Newspeak

Newspeak is a fictional language in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. In the novel, it is stated as being "the only language in the world whose vocabulary gets smaller every year." Orwell included an essay about it in the form of an Appendix (in the past tense)^[1], in which the basic principles of the language are explained. Newspeak is closely based on English but has a greatly reduced and simplified vocabulary and grammar. This suited the totalitarian regime of the Party, whose aim was to make any alternative thinking ("thoughtcrime") or speech impossible by removing any words or possible constructs which describe the ideas of freedom, rebellion and so on.

The Newspeak term for the English language is Oldspeak. Oldspeak was intended to have been completely eclipsed by Newspeak before 2050.

The genesis of Orwell's Newspeak can be seen in his earlier essay, "Politics and the English Language," in which he laments the quality of the English of his day, citing examples of dying metaphors, pretentious diction or rhetoric, and meaningless words — all of which contribute to fuzzy ideas and a lack of logical thinking. Towards the end of this essay, having argued his case, Orwell muses:

I said earlier that the decadence of our language is probably curable. Those who deny this would argue, if they produced an argument at all, that language merely reflects existing social conditions, and that we cannot influence its development by any direct tinkering with words or constructions.

Thus Newspeak is an attempt by Orwell to describe a deliberate intent to exploit this decadence with the aim of oppressing its speakers.

Basic principles of Newspeak

To remove synonyms

The basic idea behind Newspeak was to remove all shades of meaning from language, leaving simple dichotomies (pleasure and pain, happiness and sadness, good thoughts and thoughtcrimes) which reinforce the total dominance of the State. Similarly, Newspeak root words served as both nouns and verbs, which allowed further reduction in the total number of words; for example, "think" served as both noun and verb, so the word "thought" was unneeded and could be abolished. A staccato rhythm of short syllables was also a goal, further reducing the need for deep thinking about language. (See duckspeak.) Successful Newspeak meant that there would be fewer and fewer words -- dictionaries would get thinner and thinner.

In addition, words with opposite meanings were removed as redundant, so "bad" became "ungood." Words with comparative and superlative meanings were also simplified, so "better" became "gooder", and "best" likewise became "goodest". Intensifiers could be added, so "great" became "plusgood", and "excellent" or "splendid" likewise became "doubleplusgood." Adjectives were formed by adding the suffix "-ful" to a root word (e.g. "goodthinkful", orthodox in thought), and adverbs by adding "-wise" ("goodthinkwise", in an orthodox manner). In this manner, as many words as possible were removed from the language. The ultimate aim of Newspeak was to reduce even the dichotomies to a single word that was a "yes" of some sort: an obedient word with which everyone answered affirmatively to what was asked of them.

Some of the constructions in Newspeak which Orwell derides, such as replacing "bad" with "ungood", are in fact characteristic of agglutinative languages, although foreign to English. It is possible that Orwell modeled aspects of Newspeak specifically on Esperanto; for example "ungood" is constructed similarly to the Esperanto word "malbona". Orwell had been exposed to Esperanto in 1927 when living in Paris with his aunt Kate Limouzin and her husband Eugène Lanti, a prominent Esperantist. Esperanto was the language of the house, and Orwell was disadvantaged by not speaking it, which may account for some antipathy towards the language^[2]. It can also be observed that some strongly hierarchical groups use these kinds of constructions liberally. For example, the Swedish Military jargon substitutes "unpeace" (Swedish: ofred) for "war", and "ungood" (Swedish: obra) for "bad".

To control thought

By 2050—earlier, probably—all real knowledge of Oldspeak will have disappeared. The whole literature of the past will have been destroyed. Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, Byron—they'll exist only in Newspeak versions, not merely changed into something different, but actually contradictory of what they used to be. Even the literature of the Party will change. Even the slogans will change. How could you have a slogan like "freedom is slavery" when the concept of freedom has been abolished? The whole climate of thought will be different. In fact there will be no thought, as we understand it now. Orthodoxy means not thinking—not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness.[3]

The underlying theory of Newspeak is that if something can't be said, then it can't be thought. One question raised in response to this is whether we are defined by our language, or whether we actively define it. For instance, can we communicate the need for freedom, or organise an uprising, if we do not have the words for either? This is related to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, and Ludwig Wittgenstein's proposition, "The limits of my language mean the limits to my world." However, this view is disputed by authors like Gene Wolfe (see the article on his Ascian language); Ayn Rand's novel Anthem details, among other things, the attempts of two refugees from a repressively collectivist society to comprehend the concept of the first-person singular, the words for which have fallen into disuse.

Examples of Newspeak, from the novel, include: "crimethink"; "doubleplusungood"; and "Ingsoc." They mean, respectively: "thought-crime"; "extremely bad"; and "English Socialism," the political philosophy of the Party. The word "Newspeak" itself also comes from the language.

Generically, newspeak has come to mean any attempt to restrict disapproved language by a government or other powerful entity.

Real-life examples of Newspeak

A comparison to Newspeak may arguably be seen in political rhetoric, where two opposing sides string together phrases so empty of meaning that they may be compared to the taunts young children toss back and forth. The arguments of either side ultimately reduce to "I'm good; he's bad."

Politically correct euphemisms

Charges of Newspeak are sometimes advanced when a group tries to replace a word/phrase that is politically unsuitable (e.g. "civilian casualties") or offensive (e.g. "murder") with an alternative, inoffensive euphemism (e.g. "collateral damage"), or falsely innocuous (as in "liquidate the kulaks" or "resettle the Jews", as used by Communists and Nazis, respectively, to conceal their democides).

Some people maintain that to make certain words or phrases "unspeakable" (thoughtcrime) through the attempt to make language politically correct restricts what ideas may be held (Newspeak) and is therefore tantamount to censorship. Others believe that expunging terms that have fallen out of favor or become insulting will make people less likely to hold "outdated" or offensive views.

Either way, there is a resemblance between political correctness and Newspeak, although some may feel that they differ in their intentions: in Nineteen Eighty-Four, Newspeak is instituted to enhance the power of the state over the individual; politically correct language, on the other hand, is said by supporters to free individuals from stereotypical preconceptions caused by the use of prejudicial terminology. It is this attempt to change thought through changing (or eliminating) words that earns political correctness the connection to Newspeak.

For many, there exist striking instances where Orwell's speculations have matched with reality. Orwell suggested that all philosophies prior to Ingsoc (English Socialism) would be covered under the term "oldthink", bearing with it none of the nuances of these ideologies, but simply a connotation of badness. It is argued that since the end of the Second World War and the Cold War, a similar effect has been wrought on the words "fascism" and "communism"; that communism no longer bears with it the doctrines of Marx, Engels, or Lenin, but rather a general bad connotation. Likewise, they contend that few people are aware of the differences between the theories of government of Mussolini, Dollfuß, Franco, and Hitler; all are placed under the blanket term "fascism" or "nazism" with only a general denotation of badness.

Political groups often use neologisms to frame their views positively and to discredit their opponents' views.[1] In the U.S. abortion debates, those advocating restrictions on abortion label themselves "pro-life," leaving their opponents presumably "anti-life" or "pro-death." Conversely, those advocating greater availability of abortion call themselves "pro-choice," leaving their opponents "anti-choice".

In modern business, it is often frowned upon to use words with a negative connotation, such as "problem" and instead problems are referred to as "challenges", "obstacles", or even "opportunities". EnergySolutions is one of several companies responsible for storing nuclear waste in Utah's West desert. Before merging with other companies in 2006 and changing its name, the company was called Envirocare.

Two examples unrelated to political correctness are Basic English, a language which takes pride in reducing the number of English words, and E-Prime, another simplified version of English.

Abbreviations and Acronyms

Another common use of Newspeak today is the overuse of abbreviations. To quote from the 1984 Appendix "It was perceived that in thus abbreviating a name one narrowed and subtly altered its meaning, by cutting out most of the associations that would otherwise cling to it." Attention is also drawn to the use of such abbreviations by totalitarian regimes prior to World War II (see Gestapo, Comintern, Agitprop, Minculpop).

Even more powerful are acronyms like "Ofcom", "OPEC","NAMBLA", "PETA", "NAFTA", and "NICE" which can be pronounced as if they were proper words. This is most vividly seen in acronyms like "laser," "scuba," and "radar," which are in widespread use today and are nearly always written in lowercase. Acronyms contain less information than the full term and tend not to trigger spontaneous associations; this also makes them ambiguous and therefore vulnerable to misuse.^{[citation needed]}

Cyril Kornbluth and Newspeak

The 1950 short story "The Silly Season" by Science Fiction writer Cyril M. Kornbluth contained a text resembling Newspeak, though in a completely different context - not the artificial tongue of a tyrannical regime, but simply a kind of journalists' shorthand.

The protagonist, a news editor, gets a news item about the appearance of "shining domes" in the Ozark hamlet of Rush City and the death of a visiting lawman Pinkney Crawles who touched them. The original text includes "Rushers untouched, unapproached. Crawles warned but touched and died burns". This is later rendered into: "The inhabitants of Rush City did not dare approach the domes. They warned the visiting Marshall Crawles - but, not heeding their warning, he walked up to one of the domes and put his hand on it. There was a big flash and he was burned to death".

The story was written shortly after Nineteen Eighty Four was published, simultaneously in Britain and the US, and Kornbluth may have read it. Moreover, the appearance of an incomprehensible text followed by its translation into standard English (or Oldspeak) is similar to what appears in Part 1, Chapter 4 of Orwell's book.

Moreover, while the story takes place in a recognisable United States and not in any totalitarian society, at the end the hero realizes that in helping to spread panic about the "shining domes" he had been the unwitting dupe of Martian invaders, helping them draw attention away from their real conquest of Earth - which in retrospect makes the text in truth the message of a dictatorial and oppressive regime.

See also

• List of Newspeak words
• Buzzword
• Code word (figure of speech)
• Framing (communication theory)
• Language and thought
• Neologism
• Nineteen Eighty-Four, further discussion and resources specific to Newspeak
• Thought-terminating cliché
• Toki Pona
• Two plus two make five
• LTI - Lingua Tertii Imperii
• Sapir–Whorf hypothesis

Notes and References

1. ^ Orwell, George (1949). Nineteen Eighty-Four, "Appendix: The Principles of Newspeak", pp. 309–323. New York: Plume, 2003.
   Pynchon, Thomas (2003). "Foreword to the Centennial Edition" to Nineteen Eighty-Four, pp. vii–xxvi . New York: Plume, 2003.
   Fromm, Erich (1961). "Afterword" to Nineteen Eighty-Four, pp. 324–337. New York: Plume, 2003.
   Orwell's text has a "Selected Bibliography", pp. 338–9; the foreword and the afterword each contain further references.
   Copyright is explicitly extended to digital and any other means.
   Plume edition is a reprint of a hardcover by Harcourt. Plume edition is also in a Signet edition.
2. ^ Orwell, George (1949). Nineteen Eighty-Four, "Appendix: The Principles of Newspeak", pp. 309–323. New York: Plume, 2003.
   Pynchon, Thomas (2003). "Foreword to the Centennial Edition" to Nineteen Eighty-Four, pp. vii–xxvi . New York: Plume, 2003.
   Fromm, Erich (1961). "Afterword" to Nineteen Eighty-Four, pp. 324–337. New York: Plume, 2003.
   Orwell's text has a "Selected Bibliography", pp. 338–9; the foreword and the afterword each contain further references.
   Copyright is explicitly extended to digital and any other means.
   Plume edition is a reprint of a hardcover by Harcourt. Plume edition is also in a Signet edition.
3. ^ Orwell, George (1949). Nineteen Eighty-Four.

• Orwell, George (1949). Nineteen Eighty-Four, "Appendix: The Principles of Newspeak", pp. 309–323. New York: Plume, 2003.
  Pynchon, Thomas (2003). "Foreword to the Centennial Edition" to Nineteen Eighty-Four, pp. vii–xxvi . New York: Plume, 2003.
  Fromm, Erich (1961). "Afterword" to Nineteen Eighty-Four, pp. 324–337. New York: Plume, 2003.
  Orwell's text has a "Selected Bibliography", pp. 338–9; the foreword and the afterword each contain further references.
  Copyright is explicitly extended to digital and any other means.
  Plume edition is a reprint of a hardcover by Harcourt. Plume edition is also in a Signet edition.

Further reading

NB: Cf. ELECTRONIC EDITIONS WARNING.

• "1984-Appendix". Retrieved on 21 April 2006. The complete Newspeak appendix to Nineteen Eighty-Four (NB: Copyright).
• Big Brother. "Newspeak Dictionary". Updated 16 April 2006. Retrieved 21 April 2006. ("The Newspeak Dictionary has moved." New URL shown.)
• Burgess, Anthony. Nineteen Eighty-Five. Boston: Little Brown & Co, 1978. ISBN 0-316-11651-3. Anthony Burgess discusses the plausibility of Newspeak.
• Green, Jonathon. Newspeak: a dictionary of jargon. London, Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1985, 1984. ISBN 0-7102-0673-9. "Find in a library: Newspeak: A dictionary of Jargon". Retrieved 21 April 2006.
• Klemperer, Victor. LTI - Lingua Tertii Imperii: Notizbuch eines Philologen.. Original German language editions.
• Klemperer, Victor & Watt, Roderick H. LTI - Lingua Tertii Imperii: A Philologist's Notebook. Lewiston: E. Mellen Press, 1997. ISBN 0-7734-8681-X. An annotated edition of Victor Klemperer’s LTI, Notizbuch eines Philologen with English notes and commentary by Roderick H. Watt.
• Klemperer, Victor & Brady, Martin (tr.). The language of the Third Reich: LTI - Lingua Tertii Imperii: A Philologist's Notebook. London, UK; New Brunswick, NJ: Athlone Press, 2000. ISBN 0-485-11526-3 (alk. paper). Translated by Martin Brady.
• Young, John Wesley . Totalitarian Language: Orwell's Newspeak and Its Nazi and Communist Antecedents. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1991. ISBN 0-8139-1324-1. John Wesley Young wrote this scholarly work about Newspeak and historical examples of language control.

Categories

Find

Find