The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-08-04

dation stones OF that culture to-
ward which we are all striving has
been too little emphasized by pedagogues
and too little observed by the students
themselves That Foundation stone" is
an adequate vocabulary such as Gull
tured person should possess a vocabu-
larry that will both clothe and adorn his
thoughts.
~Our ordinary range of words is alb
eurdly narrow" complains George Her
bert Palmer of Harvard University.
1T Is important, therefore, for any
body who would cultivate himself In
English to make strenuous and system
attic efforts to enlarge his vocabulary.
Our dictionaries contain more than 1o0.-
900 words. The average speaker en-
ploys about 5000. Is this because ordi-
nary people have only three or four
Thousand things to say? Not at all. 1t
is simply due 10 dulness,
'J,isten to the average SOCIOLOGY.
continues Prof Palmer. HE has
dozen or two nouns half dozen verbs,
three or four adjectives and enough con-
functions and propositions to stick the
conglomerate together. This ordinary
speech deserves the description which
Hobbies gave to his state OF Nature,
that 1T is solitary, poor, nasty, british
and short"
He asks why do we hesitate to swell
our words to meet our needs? 1t is n
nonsense question. There is no reason
We are simply lazy. too lazy TO make
ourselves comfortable. We let our vo-
cabuirries be limited and get along with
out the refinements Of human inter-
course. We get along without refine
ments in our own thoughts. for thoughts
are almost "a dependent ON words as
words on thoughts.
1t was the erudite Prof. George p.
Marsh who pointed out that "in Shake
speare the whole number of words is not
more than etteen thousand; in the
poems Of Milton not above eight thou
sand. The whole number OF Egyptian
hieroglyphc symbols does not exceed
eight hundred and the entire Italian
operatic vocabulary is said to be
scarcely more extensive
Prof Adam Sherman Hill declared In
his famous rhetoric that the Vocaou-
larry of business has not been estimated.
but It is certainly very small. So Is
that of ordinary conversation"
Benjamin Franklin. greatest of all
bromidists. found that he needed "a
stock or words" and made the greatest
efforts to secure a large and manage
able vocabulary. Robert Browning was
another writer who dug deep for words.
AS we know only too well. he succeeded
far beyond his own or anybody else's
expectations. Ho started at page one vt
the dictionary and dug and dug until he
came out at tho other cover. There
are countless other writer's who took the
acquisition OF n vocabulary seriously.
Poverty of language" 1--WE can hear
Prof. Hill speaking in his weak voice
and undignified manner) "is the source
OF muol, slang. a favorite word or phrase
AS nice, nasty, beastly, jolly. gorgeous
stunning. perfectly lovely and the Ike
being employed for so many purposes
as to serve no purpose wei"
We thank Prof. Hill for that word
poverty" Now none of US likes the
connotation. the sound of that seven
lettered word. When we stop to reflect
Gas most OF us too seldom do We realize
that poverty OF language is as mucn
to be avoided as any other kind OF
dearth and want.
"Content yourself to be an organ OF
your highest thought" wrote Emerson
in his lecture on education. land 10
suddenly you put all men in your debt
and are the fountain OF an energy that
goes pulsing on with waves of benefit
10 the borders OF society. to the cir
conference Of things" A stimulating
thought but how can you be IAN organ
Of your highest thought II you have
not the proper tools, the night words
to work with"
Coleridge said that prose- was words
in their best order" and that poetry
was tho best words in their best order.
Yes, but one must find the words first
Discover the tools, sharpen them anc
uss them with discrimination. whether
YOU desire professionally to be a writer
an orator or culturally to be clever
oonversationalist and a sparkling Letter
writer.
Great thoughts como from tn
heart" Is q Vauvenargues truism. bu
they come very ltmpingly II their equi
page !s a broken down one horse shay
But II instead OF being innpeded by {
primitive vehicle words flow forth lik'
limousine on macadanized high
way then will they make the impress
sion that their greatness deserves.
Every seeker after ways and meant
of enlarging his vocabulary has beei
advised by one or more well wisher'
TO 60 TO tho fountain itself and quaf
deeply That u.s. he Is advised to reat
an unabridged dictionary.
An illustrious example stands befor'
him In the person of Robert Browning
who prepared himself TO be IA poet b,
"reading and digesting the whole Of John
cons Dictionary" II is a pretty question
whether or not Samuel johnson was II
any way responsible for Browning
unique and, one might almost say, hi
garre command of language. And on
wonders II subsistence on the STANDARD
or the Century Dictionary would hav
evolved a different and more Translucent
Browning. We wot not. We just won
der At any rate the digesting of III
more modern dictionary would have ne