The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-06-08
OUR COMMON LANGUAGE
CORRECTNESS is CONFORMITY To
THE INTELLIGENT USAGE.
Give Way to the Preference OF
the Many.


people have made-and are still making
our language. and the process is the work
largely Of intelligence; but the large num-
Der of conflicting analogies on which our
linguistic practice is based cannot be re-
duced to few simple and definite laws,
nor can the action of the whole body of
intelligent people be predicted with GER
tainty in any particular instance. 1t is
safer to trust ourselves. for a standard of
correctness, not to theory but TO tactic
the customs of the language.
Correctness, from this point Of view is
conformity to the usage of the great body
of intelligent people who use our language.
Education is scarcely a sufficient test Of
membership in this body; one may go to
school and TO college and still speak ig-
norantly; one may conceivably never have
had instruction in such matters and still
speak faultlessly. 1t is better to make in
telligence the test, and to say that in Ian
guage, as in usages of all kinds. it is the
mass of intelligent people who are the ar
biters. We must exclude the grossly ig
norant, who blunder in their speech; the
foolish and empty-headed chatterers of
both sexes, who speak merely with the lips
and not with the mind; the wicked or de-
generate, such as tramps or thieves, who
have their own jargon; and reluctantly
even the intelligent folk who are geo.
graphically so isolated that they have
fallen into the use of specially local forms,
or who are still employing strange sur
vivals, elsewhere forgotten, from the
speech of their ancestors.
REAL MAKERS OF OUR LANGUAGE.
There remains a large-and increasingly
large-fraction of the people; men and
women who know what they are about,
who vote intelligently, manage their house
holds and their affairs intelligently, and
who speak intelligently. They use words in
two ways; for purposes OF ordinary con-
versation, informally; and. with a greater
degree of formality, for purposes Of writ
ten communication. Words and express
sions which such people use in the more
formal way may also. as a rule. be appro-
priately used in conversation, but the re-
verse is less generally true.
1t is the language of this body-a body at
once broad and select-that we may most
justly CALL in my opinion. our standard of
correctness. In the effort to make our own
usage conform, as far as reasonable, with
that of this body, we may profit by no
First-Each person Will naturally (and
should naturally give play to his own in
diViduality. 1t Is for the good of the lam
guage that he should not conform unintel-
lgently TO conventional usage in all ques-
tons of doubt, just al II is for the good OF
the commonwealth that he should not cast
his vote unintelligently.
Second-Each persons special usages will
naturally be modified by those of the peo-
pie he knows He is wise if he let's them be
modified freely Crowded that his attitude
is not servile), and especially If they be
modified in accordance with the practice of
people who are plainly distinguished in
character or attachments, or who have
seen much of the world. Thus, in associa-
ton with even few, he may profit by the
experience of many, and may change his
individual usages where they needlessly
conflict with those of the multitude of his
peers.
Third-Though we hear much about Ger
rors commonly made even by intelligent
people," it is well TO be somewhat skeptical
about such extreme statements. If we are
accustomed to hear an expression regular
ly or frequently in the mouths of men and
women whose intelligence we respect that
expression cannot properly be called incor-
rect, unless these men and women belong
to such a special set or locality that there
is reason for believing that they form only
a minute fraction of the whole body of in
telligent citizens.
Fourth-Though there are only a few
points in which intelligent people may
chance to speak incorrectly, there are
many points OI UOuDle OF OlVlQeO usage as
to which practice differs These cases
those usually taken up in popular manu-
ais, one form being styled correct and the
other incorrect With regard to such cases
we can only use our own thoughtfui judg-
ment as 10 which expression is the more in
conformity with our own habits of speech
with the practice of the larger part of
the intelligent public.
Fifth-We use a dictionary to obtain
some estimate as to prevailing usage. A
usage given in a reputable dictionary of re-
Ia+ tc al, oh Al, ~
based on the practice of a considerable
body of intelligent people and may, there
fore, be regarded as correct" When two
or more forms pronunciations are re-
corded, all are correct, Irrespective OF the
order in which they are given The order
merely indicates the opinion of some men,
tive frequency of use. We listen with re-
spectful interest to such an opinion, but do
not necessarily regard it az final When
form or pronunciation Is not recorded in
the dictionary. II by no means follows that
it is incorrect; dictionary makers are not
omniscient, and it is not rare for them to
commit errors Of omission.
Sixth-We must remember that every
one has his individual prejudices. / have,
for example, an intense dislike TO the use
of voice Gas verb, and of outing; but L
observe with consterna ton that many in
telligent people use them, and l cannot
with reason uphold the opinion Gas |
should otherwise gladly dol that they
incorrect There are also local prejudices
often so strong that IL is unwise to
discuss questions of double usage. There
are few things about which people get an
CRY so easily, about which dogmetic
opinions are irrational, or about which
discussion leads TO so little good.
BOOKS THAT SHOULD BE STUDIED.
So much for the common question as to
accuracy. 1t is the less important but the
harder to explain. The other question,
What shall one learn in order to write
well? we can treat very briefly. Let us sup
pose that the inquirer is. as is usually the
case. a man or woman of some maturity
twenty-five years old, perhaps-who has
some leisure. and is either troubled be-
cause he cannot express his ideas with fe-
licity or is impelled by curiosity to know
wherein the secret of good writing lies.
There are, l should say, five steps he
should take Each might occupy him at
most during single year
First a proper basis for all his work
he needs TO get clear idea OF the English
language a system for the expression of
thought-its laws of infection, syhtax and
word order, its chief lines of analogy, and
the main principles which ii seems to fol-
low in its slow but sure changes An in
structor would be help. if he were surely
competent, but man or woman with an
orderly mind and industry could master the
subject for himself beginning with Whit
ney's English Grammar, or, If / may be
excused the liberty, with mine, continuing
with the various more advanced studies to
which he will be referred in any good
treatise, and concluding with Brander
Matthews's Parts of Speech and Greenough