by Gordon

Language is the most powerful tool available to human society. When our children are growing up, we look forward to all their stages of development, but the two major milestones are when a child learns to walk and then learns to talk. Once a child knows how to communicate, he or she is ready to begin the lifelong process of socialising with other human beings.

Yet language can also be a barrier. In the biblical tale of the Tower of Babel, divine retribution was posited as the reason why there were so many languages which hindered understanding. More recently, linguistic scholars have determined that the vast majority of European – and therefore World – languages derive from a single language which was spoken by people who probably originated somewhere in what is now western Russia. The experts call this language Proto Indo-European because its descendant languages include Sanskrit, Latin, classical Greek, and pretty much every major European language. There are a few exceptions, notably Hungarian and Finnish, but most of the rest derive ultimately from Proto Indo-European. The reason they are so different now is the passing of thousands of years and the separation as the original PIE speakers split into smaller tribal groupings and migrated into India and Europe. This common ancestry should serve as a reminder that we are all related if we go back far enough. We don’t need DNA research to tell us that, because our languages confirm it. As an aside, if you would like to know more about this ancestry, there is an excellent Podcast called "The History of English" by Kevin Stroud which traces the ancestry of English all the way back to Proto Indo-European.

Language can also be the subject of national pride. In France, there is official protection for French from the influence of words stemming from other languages. This may seem absurd to modern English speakers, but similar suggestions have been made in centuries past to protect the purity of English. Jonathan Swift, the creator of Gulliver’s Travels, put forward the view that a dictionary of acceptable English words should be created and that any word not included in that list should not be used. He was very much against the use of slang words, with "mob" being one of his pet hates.

Thankfully, Swift’s arguments did not prevail. Indeed, he should have known better. Taking his assertions to a logical conclusion, it would have been fair to ask him why he and his contemporaries did not speak the Old English of Alfred the great. If English was to be kept pure, then we should all still be speaking that highly inflected and very restricted language. But, as Swift apparently failed to notice, Old English was impacted by several sources, particularly Old Norse and Norman French. Words from classical Latin were also adopted thanks to the use of Latin by the Church, and classical Greek also contributed a number of words to the English vocabulary. Indeed, the most wonderful thing about English is its ability to create new words and to readily adopt foreign words if a native expression is not available.

Many people decry what they regard as sloppy use of language, but the simple fact is that languages evolve by themselves because people use language every day and adopt what is generally the simplest way of expressing themselves. This means that pronunciations vary and the Meanings of words and phrases shift whether we like it or not. Sometimes that is a shame, but there is little we can do about it in the face of general consensus. My pet hate is the misuse of "imply" and "infer" which mean slightly different things but which are commonly used as synonyms. There are other examples, but common usage is what determines what a word means, so we are fighting a losing battle in trying to maintain the original meanings. Lots of words now mean something completely different to their original sense, but we accept that because we have grown up with the current meaning and regard the original sense as odd.

Even if we agree on the meaning of words, how we pronounce them is often the subject of language snobbery. Many people try to speak in what was once termed "the accentless accent" known as Received Pronunciation. Think of BBC presenters of the 1950s to get an idea of RP. It is still the preferred mode of speech for people in the upper echelons of society or those who have pretensions to poshness. (Yes, I made that word up. But you know what I meant, so that’s OK).

But we should not persuade ourselves that language snobbery is confined to those who speak in a refined accent. Anyone who is unable to speak "properly" can find themselves at a distinct disadvantage in pretty much any social situation. It’s probably a safe bet that every one of us has, at one time or another, turned our noses up at the way someone else speaks. It seems to be either a part of our social conditioning or a natural response to somebody who is clearly different in a very recognisable way. And, of course, we should not forget that reverse snobbery is also a phenomenon. Somebody speaking with an RP accent who encounters a group of people who talk in a pronounced regional accent is likely to find themselves mocked for their perceived difference.

This is an aspect of language we all need to be more aware of. And, yes, I did end that sentence with a preposition. That’s a normal English usage which is only frowned upon by those who decided that Latin grammar rules should be adopted in English because, in the 17th and 18th Centuries, Latin was viewed as a superior language to the common tongue of the English-speaking people. That’s another example of language snobbery. We need to accept that English is a diverse language, with many regional dialects and other variants around the world, and we should stop mocking anyone who does not speak the same way that we do.

Unfortunately, the tendency to mock those who speak differently is very much ingrained in British society. This is so prevalent that LBC Radio recently took a call from a listener who wanted all foreign languages banned within the UK because he found them offensive. Now, that’s an extreme viewpoint, but it is merely the most egregious example of language snobbery related to foreign languages. It seems to be accepted by far too many English speakers that foreign languages are in some way inferior. This may be a throwback to the days of Empire but, whatever its origin, it is still far too common. When meeting someone who speaks a different language, my reaction is to try to communicate with them and hopefully learn a few words or expressions in their language. When visiting foreign countries, the first thing I always try is to pick up a few phrases of the local language. It is, after all, only common courtesy. Yet far too many English speakers seem to expect everyone to speak English and look down on anyone who cannot do so, while apparently not appreciating that they themselves are monolingual. This is a real problem, and it persists within the UK, where languages like Welsh, Scots Gaelic and Cornish are viewed with derision by many people who are proud of their Britishness. It is a classic example of fear and suspicion of others. It is as if someone who does not share our language must be against us in some way. These native British languages are often derided, and that is rather pathetic when you think about it. I have heard someone mocking Gaelic television programmes because, amidst the stream of incomprehensible words they have suddenly heard something modern like "Smartphone" or "Helicopter". This, for some reason, is deemed a reason to mock the language because it does not have words to describe these modern inventions. Yet those same people will happily use words like "Schadenfreude" or "Déjà vu" without appreciating the irony.

So we are left with the fact that language can be a barrier. This is patently obvious, yet there are ways to get round it. That doesn’t mean only that we should make more effort to learn foreign languages, it is more that we need to alter our response to hearing a foreign language. Instead of instantly regarding it as a sign of "otherness", we should see it as an opportunity to enhance our learning and understanding. And, if you are a monolingual English speaker, you really must shake off the view that people who speak Welsh, Gaelic or Cornish are somehow inferior because they speak a language which is not the same as yours. Remember that all of these people are pretty fluent in English as well, which means they can already speak twice as many languages as you.

Language snobbery, whether focused on regional accent or foreign language, is an integral part of our society, and it is something we need to try to eradicate. There are perfectly valid reasons for written language to be more formal and precise, but the spoken language is our most valuable asset, and we should enjoy its diversity. It is a good thing that a variety of English accents can now be heard on mainstream television programmes because this helps to normalise regional accents. The next step is for us to appreciate that hearing foreign languages is an opportunity, not a threat.