Samuel Johnson, the eighteenth-century writer, and one
of the first people to attempt to control linguistic behaviour, reflects
soberly in the preface to his Dictionary of the English Language on the
failure of nations to ‘fix’ their languages:
With this hope, however, academies have been instituted, to guard the
avenues of their languages, to retain fugitives, and repulse intruders; but
their vigilance and activity have hitherto been vain; sounds are too volatile
and subtile for legal restraints; to enchain syllables, and to lash the wind are
equally the undertakings of pride unwilling to measure its desires by its
strength. (Johnson, 1958, pp. 233–4)
of the first people to attempt to control linguistic behaviour, reflects
soberly in the preface to his Dictionary of the English Language on the
failure of nations to ‘fix’ their languages:
With this hope, however, academies have been instituted, to guard the
avenues of their languages, to retain fugitives, and repulse intruders; but
their vigilance and activity have hitherto been vain; sounds are too volatile
and subtile for legal restraints; to enchain syllables, and to lash the wind are
equally the undertakings of pride unwilling to measure its desires by its
strength. (Johnson, 1958, pp. 233–4)
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