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Me — a purist?

David Crystal

English Today / Volume null / Issue 03 / July 2005, pp 63 - 63

DOI: 10.1017/S0266078405213135, Published online: 11 July 2005

Link to this article: http://journals.cambridge.org/abstract_S0266078405213135

How to cite this article:

David Crystal (2005). Me — a purist?. English Today, null, pp 63-63 doi:10.1017/
S0266078405213135

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Me – a purist? More attention to Crystal goes on to claim that in

the early 1990s ‘the populations
From: David Crystal detail? of Croatia, Bosnia and Serbia
Akaroa would all be described as speak-
From: Robert Phillipson
Gors Avenue ing varieties of Serbo-Croatian’.
University of Roskilde
Holyhead, Wales This statement ignores social
Denmark
realities and history. The monar-
Well, I have been called some
David Crystal begins his article chy that existed between the two
things in my time, but never,
‘The future of Englishes’ (ET58, world wars was ‘the kingdom of
never a ‘purist’! I have spent my
Apr 99) with a plea for clarity in the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes’.
life attacking language purists,
theoretical thinking and in Throughout Titoism, Yugoslavs
and purists have spent their
observing the facts of language identified themselves as speakers
lives attacking me. So to see
change. He sees intelligibility and of Serbian or Croat in addition to
myself introduced thus at the
identity/attitude as two key para- Serbo-Croatian or Croato-Ser-
end of Aysha Viswamohan’s
meters for the existence of one or bian. The old self-ascriptive
interesting paper on ‘Code-mix-
more languages, but his exam- labels were never dropped. Polit-
ing with a difference’ (ET79: Jul
ples from Scandinavia and ical forces have for 20 years been
04) was quite a shock. ‘Many
Yugoslavia are simply incorrect. actively dismembering Serbo-
purists like David Crystal
To claim that on grounds of Croat and instilling exclusive lin-
believe...’
intelligibility ‘people from Nor- guistic identities, but it is false to
But as I read on, I realized
way, Sweden and Denmark create the impression that the
that something odd was hap-
speak a single language’ is false. Croat and Serb languages have
pening. The quote from me
There is substantial variation come into existence since the dis-
which followed was actually
within and between each lan- integration of Yugoslavia. It is a
reinforcing the point the author
guage. Literary works in each sociolinguistic fact that they have
was making: ‘Code mixing takes
language are translated into the been there for as long as these
place to some degree every-
others rather than being read in forms of language have had
where that English is spoken
the original. Students in higher labels.
alongside another language,
education in each country are Let me cite one more example
and is a normal feature of bilin-
very reluctant to use books and from Crystal’s article where more
gualism...’ She sees me as sup-
articles in other Scandinavian rigour would be needed: ‘Britain
porting her point, not being crit-
languages. leads the world in ELT... no-one
ical of it.
In Norway there is continuous was predicting such world lan-
Purists hate code-mixing, of
debate in educational circles guage scenarios for English in the
course. So to see the term being
about the extra burden that the 1960s’ (p. 18). The expansion of
used in a positive way, in this
promotion of two standard lan- ELT was in fact deliberate policy
context, is distinctly odd. The
guages imposes on learners. by the British government from
editor did not correct it, so per-
Intelligibility in inter-Scandina- the mid-1950s, the main con-
haps it is indeed more widely
vian speech presupposes a sub- tours of which I have summa-
used than I think – and I only
stantial effort to accommodate, rized in chapter 6 of Linguistic
noticed it this time because it
and there are manuals advising Imperialism (Oxford University
was applied to me. I would be
speakers of each language on Press, 1992).
interested to know of any other
how to make their tongue more A blueprint for English as a
cases where ‘purist’ has been
readily accessible. Examples of ‘world language’ was written by
used as a purr-word, and in the
distance and difference could be an adviser to the British Council
meantime affirm to ET readers
multiplied. All of which does not in 1941, H. V. Routh, ‘The diffu-
that purism is as far from my
contradict the evidence that sion of English culture outside
linguistic heart as it ever was.
Scandinavians from many walks England’ (Cambridge University
Editor I did not change the of life develop an active receptive Press). He envisaged an ‘army of
usage because it was what the competence in other Scandina- linguistic missionaries’ (p. 12);
writer had chosen, the choice vian languages. But it would the new service must ‘lay the
was intriguing, language never occur to them to conclude foundations of a world-language
changes all the time and this that this means that Danish, Nor- and culture based on our own’;
might be a novel (and viable) wegian and Swedish are one lan- the model teacher ‘must think as
Indianism, and it was just the guage. Neither intelligibility nor a citizen of the world, and
kind of thing a reader might attitude/identity would justify behave as a representative of
take up. such a conclusion. England should behave’ (p. 86);

DOI: 10.1017/S0266078405003135
English Today 83, Vol. 21, No. 3 (July 2005). Printed in the United Kingdom © 2005 Cambridge University Press 63

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Britain has a responsibility which
implies that ‘we not only have a
spiritual heritage of our own – a
national soul – but that somehow
this possession is incomplete
unless shared with other nations’
(p. 134). This world language
scenario and key official docu-
ments of the 1950s and 60s are a
part of the history of ELT that no
amount of contemporary ratio-
nalising can explain away.
I happen to agree with much of
what Crystal writes otherwise,
but his argument would benefit
by the kind of attention to detail
that one expects from someone
of his eminence.

64 ENGLISH TODAY 83 J u l y 2005

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