in this country today which have |
come down TO US from the English, |
Scotch. or Irish peasant OF the eleventh |
century; there are foreign born words |
which are our heritage from sea rowing |
ancestors who brought back fragments !
Df Spanish, Hindoo, or Cape Dutch as
hey brought back loot from seaports !
Language is developed after the usual
methods Of evolution.