Having wordbooks and book-lore with only English words (and no outlandish words whatsoever) is not too hard to think of or understand. It would at first need some tweaking, but the undertaking is not so awful a thought; the speech-lore would not be wrecked by the faring. This is above all true for web-steads on the Tween-web (the World Wide Web, that is), where such worries are often overlooked (and foredrafting tongues only need fewfold words). Books could still be written, tales could still be told, and chats still led, but few would seem to forseek such a worthy goal. However, and best of all, it would slow down talksome kinds, if foisted upon them, perhaps unneedfully. We would have to forgo, or harshly wane, outlandish words from the word-stocks of health-smithing and life-lore. That said, there are enough English words to wield for such sakes that one’s word-hoard need not be bounded or narrowed.

The forshaping of new English would not be too hard since there are many word-roots to which sundry word-fastenings can be fayed. It will take some wone to get used to brooking word-fastenings along with word-roots, but this will be allayed by the tally of like-kind words forthcoming. By learning about wellsprings of words, one could swap and loanoverset outlandish words with words in English having matching meanings. This will need word-craft, but it is mightly for the middling one. This is not to gainstand the current word-stock of outlandish words in English (and all of its wonderfulness), but instead to acknowledge the worth of the words that are already inheld in English, and that they can be selfstanding of other word-stocks and are not beholden to them. As an end-say, a word-stock sheer of outlandish words could be reckoned as being a fangle, and maybe even a burden, but it may also in-lead some life into everyday speaking.

 

An Unriddling

Having read the above piece, you are most likely wondering what on Earth it is. What you read is an argument for linguistically pure English written in linguistically pure English (that is to say, Anglish). Linguistic purism is the practice of defining the purest form of a language on a variety of criteria; the most common criterion is the absence of linguistic borrowing (i.e. no loanwords). In Anglish this equates primarily to ignoring all words of Latin and Greek origin and instead using Germanic equivalents (either pre-existing or constructed based on older Germanic words from languages such as Old Norse and Old English). The idea of linguistic purism is not new, and the most well-known example of it is L’Académie Française. (http://anglish.wikia.com/). Beginning in the Renaissance and continuing into the eighteenth century, the English language experienced a huge influx of borrowed words, primarily from Latin. The efforts toward linguistic purism began almost immediately, with unnecessary borrowings being labeled as “inkhorn terms.” The 19th-century Englishman, William Barnes, is noted for his contributions integral to forming the basis on which later Anglish would operate. To form words, Barnes (and later purists) would either extend the sense of word, form calques (replacement with Germanic words along roots and affixes), or simply coin new terms using said roots and affixes. A good number of people who seek out Anglish (defined by such entities as the “Anglish Moot”) are interested in what is referred to as “constrained writing.”4 One of the more notable examples of Anglish writing is “Uncleftish Beholding” (“Atomic Observations”), a short text on basic atomic theory written by Poul Anderson, a science fiction author, in 1989. If the reader is interested in Anglish, the “Anglish Moot” can be found here:

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1 Incidentally, the Academy was founded by Cardinal Richelieu.

2 Hogg, Richard M., et al. The Cambridge history of the English language. Cambridge New York, NY, USA: Cambridge University Press, 1992, pg. 364

3 The exact number has been estimated to be around 15,000 words.

4 Other examples (besides Anglish) include lipograms (one letter disallowed; e.g. “Gadsby: A Story of Over 50,000 Words Without Using the Letter ‘E’”) and nanofiction (55 words exactly).  

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Wordstead

wayminding – ignoring

Oldendom – antiquity

wordbooks – dictionaries

book-lore – literature

outlandish – foreign

tweaking – modification

speech-lore – grammar

faring – process

web-steads – websites

Tween-web – Internet

foredrafting tongues – programming languages

fewfold – simple

forseek – attempt

talksome – talkative

unneedfully – unnecessarily

wane – limit

word-stocks – lexicons, vocabularies

health-smithing – medicine

life-lore – biology

wield – use

word-hoard – vocabulary

bounded – limited

forshaping – transforming

sundry – many

word-fastenings – affixes

fayed – attached

brooking – using

word-roots – word roots

tally – number

like-kind – synonym

forthcoming – available

wellsprings – origins

loanoverset – replace (i.e. calque)

word-craft – skill with words, etymology

mightly – possible

middling one – “average Joe”

gainstand – oppose

inheld – present

selfstanding – independent

end-say – conclusion

sheer of – without

reckoned – thought

fangle – foolish innovation

in-lead – introduce

speaking – conversation

unriddling – explanation

wordstead – glossary