<HTML>A PROPOSAL FOR CORRECTING, IMPROVING AND ASCERTAINING THE ENGLISH
LANGUAGE
Jonathan Swift
(1712)
To the Most Honourable Robert Earl of Oxford
My Lord,
What I had the Honour of mentioning to your Lordship some Time ago in Conversation, was not a new Thought, just then started
by Accident or Occasion, but the Result of long Reflection; and I have been confirmed in my Sentiments by the Opinion of some
very judicious Persons, with whom I consulted. They all agreed, That nothing would be of greater Use towards the Improvement of
Know- ledge and Politeness, than some effectual Method for Correcting, Enlarging, and Ascertaining, our Language; and they
think it a Work very possible to be compassed, under the Protection of a Prince, the Countenance and Encouragement of a
Ministry, and the Care of proper Persons, chosen for such an Undertaking. I was glad to find your Lordship's Answer in so different
a Style, from what hath commonly been made use of on such like occasions, for some years past; That all such Thoughts must be
deferred to a Time of Peace: A Topick which some have carried so far, that they would not have us by any Means think of
preserving our Civil or Religious Constitution, because we are engaged in a War abroad. It will be among the distinguishing Marks
of your Ministry, My Lord, that you had a Genius above all such Regards; and that no reasonable Proposal for the Honour, the
Advantage, or the Ornament of your Country, however foreign to your immediate Office, was ever neglected by you. I confess, the
Merit of this Candour and Condescension is very much lessened; because your Lordship hardly leaves us Room to offer our good
wishes; removing all our Difficulties, and supplying our Wants, faster than the most visionary Projector can adjust his Schemes.
And therefore, my Lord, the Design of this Paper is not so much to offer you Ways and Means, as to complain of a Grievance, the
Redressing of which is to be your own Work, as much as that of paying the Nation's Debts, or, opening a Trade into the
South-Sea; and although not of such immediate Benefit, as either of these, or any other of your glorious Actions, yet perhaps in
future Ages not less to your Honour.
My Lord, I do here, in the Name of all the learned and polite Persons of the Nation, complain to your Lordship as First Minister,
that our Language is extremely imperfect; that its daily Improvements are by no Means in proportion to its daily Corruptions; that
the Pretenders to polish and refine it, have chiefly multiplied Abuses and Absurdities; and, that in many Instances, it offends
against every Part of Grammar. But lest your Lordship should think my Censure too severe, I shall take leave to be more particular.
I believe your Lordship will agree with me in the Reason, why our Language is less refined than those of Italy, Spain, or France. It is
plain, that the Latin Tongue in its Purity was never in this Island; towards the Conquest of which, few or no Attempts were made till
the Time of Claudius. Neither was that Language ever so vulgar in Britain, as it is known to have been in Gaul and Spain. Further,
we find that the Roman Legions here, were at length all recalled to help their Country against the Goths, and other barbarous
Invaders. Mean time, the Britons left to shift for themselves, and daily harassed by cruel Inroads from the Picts, were forced to call
in the Saxons for their Defence; who consequently reduced the greatest Part of the Island to their own Power, drove the Britons
into the most remote and mountainous Parts; and the Rest of the Country in Customs, Religion, and Language, became wholly
Saxon. This I take to be the Reason why there are more Latin Words remaining in the British Tongue than in the old Saxon; which,
excepting some few variations in the Orthography, is the same in most original Words with our present English, as well as with the
German and other Northern Dialects.
Edward the Confessor having lived long in France, appears to be the first, who introduced any Mixture of the French Tongue with
the Saxon; the Court affecting what the Prince was fond of, and others taking it up for a Fashion, as it is now with us. William the
Conqueror proceeded much further; bringing over with him vast Numbers of that Nation, scattering them in every Monastery,
giving them great Quantities of Land, directing all Pleadings to be in that Language, and endeavouring to make it universal in the
Kingdom. This, at least, is the Opinion generally received: But your Lordship hath fully convinced me, that the French Tongue made
a greater Progress here under Harry the Second, who had large territories on that Continent, both from his Father and his Wife;
made frequent Journeys and Expeditions thither, and was always attended with a Number of his Countrymen, Retainers at his
Court. For some Centuries after, there was a Constant Intercourse between France and England, by the Dominions we possessed
there, and the Conquests we made: So that our Language, between two and three hundred Years ago, seems to have had a
greater Mixture with the French than at present; many Words having been afterwards rejected, and some since the Time of
Spencer; although we have still retained not a few, which have long been antiquated in France. I could produce several Instances
of both Kinds, if it were of any Use or Entertainment.
To examine into the several Circumstances by which the Language of a Country may be altered, would force me to enter into a
wide Field. I shall only observe, that the Latin, the French, and the English, seem to have undergone the same Fortune. The first,
from the days of Romulus to those of Julius Caesar, suffered perpetual changes; and by what we meet in those Authors who
occasionally speak on that Subject, as well as from certain Fragments of old Laws; it is manifest that the Latin, three hundred years
before Tully, was as unintelligible in his Time, as the English and French of the same period are now. And these two have changed
as much since William the Conqueror, (which is but little less than seven Hundred Years) as the Latin appears to have done in
the like Term. Whether our Language, or the French, will decline as fast as the Roman did, is a Question that would perhaps admit
more Debate than it is worth. There were many Reasons for Corruption of the last: As the Change of their Government into a
Tyranny, which ruined the Study of Eloquence; there being no further Use or Encouragement for popular Orators: Their giving not
only the Freedom of the City, but Capacity for Employments, to several Towns in Gaul, Spain, and Germany, and other distant
Parts, as far as Asia; which brought a great number of Foreign Pretenders into Rome: The slavish Disposition of the Senate and
People; by which the Wit and Eloquence of the Age were wholly turned into Panegyrick, the most barren of all Subjects; The great
Corruption of Manners, and Introduction of foreign Luxury, with foreign Terms to express it: With several others that might be
assigned: Not to mention those Invasions from the Goths and Vandals, which are too obvious to insist on.
The Roman Language arrived at great Perfection before it began to decay: The French, for these last fifty years, hath been
polishing as much as it will bear; and appears to be declining by the natural Inconstancy of that People, as well as the Affectation
of some late authors, to introduce and multiply Cant Words, which is the most ruinous Corruption in any Language. La Bruyere, a
late celebrated Writer among them, makes use of many new Terms which are not to be found in any of the common Dictionaries
before his Time. But the English Tongue is not arrived to such a Degree of Perfection, as, upon that Account, to make us
Apprehend any Thoughts of its Decay: And if it were once refined to a certain Standard, perhaps there might be Ways to fix it for
ever, or at least till we are invaded, and made a Conquest by some other State: And even then, our best Writings might probably
be preserved with Care, and grow into Esteem, and the Authors have a chance for Immortality.
But without such great Revolutions as these, (to which we are, I think, less subject than Kingdoms on the Continent,) I see no
absolute Necessity why any Language should be perpetually changing; for we find many Examples to the contrary. From Homer to
Plutarch, are above a thousand years; so long, at least, the Purity of the Greek Tongue may be allowed to last; and we know not
how far before. The Grecians spread all their Colonies round all the Coasts of Asia Minor, even to the Northern Parts, lying
towards the Euxine; in every Island of the Aegean Sea, and several in the Mediterranean; where the Language was preserved
entire for many Ages, after they themselves became Colonies to Rome, and till they were overrun by the barbarous Nations, upon
the Fall of that Empire. The Chinese have books in their Language above two Thousand Years old; neither have the frequent
Conquests of the Tartars been able to enter it. The German, Spanish, and Italian, have admitted few or no changes for some Ages
past. The other Languages of Europe I know nothing of; neither is there any Occasion to consider them.
Having taken this Compass, I return to those Considerations upon our own Language, which I would humbly of her to your
Lordship. The Period wherein the English Tongue received most Improvement, I take to commence with the Beginning of Queen
Elizabeth's Reign, and to conclude with the great Rebellion in Forty-Two. It is true, there was a very ill taste both of Style and Wit,
which prevailed under King James the First; but that seems to have been corrected in the first Years of his Successor; who,
among many other Qualifications of an ! excellent Prince, was a great Patron of Learning. From that great Rebellion to this present
Time, I am apt to doubt whether the Corruptions in our Language have not, at least, equalled the Refinements of it; and these
Corruptions very few of the best Authors in our Age have wholly escaped. During the Usurpation, such an Infusion of
Enthusiastick Jargon prevailed in every Writing, as was not shaken off in many Years after. To this succeeded that Licentiousness
which entered with the Restoration; and from infecting our Religion and Morals, fell to corrupt our Language: Which last, was not
like to be much improved by those, who, at that Time, made up the Court of King Charles the Second; either such who had followed
him in his Banishment, or who had been altogether conversant in the Dialect of those Fanatick Times; or young Men, who had
been educated in the same Company; so that the Court, which used to be the Standard of Propriety, and Correctness of Speech,
was then, and I think hath ever since continued the worst School in England, for that Accomplishment; and will so remain, till better
Care be taken in the Education of our young Nobility; that they may set out into the World with some Foundation of Literature, in
order to qualify them for Patterns of Politeness. The Consequence of this Defect upon our Language may appear from the Plays,
and other Compositions, written for Entertainment, within fifty Years past; filled with a Succession of affected Phrases, and new
conceited Words, either borrowed from the current Style of the Court, or from those, who, under the Character of Men of Wit and
Pleasure, pretended to give the Law. Many of these Refinements have already been long antiquated, and are now hardly intelligible;
which is no Wonder, when they were the Product only of Ignorance and Caprice.
I have never known this great Town without one or more Dunces of Figure, who had Credit enough to give Rise to some new Word,
and propagate it in most Conversations; although it had neither Humour nor Significancy. If it struck the present Taste, it was soon
transferred into the Plays, and current Scribbles of the Week, and became an ; a Addition to our Language; while the Men of Wit
and Learning, instead of early obviating such Corruptions, were too often seduced to imitate and comply with them.
There is another set of Men, who have contributed very much to the spoiling of the English Tongue; I mean the Poets from the
Time of the Restoration. These Gentlemen, although they could not be sensible how much our Language was already overstocked
with Monosyllables, yet to save Time and Pains, introduced that barbarous Custom of abbreviating Words, to fit them to the
Measure of their Verses; and this they have frequently done, so very injudiciously, as to form such harsh unharmonious Sounds,
that none but a Northern Ear could endure. They have joined the most obdurate Consonants, without one intervening Vowel, only
to shorten a Syllable: And their Taste in time became so depraved, that what was at first a poetical Licence, not to be justified, they
made their choice; alledging, that the Words pronounced at length, sounded faint and languid. This was a Pretence to take up the
same Custom in Prose; so that most of the Books we see now-a-days, are full of those Manglings and Abbreviations. Instances
of this Abuse are innumerable: What does your Lordship think of the Words, Drudg'd, Disturb'd, Rebuk'd, Fledg'd, and a
Thousand others, every where to be met in Prose, as well as Verse? Where, by leaving out a Vowel to save a Syllable, we form so
jarring a Sound, and so difficult to utter, that I have often wondered, how it could ever obtain.
Another Cause (and perhaps borrowed from the former) which hath contributed not a little to the maiming of our Language, is a
foolish Opinion, advanced of late Years, that we ought to spell exactly as we speak; which beside the obvious Inconvenience of
utterly destroying our Etymology, would be a Thing we should never see an End o£ Not only the several Towns and Counties of
England, have a different Way of pronouncing; but even here in London, they clip their Words after one Manner about the Court,
another in the city, and a third in the Suburbs; and in a few Years, it is probable will all differ from themselves, as Fancy or Fashion
shall direct: All which reduced to Writing, would entirely confound Orthography. [It would be just as wise to shape our Bodies to our
Cloathes and not our Cloaths to our bodyes.] Yet many People are so fond of this Conceit, that it is sometimes a difficult Matter to
read modern Books and Pamphlets; where the Words are so curtailed, and varied from their original Spelling, that whoever hath
been used to plain English, will hardly know them by Sight.
Several young Men at the Universities, terribly possessed with the Fear of Pedantry, run into a worse Extream; and think all
Politeness in reading the daily Trash sent down to them from hence: This they call knowing the World, and reading Men and
Manners. Thus furnished, they come up to Town; reckon all their Errors for Accomplishments, borrow the newest Set of Phrases;
and if they take a Pen into their Hands, all the odd Words they have picked up in a Coffee House, or a Gaming Ordinary, are
produced as Flowers of Style, and the Orthography refined to the utmost. To this we owe those monstrous Productions which
under the Names of Trips, Spies, Amusements, and other conceited Appellations, have over-run us for some Years past. To this
we owe that strange Race of Wits, who tell us they write to the Humour of the Age. And I wish I could say, these quaint Fopperies
were wholly absent from graver Subjects. In short, I would undertake to shew your Lordship several Pieces, where the Beauties of
this Kind are so predominant, that with all your Skill in Languages, you could never be able either to read or understand them.
But I am very much mistaken, if many of these false Refinements among us, do riot arise from a Principle which would quite destroy
their Credit, if it were well understood and considered. For I am afraid, my Lord, that with all the real good Qualities of our Country,
we are naturally not very polite. This perpetual Disposition to shorten our Words, by retrenching the Vowels, is nothing else but a
Tendency to lapse into the barbarity of those Northern Nations from whom we are descended, and whose Languages labour all
under the same Defect. For it is worthy our Observation, that the Spaniards, the French, and the Italians, although derived from the
same Northern Ancestors with ourselves, are, with the utmost Difficulty taught to pronounce our Words; which the Swedes and the
Danes, as well as the Germans and the Dutch, attain to with Ease, because our Syllables resemble theirs, in the Roughness and
Frequency of Consonants. Now, as we struggle with an ill Climate to improve the Nobler Kinds of Fruits; are at the Expence of
Walls to receive and reverberate the faint Rays of the Sun, and fence against the Northern Blasts; we sometimes by the Help of a
good Soil equal the Productions of warmer Countries, who have no need to be at so much Cost or Care: It is the same Thing with
respect to the politer Arts among us; and the same Defect of Heat which gives a Fierceness to our Natures, may contribute to that
Roughness of our Language, which bears some Analogy to the harsh Fruit of colder Countries. For I do not reckon, that we want a
Genius more than the rest of our Neighbours: But your Lordship will be of my Opinion, that we ought to struggle with these natural
Disadvantages as much as we can; and be careful whom we employ, whenever we design to correct them; which is a Work that
hath hitherto been assumed by the least qualified Hands: So that if the Choice had been left to me, I would rather have trusted the
Refinement of our Language, as far as it relates to Sound, to the Judgment of the Women, than of illiterate Court-Fops, half-witted
Poets, and University Boys. For, it is plain, that Women in their Manner of corrupting Words, do naturally discard the Consonants,
as we do the Vowels. What I am going to tell your Lordship, appears very trifling; that more than once, where some of both Sexes
were in Company, I have persuaded two or three of each to take a Pen, and write down a Number of Letters joined together, just as
it came into their Heads; and upon reading this Gibberish we have found that which the men had writ, by the frequent encountering
of rough Consonants, to sound like High-Dutch; and the other by the women, like Italian, abounding in Vowels and Liquids. Now,
although I would by no Means give Ladies the Trouble of advising us in the Reformation of our Language; yet I cannot help
Thinking, that since they have been left out of all Meetings, except Parties at Play, or where worse Designs are carried on, our
Conversation hath very much degenerated.
In order to reform our Language; I conceive, my Lord, that a free judicious Choice should be made of such Persons, as are
generally allowed to be best qualified for such a Work, without any regard to Quality, Party, or Profession. These to a certain
Number, at least, should assemble at some appointed Time and Place, and fix on Rules by which they design to proceed. What
methods they will take, is not for me to prescribe. Your Lordship and other Persons in great Employment, might please to be of the
Number: And I am afraid, such a Society would want your Instruction and Example, as much as your Protection: For I have, not
without a little Envy, observed of late the Style of some great Ministers very much to exceed that of any other Productions.
The Persons who are to undertake this Work, will have the Example of the French before them, to imitate where these have
proceeded right, and to avoid their mistakes. Besides the Grammar-Part, wherein we are allowed to be very defective, they will
observe many gross Improprieties, which however authorised by Practice, and grown familiar, ought to be discarded. They will find
many Words that deserve to be utterly thrown out of our Language; many more to be corrected, and perhaps not a few, long since
antiquated, which ought to be restored, on Account of their Energy and Sound.
But what I have most at heart, is that some Method should be thought on for Ascertaining and Fixing our Language for ever, after
such alterations are made in it as shall be thought requisite. For I am of Opinion, that it is better a Language should not be wholly
perfect, than that it should be perpetually changing; and we must give over at one Time or other, or at length infallibly change for
the worse: As the Romans did, when they began to quit their simplicity of Style for affected Refinements; such as we meet in Tacitus
and other Authors, which ended in Degrees in many Barbarities, even before the Goths had invaded Italy.
The Fame of our Writers is usually confined to these two Islands; and it is hard it should be limited in Time as much as Place, by
the perpetual Variations of our Speech. It is your Lordship's Observation that if it were not for the Bible and Common Prayer-Book
in the Vulgar Tongue, we should hardly be able to understand anything that was written among us an Hundred Years ago; which is
certainly true: For those Books being perpetually read in Churches, have proved a Kind of Standard for Language, especially to
the common People. And I doubt whether the Alterations since introduced, have added much to the Beauty or Strength of the
English Tongue, although they have taken off a great deal from that Simplicity, which is one of the greatest perfections in any
Language. You, my Lord, who are so conversant in the sacred Writings, and so great a Judge of them in their Originals, will agree,
that no Translation our Country ever yet produced, hath come up to that of the Old and New Testament: And by the many beautiful
Passages which I have often had the Honour to hear your Lordship cite from thence, I am persuaded that the Translators of the
Bible were Masters of an English Stile much fitter for that Work, than any we see in our present Writings; which I take to be owing
to the Simplicity which runs through the Whole. Then, as to the greatest Part of our Liturgy, compiled long before the Translation of
the Bible now in use, and little altered since; there seem to be in it as great Strains of true sublime Eloquence, as are any where to
be found in our Language; which every Man of good Taste will observe in the Communion-Service, that of Burial, and other Parts.
But where I say that I would have our Language, after it is duly correct, always to last; I do not mean that it should never be
enlarged; Provided, that no Word, which a Society shall give a Sanction to, be afterwards antiquated and exploded, they may have
Liberty to receive whatever new ones they shall find Occasion for: Because then the old Books will yet be always valuable
according to their intrinsick Worth, and not thrown aside on Account of unintelligible Words and Phrases, which appear harsh and
uncouth, only because they are out of Fashion. Had the Roman Tongue continued vulgar in that City till this Time, it would have
been absolutely necessary, from the mighty Changes that have been made in Law and Religion; from the many Terms of Art
required in Trade and War; from the new Inventions that have happened in the World; from the vast spreading of Navigation and
Commerce; with many other obvious Circumstances, to have made great Additions to that Language; yet the Antients would still
have been read, and understood with Pleasure and Ease. The Greek Tongue received many Enlargements between the time of
Homer, and that of Plutarch; yet the former Author was probably as well understood in Trajan's Time, as the latter. What Horace
says of Words going off, and perishing like Leaves, and new ones coming in their Place, is a misfortune he laments, rather than a
Thing he approves: But I cannot see why this should be absolutely necessary, or ifit were, what would have become of his
Monumentum aere perennis.
Writing by Memory only, as I do at the present, I would gladly keep within my Depth; and therefore shall not enter into further
Particulars. Neither do I pretend more than to shew the Usefulness of this Design, and to make some general Observations;
leaving the rest to that Society, which I hope will owe its Institution and Patronage to your Lordship. Besides, I would willingly avoid
Repetition; having about a Year ago communicated to the Publick, much of what I had to offer on this Subject, by the Hands of an
ingenious Gentleman, who for a long time did thrice a Week divert or instruct the Kingdom by his Papers, and is supposed to
pursue the same Design at present, under the Title of Spectator. [In a Conversation some Time ago with a person to whom these
Productions are ascribed, I happened to mention the Proposal I have here made to your Lordship; and in a few dayes thereafter I
observed that the Author had taken the Hint and treated the same matter in one of his Papers, and with much Judgement, except
where he is pleased to put so great a Compliment on me, as I can never pretend to Deserve.] This Author, who hath tried the
Force and Compass of our Language with so much Success, agrees entirely with me in most of my Sentiments relating to it: So do
the greatest part of the Men of Wit and Learning, whom I have had the Happiness to converse with: And therefore I imagine, that
such a Society would be pretty unanimous in the main points.
Your Lordship must allow, that such a work as this, brought to perfection, would very much contribute to the Glory of Her Majesty's
Reign; which ought to be recorded in Words more durable than Brass, and such as our Posterity may read a thousand Years
hence, with Pleasure as well as Admiration. I have always disapproved that false Compliment to Princes: That the most lasting
Monument they can have, is the Hearts of their Subjects. It is indeed their greatest present Felicity to reign in their Subjects
Hearts; but these are too perishable to preserve their Memories, which can only be done by the Pens of able and faithful
Historians. And I take it to be your Lordship's Duty, as prime Minister, to give Order for inspecting our Language, and rendering it
fit to record the History of so great and good a Princess. Besides, my Lord, as disinterested as you appear to the World, I am
convinced, that no Man is more in the Power of a prevailing favourite Passion than your self; I mean, that Desire of true and lasting
Honour, which you have born along with you through every Stage of your Life. To this you have often sacrificed your Interest, your
Ease, and your Health: For preserving and encreasing this, you have exposed your Person to secret Treachery, and open
Violence. There is not perhaps an Example in History of any Minister, who in so short a Time hath performed so many great
Things, and overcome so many great Difficulties. Now, although I am fully convinced, that you fear God, honour your Queen, and
love your Country, as much as any of your Fellow-Subjects; yet I must believe, that the Desire of Fame hath been no
inconsiderable Motive to quicken you in the Pursuit of those Actions which will best deserve it. But, at the same Time, I must be so
plain as to tell your Lordship, that if you will not take some Care to Settle our Language, and put it into a State of Continuance, I
cannot promise that your Memory shall be preserved above an Hundred Years, further than by imperfect Tradition.
As barbarous and ignorant as we were in former Centuries, there was more effectual Care taken by our Ancestors, to preserve the
Memory of Times and Persons, than we find in this Age of Learning and Politeness, as we are pleased to call it. The rude Latin of
the Monks is still very intelligible; whereas, had their Records been delivered down only in the vulgar Tongue, so barren and so
barbarous, so subject to continual succeeding Changes, they could not now be understood, unless by Antiquaries, who made it
their Study to expound them: And we must, at this Day, have been content with such poor Abstracts of our English Story, as
laborious Men of low Genius would think fit to give us: And even these, in the next Age, would be likewise swallowed up in
succeeding Collections. If things go on at this Rate; all I can promise your Lordship, is that about two Hundred Years hence, some
painful compiler, who will be at the Trouble of studying old Language, may inform the World, that in the Reign of Queen Anne,
Robert Earl of Oxford, a very wise and excellent Man, was made High-Treasurer, and saved his Country, which in those Days was
almost ruined by a foreign War, and a domestick Faction. Thus much he may be able to pick out, and willing to transfer into his new
History; but the rest of your Character, which I, or any other Writer, may now value our selves by drawing; and the particular
Account of the great Things done under your Ministry, for which you are already celebrated in most Parts of Europe, will probably
be dropt, on Account of the antiquated Style, and the Manner they are delivered in.
How then shall any Man, who hath a Genius for History, equal to the best of the Antients, be able to undertake such a Work with
Spirit and Chearfulness, when he considers, that he will be read with Pleasure but a very few Years, and in Age or two shall hardly
be understood without an Interpreter? This is like employing an excellent Statuary to work upon mouldring Stone. Those who apply
their Studies to preserve the Memory of others, will always have some Concern for their own. And I believe it is for this Reason,
that so few Writers among us, of any Distinction, have turned their Thoughts to such a discouraging Employment. For the best
English Historian must lie under this Mortification, that when his Style grows antiquated, he will be only considered as a tedious
Relater of Facts; and perhaps consulted in his Turn, among other neglected Authors, to furnish Materials for some future Collector.</HTML>