An inkhorn term is a
loanword
A loanword (also a loan word, loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language (the recipient or target language), through the process of borrowing. Borrowing is a metaphorical term t ...
, or a word coined from existing roots, which is deemed to be unnecessary or over-pretentious.
Etymology
An inkhorn is an
inkwell
An inkwell is a small jar or container, often made of glass, porcelain, silver, brass, or pewter, used for holding ink in a place convenient for the person who is writing. The artist or writer dips the brush, quill, or dip pen into the inkwell ...
made of
horn. It was an important item for many scholars, which soon became symbolic of writers in general. Later, it became a byword for fussy or pedantic writers.
The phrase "inkhorn term" is found as early as 1553.
Adoption
Controversy over inkhorn terms was rife from the mid-16th to the mid-17th century when English competed with Latin as the main language of science and learning in England, having just displaced French.
Many words, often self-consciously borrowed from
classical literature
Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek and Roman literature and their original languages, ...
, were deemed useless by critics who argued that the understanding of these redundant borrowings depends on knowledge of classical languages. Some borrowings filled a technical or scientific
semantic gap
The semantic gap characterizes the difference between two descriptions of an object by different linguistic representations, for instance languages or symbols. According to Andreas M. Hein, the semantic gap can be defined as "the difference in me ...
, but others coexisted with
Germanic words, often overtaking them.
Writers such as
Thomas Elyot
Sir Thomas Elyot (c. 149626 March 1546) was an English diplomat and scholar. He is best known as one of the first proponents of the use of the English language for literary purposes.
Early life
Thomas was the child of Sir Richard Elyot's fi ...
and
George Pettie were enthusiastic borrowers whereas
Thomas Wilson and
John Cheke opposed borrowing.
Cheke wrote:
Many of these so-called inkhorn terms, such as ''dismiss'', ''celebrate'', ''encyclopedia'', ''commit'', ''capacity'' and ''ingenious'', stayed in the language. Many other
neologism
In linguistics, a neologism (; also known as a coinage) is any newly formed word, term, or phrase that has achieved popular or institutional recognition and is becoming accepted into mainstream language. Most definitively, a word can be considered ...
s faded soon after they were first used; for example, ''expede'' is now obsolete, although the synonym ''expedite'' and the similar word ''impede'' survive. Faced with the influx of loanwords, writers as well known as
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...
tried to either resurrect English words, e.g. ''gleeman'' for ''musician'' (see
glee
Glee may refer to:
* Glee (music), a type of English choral music
* ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy
* ''Glee'' (Bran Van 3000 album)
* ''Glee'' (Logan Lynn album)
* Gle ...
), ''sicker'' for ''certainly'', ''inwit'' for ''conscience'', ''yblent'' for ''confused''; or coin brand-new words from English's
Germanic roots (''endsay'' for ''conclusion'', ''yeartide'' for ''anniversary'', ''foresayer'' for ''prophet'').
Legacy
Few of these words coined in opposition to inkhorn terms remained in common usage, and the writers who disdained the use of
Latinate
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area around Rome, Italy. Through the expansion o ...
words often could not avoid using other loanwords. Although the inkhorn controversy was over by the end of the 17th century, many writers sought to return to what they saw as the purer roots of the language.
William Barnes coined words, such as ''starlore'' for ''astronomy'' and ''speechcraft'' for ''grammar'', but they were not widely accepted.
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...
famously analysed and criticised the socio-political effects of the use of such words:
See also
*
Aureation
*
Calque
In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language ...
*
Classical compound
Neoclassical compounds are compound words composed from combining forms (which act as affixes or stems) derived from Classical_language#Classical_studies, classical languages (classical Latin or ancient Greek) root (linguistics), roots. Neo-Lati ...
*
Franglais
Franglais () or Frenglish ( ) is a French blend that referred first to the overuse of English words by French speakers and later to diglossia or the macaronic mixture of French () and English ().
Etymology
The word ''Franglais'' was first ...
*
Plain language
Plain language is writing designed to ensure the reader understands as quickly, easily, and completely as possible. Plain language strives to be easy to read, understand, and use. It avoids verbose, convoluted language and jargon. In many countr ...
*
Prestige (sociolinguistics)
Prestige in sociolinguistics is the level of regard normally accorded a specific language or dialect within a speech community, relative to other languages or dialects. Prestige varieties are language or dialect families which are generally c ...
* ''
Uncleftish Beholding''
*
Anglish
Purism in the linguistic field is the historical trend of languages to conserve intact their lexical structure of word families, in opposition to foreign influences which are considered 'impure'. Historically, linguistic purism in English is a ...
References
{{reflist
Further reading
Original texts from the inkhorn debate
Word coinage
Linguistic purism
History of the English language
Historical linguistics