Varieties of Language Purism
Varieties of Language Purism
This chapter begins by discussing two kinds of language purisms. The first purism is mainly derived from French neo-classicism, aimed to reform literature especially poetry in the high style. The second purism, on the other hand, envisaged recasting the entire vocabulary of English. The chapter then considers the specific case of the monosyllable in English literature, a linguistic entity to which uniquely native English virtues have been imputed. It talks about the proposed elimination of Latinized vocabulary by French neo-classicism. It examines several literary works from the Renaissance period up to the 19th century, focusing on how writers refashioned the words that they used.
Keywords: Anglo-Saxon, language purism, Renaissance, 19th century, monosyllable, English, French, neo-classicism, Latin
Oxford Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
Please, subscribe or login to access full text content.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian.
To troubleshoot, please check our FAQs , and if you can't find the answer there, please contact us .
