The conservation of language

Press, 6 September 1980, Page 17

The conservation of language

The Penguin English Dictionary. By G. N. Garmonsway with Jacqueline Simpson. Penguin Books, 1980. 862 pp. $7.60,

(Reviewed by

Stuart Perry)

This is the third edition of Professor Garmonsway’s dictionary; it was completed by his coadjuior Jacqueline Simpson after his death. As in the earlier editions, the aim has been to present the vocabulary which is in written and spoken use, with the emphasis away from archaicisms and obsolete words. As regards colloquialisms and slang the aim has been to be inclusive. Phonetic symbols appear only in an introductory explanatory ’table. The system: "used instead has been hailed with delight by those amateurs who have never mastered conventional phonetic symbols,, or have a block about trying, to remember them.,

Apart from welcoming the appearance of a revised,, enlarged and up to date edition of a trusty aid, there are two/ points that should be made. First, Penguin Books, have had regard to. the price, which is very modest: no doubt that was possible because this is a book with an assured reputation and sale . assuming booksellers can provide space to hold it in stock until another ...edition appears. Second, by. any standards it is a very good dictionary, if one-wants simply a working tool and is prepared to go elsewhere for derivations. The explanations, never-perfunctory, are frequently first class. The entry for “zombi, zombie,” for example, has been drawn to my attention- — “from almost scientific to a clear, colloquial account' of its slang use. among teenagers”. ' ’ Here it is:

“zombi,, zombie (pl zombi, zombies) n (W. Indian and African voodo) corpse revived. and controlled by witchcraft 'or a spirit; supernatural being or force that , enters, reanimates and controls a corpse; python- god; (coll) one who lives and acts mechanically, without intelligence or enjoyment; one who seems more dead than alive.” . .7. ’ : ■ i ■

A feature that enormously, enlarges the scope of the work is the'capacity, to refer to no fewer than 12 specialist Penguin dictionaries, from biology to music, from civil .engineering to psychology, as well as to the Penguin Encyclopaedia. . 7 Both. authors have a recognised place among experts on the history of the language; As their background is Anglo-Saxon and .Norse, rather than Greek and Latin, the bias is perhaps slightly towards this component. There was an admirable new Collins dictionary last year, and last year, .too, Heinemann Educational Books (N.Z.) produced the first specifically NewZealand dictionary — an exciting event. This dictionary uses a method similar to the Penguin method of showing how words are pronounced.

The appearance of each ; rievir dictionary reopens the question 7 of whether it is presenting the fading, standard' of what has gained acceptance, but may already be on the: way out, or whether it is indeed presenting current usage, and usage on the way to becoming entrenched. Most dictionaries tend to be conservative, though the Penguin dictionary has always claimed to look forward. A dictionary that looked forward too far would tend to accentuate degenerative processes in use and in pronunciation, though, of course, not all changes are degenerative. This dictionary claims no special emphasis for New Zealand or any other part of the Commonwealth; but allowing for that, and perhaps no more than in a spirit of inquiry, one may throw an apple of discord into the arena. Dare one suggest that even the method here adopted would not help a man from outer space or from the other side of the Iron Curtain, magically, equipped already with the rudiments of our ancient tongue, to pick up a working knowledge of it from the obvious source — the voices of all sorts and conditions of men and women on our radio and television channels? * - Where, for example, in any good dictionary would one find the modem affectations which soften the “ge” in siege to the level of the ge in prestige, which lengthen and round the “o” in involve, revolve and even revolver, which , turn orchestra in orgestra and known into knowen? Where, if the modern dictionary gave plurals, (which, unfortunately, it rarely does) would one identify the •normal current Kiwi usages of fax, aspex, conflix, or padix? Older breakdowns in pronunciation which have never caught the ear of

lexicographers include, Artic, vilence, dimond. Listen, for by the test of the soundwaves. these are the modern, accepted pronunciations. So, unhappily to' some extent ;is mathmatics (or even methtnetics) and another word, geography, •is often robbed of its legitimate, “e” as .Well, j Examples of poor pronunciation can be multiplied. Year sometimes acquires an extra syllable and becomes yeeyer. Other words lose syllables. Flying becomes flyng. Air Force becomes F Horse. The -fouling of the atmosphere rates an entirely new word — eppollution. • . New Zealand’s mountain range is rapidly becoming known as the Yelps. The distinction between the sounds for Ireland and island is being lost. At football we have a choice between Wullington and Kennerburry; on our. bread we spread rezberry gem. It is not only elegance we are losing; it is clarity-, even intelligibility. Teh years ago Dame Ngaio Marsh, who understands better than most of us the art of using spoken English, told a Christchurch audience that the way New Zealanders spoke was producing a dialect that was diminishing the “very beautiful language of English.” But it., is not only New Zealanders, The process is going on wherever English is spoken, and in the ultimate analysis it is entirely a natural one. That the lexicographers have not really caught up with it means that they are conserving the main stream of English: their conservatism at least retards the breaking down of the language into national dialects. If the aim of speech is not to foster chauvinism and separatism, but is to be understood wherever the language is spoken, perhaps conservatism is a virtue in a lexicographer after all.