The Adventure of English: the Biography of a Language by Melvyn Bragg. Published 2003 by Hodder & Stoughton, London, 354 pages, UK �7.99, ISBN 0 340 82991 5.
The story is true to its title, with the opening passages written in the booming voice of a blockbuster trailer. Bragg sets out at the start: �This book travels across time and space �. from the Wessex of King Alfred to the Wild West of Buffalo Bill�. And indeed it does, bringing us from pre-Saxon yore to English as we know it today, examining its many and varied mutations along the way. The story has all the ingredients of a blockbuster epic: loyalty, betrayal, war and survival. Panoramic descriptions of the big picture are a frame for the action; the original TV series format shows through in the cliff-hanger chapter endings, enticing us to tune in and read on. For example, at the close of the first chapter, we are warned about a �potential destroyer of the language� in the shape of the Vikings. No sooner are they largely seen off by King Harold in chapter two The Great Escape, than another threat appears on the horizon of chapter 3: the French!
What Bragg is essentially doing is drawing correlations between historical events and development of the English language, which leads to an educational and thought-provoking read. While invaders and pioneers are changing the face of the world, the face of English is evolving in parallel � at times as a sponge-like consequence and at times as the master of its own fate. The Norman Conquest results in 10,000 words being absorbed into English. The opening up of the world by Europeans is a material parallel for Shakespeare�s discoveries about the human condition through language. A true adventure hero, English is tenacious in the face of opposition and an unstoppable force in supplanting other languages on their own soil. Newly-arrived in America and later Australia, English is peculiarly resistant to the native languages. There seems to have been a satisfaction with English and an expectancy that everyone would learn it even then.
All this is pertinent to the current globalised world, which is accelerating exactly the language processes Bragg describes, where there are native speakers and non-native speakers and a blurring of where the two meet.
An important subplot of the adventure is the way a �correct� way of speaking emerges. During the 17th century thousands of words were absorbed and created to cope with the expanding world. These new, usually elaborate classically based terms were called �inkhorn words� by those who felt English must be defended from immigrant Latin and Greek. On the other side were those who saw a �necessary augmentation�. The debate sounds familiar. We might even support those Renaissance defenders of the language, until we learn that the words they wanted rid of included �specimen�, �pancreas� and �skeleton�. It is also worth noting that many of the imported or fabricated words did in fact disappear of their own accord, and today we manage well without �obtestate� (to bear witness) and �nidulate� (to build a nest)!
Ideas of �fixing� a correct language persisted through the 18th century. Anxiety about the state of the language was expressed by both the usual busybodies and more distinguished thinkers. The confidence that had �gobbled up (words) raw and whole� had given way to a need to fix them so that literature would not be lost to future generations. An academy was proposed so that grammar rules could be properly formulated and standards set. Swift, a key player in the movement, particularly disliked clipped words -�pos� for positive, contracted verbs - �disturb�d� �rebuk�d�, and fashionable words � �sham�, �banter� �bubble�. There was even a move to prohibit French phrases where English ones would do just as well.
Another idea explored in the book is that of new words providing new ideas or trains of thought, or clarifying current ones. Incredibly, the words for �crime�, �envy� and �glory� did not exist until the first English translation of the Bible; an even later translation introduced �beauty�. Imagine The Sun�s editorial without these! Later French imports of �romance� �chivalry� and �honour� brought more new concepts. The pairings created by the first influx of Norman French words (start/commence, ask/demand, wish/desire) quickly become subtle distinctions. Bragg comments �commence carries a touch more cultural clout though start has the better sound and meaning to it for my ear�..It is as if the foreign elaborations, the wonderful artifice of the new and the inserted words only really strike fire when they hit the flint of the old�.
The book is so successful because of its double theme: history and English language. A successful historical adventure story starts with something we can make a connection with, so anything which includes the Vikings, the Battle of Hastings and Henry VIII is off to a promising start. Then there is the booming interest in how we speak and write. BBC TV and radio are awash with spelling bees, discussions about how we speak and listeners phoning in to have their say about changing grammar and pronunciation. I am sure there are plans for a reality pronunciation show where the contestant with the most popular regional accent stays in the house the longest!
There is another reason for the book�s success. It is natural to feel very close to your native language and all its idiosyncrasies. It is perhaps inevitable that there is some blurring of language and culture, and many readers will enjoy Bragg�s implication that the tenacity and vigour of the English language has at times extended to its native speakers. Faced with the influx of Norman French words, English �kept its nerve�, implicitly though some inner strength of character. The link is spelled out when Bragg describes Churchill�s famous speech �We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds�..we shall never surrender.� Only �surrender� is not Old English. That, in itself, might be significant.�
Sitting beside these proud notions is the All over the World English of chapter 23, the estimated billion-plus speakers for whom English is a second or third language, English as the language of the United Nations, NATO etc. For many native speakers of English there is pride in this great export, or as Bragg put it, �the most remarkable contribution these islands have made to the world� (mixed with relief and a degree of complacency). Bragg describes and warmly embraces both these aspects in an easily digestible way. We can be immensely proud of �our� language and simultaneously celebrate the vast spectrum of worldwide Englishes. There is, however, no comment about our reluctance to learn other people�s languages, nor about the difficulty those billion speakers might be having in expressing themselves adequately in this foreign tongue.
Just occasionally the tumult of history becomes a little wearing, and this is when Bragg brings in too much to illustrate a point, such as when Viking runes (writing symbols) were so developed they could have coped with War and Peace. I wonder what they would make of Harry Potter. Sometimes Bragg�s attempts to disperse his enthusiasm are irritating. The 16th century burning of the Wycliffe Bible showed �what could and would happen to those who challenge the Pope�. Surely it showed what did happen. But it is worth putting up with these slight excesses, precisely because Bragg is so genuinely enthusiastic.
In the later part of the book Bragg discusses some of the cross-pollinations of English with other languages. Everyone corrupts English for their own needs, from the Singapore Singlish �you very pretty� to the Germans making calls on their �handys� (mobile phones)! The evolution of language is presented as curious and fascinating and Bragg makes ample illustration that the tide cannot be turned. However, as an English teacher to non-native speakers I would be dismayed to find certain turns of phrase re-entering the language under their new guises. I think most of us would have difficulty parking our cars in a �box�, as the Italians know a garage. How disappointed would we all be to cut a slice, then another and another of Italian plum-cake in a futile search for those promised plums!
Judith Gorham studied Fine Art at Newcastle University and then at Camberwell College of Art in London. She has been living in Italy since 1998 and teaches English Language at the University of Brescia and at the Bocconi University in Milan.
Note: This review was first published on September 4 2005 by JUST Book Reviews.
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