Purpose and Function of Newspeak - Research Paper Example

Purpose and Function of Newspeak Introduction Newspeak as a language, refers to the fictional, but official language that was widely used by the Oceania, and was considered as a controlled language that the totalitarian state had created with the aim of limiting the freedom of thought among its subjects. This language was initially created by George Orwell, who believed that political and economic causes were the result of the decline in use of a language. As such, he created the language with the presumption that, countries such as Soviet Union (Germany) had had their languages deteriorated as a result of the dictatorial regimes they had been subjected (Conley & Stephen 135-145). This shows that the language is widely used in Europe, particularly in Germany. The contextual theme of this study is based on a focus to clarify the purpose and principles of the Newspeak. As such, the study hopes to point out that in the event that the natural human atmosphere is affected by bad politics, the result is a corruption of the language; hence, the thoughts of people. Thus, this argument presents the main concept in support of inventing Newspeak. Largely, it can be argued that the invention decision of the language was informed by a desire to fulfill the ideological needs of the English Socialism or Ingsoc that was present by then. However, this form of language has been dormant and rarely used till later years such as 1984 since no one used Newspeak as the exclusive communication means, orally or written. During these periods, leading articles such as published by Times were written in the Newspeak language but required a the services of a specialist for the tour de force to take place. The expectation was that Newspeak would act as a replacement and supersede the Oldspeak (standard English) by around 2050 (Adams 60-72) However, the language steadily gained ground as all members in political parties at this time were optimistic and eager to incorporate the Newspeak words in their speeches. This was so that they would be recognized and defined by the new grammatical constructions that accompanied their language (Moustaki 50-61). The purpose of Newspeak At around the year 1984 when the uptake of Newspeak language was at its peak, the availed dictionary for the language through the Ninth and Tenth editions were provisional; hence, largely contained archaic and superfluous words and grammatical formations that required suppressions. However, the concern for this study shall be in response to the eleventh edition that is still regarded as the final and perfect version of the language. The main purpose for the study of Newspeak was to provide a medium through which persons could express themselves in a global view and ensure that their mental habits are properly devoted to the IngSoc. Subsequently, the development of the Newspeak language was done with the mind of making all other thought modes impossible. According to Orwell, the creator of the language, with the adoption of Newspeak, the expectation was that the Oldspeak would be forgotten. He also had in mind that heretical thoughts such as those that diverged form the basic principles of IngSoc ought to have been literally unthinkable to the extent that the thoughts people placed on those words were dependent. This led to the construction of a vocabulary for Newspeak that gave a near-exact meaning and subtle expression of the word ‘party member’, and the expected words such as members would wish to express (Brodeur 100-112). However, this was with the exclusion of the other meanings for the word to the extent that the possibilities present for reaching the same were indirect methods. The end result for such an action was the invention of new words, elimination of undesirable words and stripping of the words that remained in use and context from the Oldspeak of their unorthodox meanings. The stripping also entailed the secondary meanings that such words would have had in the standard English language. Personal Opinion about Newspeak Personally, I regard the creation and adoption of such a new language with high esteem given that it signaled the required change in the communication, particularly, when the old language was a puppet for political and economic usage, without any regard to the people. I also support the argument as presented by Orwell in explaining the syntactical arrangement of Newspeak, and its etymology, given that it allowed for the diversity in expression of ideas and concepts without much prejudice from the public or other scholars. Furthermore, the provision of the explanation was essential as it allowed for the tendency of gaining new words and broadening the knowledge and awareness of speakers to the Newspeak language (Moustaki 50-61). However, an ideal situation for opposing Newspeak would be on its capacity to lose words and their meanings or contexts based on the presence of opposing concepts in such words. In such a scenario, the Newspeak language would not be essential to learning as it will presume only a representation of a word in one dimension without paying regard to its opposite. Additionally, in looking at the degree accorded to words by the Newspeak language, it would be argued that the use of prefixes and suffixes would be imperative in the explanation of the structure of sentences in the language. In such a context, the application of a word such as ‘good’ would have no opposite in Newspeak i.e. ‘bad’. Instead, it would have an addition of either a prefix or suffix. In my opinion, largely shared by scholars and critics into this subject would be that the consequence of such an accomplishment would be the promotion of a narrow line of thought in language (Joseph 115-127). This would be perceived as a disadvantage for the adoption of this language over the standard English that provides for the opposites of words without the necessity to eliminate them. This is because not much employment of Newspeak had been commissioned even through the novel alone, and as a result, it would be extremely inflexible for people to grasp the nature of the language and its ability to change and drop words. An example of such words in the application is the word ‘good’ whose opposite word ‘bad’ had been dropped by Newspeak and replaced by prefix words such as ‘ungood’ and ‘very good’. In realistic terms, the engagement of Newspeak in this manner of altering words and replacing them with alternate words or even considering the aspect of a new language, the viability of Newspeak can be determined. Placed in the context of the English Socialism, Newspeak was viable as it provided for a language not deprived of freedom by the political nature of the country. Furthermore, people were given the freedom to choose the kinds of words to use in respective scenarios. This is in support of the purpose for creation of Newspeak which was the provision of the ability to diminish words in various contexts, as well as reduce their vocabularies in a manner that words with dispenses would not be allowed to survive. The Principles of Newspeak As is largely known, Newspeak language was founded on the English language, thus providing an understanding into the principles that governed the development of the language. In this regard, further studies into the form and nature of this language would be best understood if discussed from the perspective of simplified and separate classes. However, the grammatical peculiarities can be discussed in a section devoted to the same rules. Given that the language was officially devised with the aim of analyzing the ideological needs of English Socialism, its principles were based on the aspect of needing to gain steady ground for the members. These principles were the foundation of the language; hence, a change to the same would imply that the vocabulary is affected. However, the possibilities in this lies on the fact that the construction of the language’s vocabulary was made in an exact and subtle way to ensure that the meanings appended to each word is properly analyzed. The achievement of this involved the invention of new words partly, and eliminating the undesirable words that had unorthodox meanings. The principles that defined the formation of this language also required that the unorthodox meaning to words was removed for all secondary meanings adopted. The designing of Newspeak language is in a natural form that recognizes that human language is based on the understanding of meanings to words. In this manner, the founders of the Newspeak ensured that the adverbs that existed in the former language were not retained except for the few that ended in ‘in’. This is typical of the natural form of language that is adopted in the designing of a new language so as to ensure that the application of every word is strengthened by an affix. In another context, the Newspeak grammar was distinguished from the other language forms by the regularity with which it was designed. For instance, all its inflections were done based on a similar set of rules; thus, ensuring that the past participle in all verbs were the same. The language also ensured that all plurals were made with the addition of –es or –s to words as was necessary. Only the pronouns, auxiliary verbs, and demonstrative adjectives were allowed to inflect irregularity in their structure. In another context, the development of Newspeak language assumed certain concepts. First, it was assumed that each word would have a political significance based on the adopted vocabulary. Second, it was assumed that the euphony outweighed the considerations for exactitude meanings. In reference to similarity or difference between the Newspeak languages to other languages, not much difference is noted, but similarities are outlined given that in both, there is the use of prefix and suffixes added to words. For a word such as ‘Esperanto’, the similarity lies on the recognition of the number of variables present. The variables encouraged the development of a style of speech. Conclusion The understanding of the origin of the Newspeak language is very critical in the analysis of the development of language that provided a critique to the political arena of old times. The adoption of the language was quite rampant; hence, the realization for its success. The success of Newspeak is measured by the fact that it was able to address its purpose successfully (Adams 75). Therefore, it can be considered as a viable language that will become very popular in Oceania. Works Cited Adams, Michael. From Elvish to Klingon: Exploring Invented Languages. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. Print. Brodeur, Karen. George Orwells 1984. Piscataway, N.J: Research & Education Association, 2011. Internet resource. Conley, Tim, and Stephen Cain. Encyclopedia of Fictional and Fantastic Languages. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2006. Internet resource. Joseph, John E. Language and Politics. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2006. Print. Moustaki, Nikki. Cliffsnotes, Orwells 1984. Foster City, CA: IDG Books Worldwide, 2000. Internet resource. Read More