neustupny 1989 - purism

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Xu Zhcng-gua ng - I j r-r~~ Language purism as a type of language correctíon1978 "Cong -chang- ren de go ng -zuo shu -li yi-xie xiang -guan yin -su " [Thc •

alicuatinn uf fac tory wo rkcrs: An ana lys is of co rr c lat cd lactors]:Pp . 7 S R - 763 in Zhong-yang yen-jiu-yuan cheng-li wu-shi zhou-nian

ji -nian wcn-]i [Es says ia co mm cmorati on of thc flftic th an n ivc rsary

of th e Ioun din g of A cad emia Sin ica] . Taipei: A cad em ia Sin ica .

Yang Qi ng-chu

1978a "Tw iligh t in th e flc lds" ILu 'YII:ln de huang -hun ] 1 '1 '. 23 -48 in Se-

lcctcd Storics o[ Yang C" 'iug rl¡ "1 (Thomas B. Gold , trans.), Knohsiung:

Du n -Ii chu -ha n shc ,

"Prornntiou." I'p 105-133 in Se lec tcd Storics o] YOl/g Ch tng-ch \/

(T hom as B . Go ld , tra n s.) . Ka ohsiu ng : Du n -li chu -ba n she.

"Gn ng -deng wu-dcng" [Fifth-rank workcr] , 1 '1' . 9-26 in h is Gong-

cltang ten [Factory w or kers ]. K aohsi un g : Dun-li chu-ban she.

197 8d "Di -dcng re n " lA low -ra nk man] , Pp, 27-54 in his Gong-chang rcn

[Factory w orke rs]. Kn ohsiung: Du n-li chu-ban shc.

"Xuanju ming-cc" [Elcction rostcrs] and "Bul-to ql-piao" [Soliclt

se vcn vo tes]. Pp. 71-)34 in hi s Chang-yan xia [U nde r th e smokcs

of th e planl s] . Kao hsiung : nnn -li chu -ban she."Gui pa-bi yu sh ui beng-shan" [Turtles c lim b the w all and w ater

lea ds to a lands lid e] . Pp. 93 -130 in hi s Gong-chang nu-er quan [G irls

in th e pl ant ]. K ao hsiun g: Du n -li chu -b an she.

"S hcng -qia n dao -sh ang" [R oa ds to piomotiou] Pp . 163 -202 in h is

Gong-chang /111-c rquan [G irls in th e pl;"l t l. I(a oh siun g : DUI l-1i chu -ban

shc.1978 h "W ai -x ía ng la i de liu -lang- nu " (A wa nd erin g g irl from the co un try-

siti e]. Pp. 203-24 0 in h is Gong-chang /III -c r quan [G irl s in th e pl ant] .

Kao hsiu -ig: Du n-li chu -b an shc.

Y ang Zi-qiao ami Cheu Qian-wu (eds.)

1982 Crtallg-!II qian Tai-wan IVen-xue quan-ji [A n thology of T a iwan litera -

tu re] .Poctry. t i vo ls. Taipci: Yu an-jing chuban shi-yc go ng -si.

Y u Tlan-coug (ed.)1978 Xiang-tu we/!-xue tao-lun ji [A n an th ology o f ess ay s on Xiang-tu

líterat ur e] . Ta ipei: P ub lish ed by the ed ito r.

Z heng Q in g- w cn

198 4 "l3il l- lan g cheng" IBetel Pa lm V illag e). Pp . 233-25 4 in Zui-hou de

shen-shi [T he la st ge n tlem an] . Ta ip ei: Cu n -w en -xuc chu -ban -she.

Al so pp. 74-84 (C harles Har tm an , tr an s.) in Jos eph S.M . L au (ed .),

The Unbroken Chain, Bloomingt on : In dia n a Unive rsity Pr ess , 1983 _Zhong Zh ao -zhcng , Y e Sh i- tao, Z hang H eng -h ao, U n Fa n and Y ang Z i-q iao (ed s.)

1979 Guang-fu qian Tai-wan lVen-xue quan-ji [A n thoJogy of Ta iw an liter a-

tu re] . S/rort S tory. 8 vo ls. Ta ip ei: Y uan- j ing chu -ba n sh i-ye gong- si .

J. V Neustupny

1978g

Purism is one of many corrective processes directed towards culture.M _ Weingarl, one of th e th co rc tic ians of linguistic ant i-p u rism in the

pre-war Prague School, correctly pointed to phenomena in culture

which paraJlel linguistic pn iSI II and in particular to purism in áreas

such as literature, »rthitecture, and music.' Purism in literature COIl-

cerns the language of literature bu t applica ti on s of other thnn linguistic

rules are also affected: purism thus bears upon the use 0 1 ' litcrary

genres, poetic rules, content, and ideology which is transfcrred throughliterary works. In English dictionaries a l "purist" is defined as a "sticklerfor, affecter of, scrupulous purity esp. in language" (The Concise

Oxford Die tiona ry¡ or "a person who is ex tremely caref ul or too

solicitous abou t purity or nicety , esp. in language" (wcbster's Students

Dictiona ry). Language purism is deservedly treated as a special casof a wider phenomenon which is not restricted to language.

A view of purism as a d istinctly linguistic phenornenon may thus

be too narrow. A wider interpretation of purism introduces a point

of view that is essential for its deeper understanding. However, to Iocuson 1inguistic purism has advantages of cJarity of issues and tradit ion

of scholarship. In the present papcr 1 shall concentrate on lhe question

of purism as it concerns language and only return briefly to the wider

issue in my conclusions.This paper wn] atternpt to formulatc a theoretical frarnework for

the study of purisr~ It will identify sorne new dimensions of the

problern and concJude that the one-sidedly r-egative cvaluation of

purism in modern (structural) linguistics was too sirnplistic.

197Hb

(1978 c

1<J78 c

19 78f.

l. Pu rism: disco u rse in tc ra ci io n , id iom , and id eolog y

At least three related but distinct types o f purism exist. Fírstly, purism

can be a fact of Iinguistic interacuon. of what speakers actually do in

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212 J. V Neustupny Language purism as a type af language corr ec tion 213

di sc our se . Secondly, th e te rm rnay refer to ways of communicating

ab out ccrtain lin g ui sti c pruccsscs. It rn ay con c crn no t lin g ui sti c but

rne ta lin g ui st ic Iacts, Pur ists !Iel in ;¡ pa rt icu la r way tow a rd s la n g u a g e

bu t th ey rn ay ac t in on e w ay am i (un w ittingly) co rn rn u n ica te abou t

w ha t th ey do in a noth er w ay . In o th er word s. th eir linguisti c ac ti v iti ys

an d meta ling ui sti c id iorn do not n ecessaril y co in c id e . Thirdly , th e

term purisrn may also dcsignate an ideology , a rela ti ve ly in depend en t

sys tern of th ou g ht abou t lau g uag c w ith part icul a r po litica l ob jectivesto be ac hi cvc d . S in cc speak c rs do no t n cccssanl y say al l w ha t th cy

rn ean , it is ncccssary to di stin g ui sh th e id col ogi ca l d im en sion from

th e w ays of co mmu n ic a tin g abou t pu rismo A II th ree ty pes of purisrn

ar e in terco nn ec ted in rnany w ays .

Th e fir st typ e of pur ism w ill be refcrred to as D1S COUR SE PU RI SM .

Th e te r m ca n be u se d w ith reg ard to a c ert a in se t of la ng ua ge cor rec tio n

ac ts (N custu pny 1978 :ch . X II . 198 5a ; Jernudd and Thua n 1983), w hi c h

ar e ernployed to rern ove re rt a in u ndes ir ab lc segrn cnt s of speech acts.?

PURlSTlC ID IOM ~ as I propos e lo c a ll pnrism as a way of COI1l-

municating abou t th is type of langua ge corrcction, a re eas ie r to defin e.

Pur isti c idio rn s co n sist of di sc our se th a t refers to corr ec tion processes

w hi ch are supposcd to "purif'y" or "authcnticatc" language.ZOne also

fr eq u c nt ly spea k s of "in d ig eni za ti o .i " or "Itadit ion a liza ti on" of

lan gu ag e. Th e co rr ec liv e pr ocesse s inc lud cd under th es e h cadin gs

va ry dependi n g on th e co mrnun i ty undcr in vcs tig a ti on ; in so rn e COIll-

muni t ies th e ap pl ic at ion of th e ten n pu rism is Iimited to the rern ov a l

of fu I! lon ns (th e surface form of w h ic h is dcmonstrably foreig n ),

in o th ers it is ex tend ed to cov er th e remova l of str uc tur a l loa n s (in

w hi ch th e sur fac e forrn is in dig cnou s th oug h th e con tent is no t), o r

it rn ay in c lu de th e remov a l of so rn e e lem ent s of na tive varieti es as

w el! . In th e las t case, th e c lern cnt s con sid c .vd as unau th ent ic an d

pur ge d fr om la ng u ag e c an be n eo log ism s, clcrne nt s of re la tiv c ly rec ent

var ie ti es, e lem ent s of o th er th an fo lk vari et ies , o r even some fc a tu res

of n on-c on te rn pora ry var iet ies of lang uagc , Purism is thu s no t lim ited

to th e re rn ov a l of loa nw ord s as th e popu la r usa g e of th e ter m a ss um es ,Th e pur isti c id iom is, in tu rn , c ondi t ion ed by c rit e ri a w hi ch are of

id eo log ica l n a tu re. ID EOL OG ICA L PU Rl SM , defin ed by th e po lit ica l

a im s of th e id iorn a nd th e di sc our se corr ec tio n proc ess es 'In vo lvcd,

repr es ent s th e th ird bas ic terrn n ecessa ry for th e un derstand ing of

th e co rnp lex ph cnomenon .

O ne ca n th u s a ssum e th at Ih ree types of pu ri sm , to so m e ex tent

ind ep cn c lent of ca c h o th cr, m u st be ta kc n in to co n sidc rat ion . A c tu a l

corr ec tion processe s shou ld be di st in g ui shcd fr orn th e w ays in w h ich

th ey a re refe rr ed to in m eta lin gu is ti c idiorns, and id ioms should be dis-

tin g ui sh ed Irom id eo lo g ies w hi c h accompany th c cor rec ti on processcs.?i

2. Discoursc purism: correction of inadequacies

C an di sc our sc pur ism be c lea rly dc lim it ed fr om othc r co rr ec tion pr o-

ce sse s 011 th e basis of a se t of part icul a r str u c tu ra l charactcristics?

M y answer to th is qu es ti on is n eg a ti ve. M any correction processesta k e p lac e in lan guagc a nd it sce ms th a t th ey form a co nt inuu in,

n o part of which ca n ea sily be sin g led ou t as "puristic" on a pu re ly

str u c tu ra l bas is, In th is se ct ion 1 sha ll th erefore a band on th e a tt empt

to defin e di sc ou rse pu rism on th e bas is of its spec ific st ru c tu ra l

fca tu res , A se t of correction a c ts ca n on ly be ca ll c d pu ristic be c au se

th e proccsses invo lved h ave bee n referr ed to a s pu ri st ic in a pur isti c

id iom.

Th e ge n era l str uc tu re of pu risti c ac ts, defin ed in th is w ay , c an l-e

des cribed in se vera l steps (c f. N eu stupny 1985a):

(a~ F ir st ly , a fea tu re of th e speec h ac t m ay repr es cn t a D EVIAT ION

from a norn )- In th e trad ition of th c Pr ag u e Sc hool the w ord "norm "

deno tes a fac t of la n g uag e, n o t a Iact of (normativo) lin g ui sti cs . A norrn

is a ru le th e vi o la tion of w h ich pot en t ia lly lc ad s to a n cg a ti ve eva lu a ti on

(cf. N eu stupny 1985b). Th e devi a ti on m ay rem a in u n no ted by part ic i-

pan ts in th e spee c h ac t, bu t w hen it is no ted , it beco rn es a V IOL A ·

T ION of the norm .

(b ) Seco nd ly , vi o lation s may be evaluated in va riou s ways. W hen th ey

are n cg a ti ve ly eva lu a ted in a spce c h situ a ti on , th ey c an be c a llec l IN ·

A D EQ U A CIES. N ote th a t in th e th eory of correc tion expoundcd h ere

th e term in ad equ ac y refe rs to n eg a ti ve eva lua ti on s by speakers in

pa rt icul a r di sc our se , n ot to any se ts of pre-es ta bli sh ed c1efi c ien c ies of

lan g u ag c , su ch as tra d it ion a ll y di sc u ssed by lan g ua ge m ent ors - c f.,fo r ins tan ce , Ta u li 1968 .

(c ) In ad equ ac ies ca n be dea lt w ith in a variety of w ay s, They ca p

eli c it a tt itu di n a l-a ffec tive h eh avio u r (Fishr n a n 1972: 14 0) w ith out

lead in g to co rr ec ti on , or th ey c an res u lt in fORR ECT IV E A DJU STM EN J,

i.e . th e rc rn ov a l of th e in a dequ a te Ieatu res of th e speech a c t.

Th e im po rta nt qu est io n is w h a t a re th e real so u rces of n eg a tiv e

ev a lu a ti on of spcc c h in purist ic cor rec ti on ac ts in d isc ou rse , Su ch



~ ~ - - ~ , - - - - - - ~ ~

214 r V. Neustupny

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F eatures w h ich do not agree w ith g enera l stra teg ies a lrea dy acceptedin th e language ar e negativcly evaluatedj It seerns Iik ely that sorne

gramrna ti c a l stra teg ies w ith in lan gu ages support lo a nw ord s w h ileot hers su ppor t indigenou - w ord form a tion . If so, som e ty pes of

pu risti c co rr ec tion w oul d hav e th eir m otiva tion in str a tcgi es a lr e ady

pr es en t in th e g ramma ti ca l s tru c tu re of th e lan g ua g e.

V ladimí r Skalick a, th e typolog ist o f th e Pr agu e Sc hoo l, h as c lai med

t hat la ng ua gc s in w hich th e "isolating'" type is stron g (F renc h , E ng lish ,

et c .) e as iJ y a dm it lo an w or ds, bec au se w ord 'for m a tio n u sing deriva tio n a l

suffix es or co rnpounds is no t hi gh ly developed . On the other h an d ,

lan g u a ges in w h ich th e "agglutinative" (e.g, Hunga r ian) o r "in fle c-

t iona l" type (e.g., Cz ech ) s tron g ly a ssert th ems elv es prefer word for -

m a tion tllf~ug h su f f ix a t ion or oth er p rocedu res , u sing in digenous :;I

lex ical elern ent s. T he "polysyn thetic " typc /(G erman or co nt empo ra ry

Ch in es e) fav ors co mpou nds w h ich ar e normal ly p rodu ce d from in -

di ge nous morphernes (S k a lick a 1979) .

Th is sc h em e m ay seern c ru de bu t th e g enera l id ea of b road str a teg ies

(g rar nm a ti ca l "typ es") w h ic h op era te in lang uages an d produce pa rti -

cu la r g ram rna tic a l ru les is un doubtedly co rr ec to It s app lica bilit y to

the a rea of word Ior rna tio n is a lso beyond an y do u bt. In deed , w e can

se e th a t H un gar ian , C zech , G erm an , an d Ch in es e possess very few

loa nw ords , w hi le th e Eng li sh and F rench lex ico n is ful l of L atin and

G reek w ords. O f cou rse , th e si tu a ti on is m ore corn pli ca ted in F rench

w hi ch a lso ha s a str on g m eta lin g ui sti c po li cy ag a in s t loa nw ord s even

so u rce s a re legi ti rn iz ed in va ri ou s w ays in pu ri st ic id iorn s , bu t here

ou r in teres t li es no t in th e Icg it ima tion s (I ac ts of th e id io rn ) bu t in

th e ac tu a l fa c ts o f discour se. Severa l types of th e rea l sou rces ca n be

es ta bl ished:

(1) S tru ct u ra l in co n g ru en ce in th e la n g u a g e sy stern

(2) L ac k o f stability

(3) Cornmu n ica ti vc in eff ec li ve ncs s

(4 ) H is tori c al impuri ty

(5) Foreign dcpendence and

(6) L ac k of di s tin c ti ve n ess.

Ea ch o f thes e types w ill be di sc u ss ed in m ore deta ll in th e fo llow in g

pa rt of th is paper,

2.1 S tru c tu ra l in cong ruence

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Language purism as o type of language correction 215

if in p ra c ti ce loan s ar e easily a ccorn rno da ted . T he g ra rnma t ica l p rin c ipi e

obviously ca nn o t ex p la in a ll: co rn pa re al so th e pur is tic C zech w ith

n on-pur isti c Po lis h or Russi an , a ll w ith él ve ry sim ila r ty po log ic a l

pr o fil e b ut d ifferen t degr ee s of pu rist ic corr ec ti on .

Stru c tu ra l in congrui t y alon g thes e lin es leads in som e lan gu ag es

to correct ive ad jus t rnents w hi ch remo v e (o r exc lu de through p re-

cor rec tion ) foreig n w ords. T h is n orm a l\y occu rs w i t hou t any meta-

l inguis tic a tte n tion by speakers, an d w ith ou t th e interf eren ce of any

soc iopolit ical ideology. It is not a ma tter th a t w ou ld be d isc u ss ed in the

cor nm un ities ch a ra c terized by pu rism o N ev ert heless , m uch of the G er-

m an , Cz ech o r H u ng arian pu risrn rn igh t h ave be en based on th is fa c tor.

On the ot her hand , th ere are ca ses of co rrec tive a dju strn en t basedon m eta lin gu is tic eva lu ation o f rea l o r a ssu med stru ctu ra l in co ng ru ity.

Th e lead in g Cze ch pu rist o f th e 19 205 an d 19:,: lOs, J. H a ller, pu rg ed

the w or d listovat 'to tu rn pag es (in a book )' bec au se it w as, in h is

op inion , fo nn ed in accordance with a G erm an sern an ti c prin c ip ie.

H e c la im ed tha t w h ile in verb s G erm an er nphas ise s h ow thin gs rea ct

to an ac tio n (hence th e elemen t list 'pa g e' in listovat, fo l \owing the

Ge rm an rnodel of Blatt'page' vs.

bldttern), Czec h verbs po in t to w ha tth e ac tin g person does, i.e., ta ke a more subjective, les s impersona l

stan ce . Jako bson (1932: 94) in c rit ic izin g F n ller, sh ow ed tha t th e

stru c tu ra l se man ti c pr in c ip Ie postula ted by H a \ler does no t exist .

T here is a h ost of examp les in w h ich Ge rm an verbs a re m ore subject ive

an d Czech ve rbs more im person a l. H ow ever, th ose w ho took H a ller's

vi ew m ark ed th e w ord listovat as in adequ a te an d ad ju sted it s u se in

di sc ou rse. s Th is is an ex ampl e of a m e t alin gu is tic s tru ctu ra l p rin c ip ie

w h ich (th ou gh w rong ) lea d s to a dju stm en ts in disc ou rse .

2. 2 L ack o fstabilit y

A n importan t sou rce of pu ris tic ac ts c an be id en tified in th e la ck of

stability of languag e m eans in the Ea rly M od ern perio do M any ad ju st-

m en t p roce sses w h ich be lo n g to th e rea lm of pu ri sm a re ac ts w h ich

sim ply co n fi rm th e in c ip ie n t m aj ori ty u sage agai n st an in filtra ting

(foreig n ) elem en t. H ow eve r, th e fa c t th a t th e elem en t m arked as in ade-

quat e is foreig n sh oul d be seen a s a co in ciden ce. It is d ele ted becau se

it do es not ag ree w ith u sag e, fa th er th an bec au se of its foreignn ess . -

F or in stan ce , th e aut ho ri ta ti ve Bru s jaz y ka éeskeho , pu blis hed in

1877 by a spec ia l committee of th e Matice Ceska (Brus 1877 ), con ta in s



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216 J. V. Neustupny

a large section called "Morphological Part" (Tvaroslovná cást) inwhich only a handful of corrective rules is directed against Germanínfluence" or defends a historicaIly older stage of language. 7 Mostof the correction adjustments requlred in the book aim at the stabili-

zation of actual usage.It is of course possible to argue that this type of stabilization which

is necessary if the language shaIl fulf il l its function as a Modern LiteraryLanguage is not a puristic correction. As stated above, discourse purismcannot be defined on its own: it includes correction processes which arereferred to as "puristic" when speakers cornmunicate about language.We should not easily dismiss the fact that the corrective adjustmentsquoted above are often legitrnized through a puristic idiorn and appearin what has generaIly been accepted by the society as puristic manuals.

Language purism as a type of language correction 217

is so despite the fact that Hungary's multilingual aristocracy hada substantial role in its formation.The requirement of equal access can either be promoted in the

interest of social equali ty of individuals or in the interest of economicor social development. In the former case, one argues that differentialaccess to untraditional elernents is unfair to some mernbers of thecornmunity. In the latter case, the concern of the purist is with thefact that unequal access to language hinders social and economicprogress of the cornmunity at large.This source of negative evaluation of "impurities" in language

mostly works without any accompanying metalinguistic theory anddoes not norrnally appear in the idiom of language purismo

2.4 Historical impurity

A puristic negative evaluation of language can also have its source ina d isagreement with an older stage of the sarne language. This canperhaps happen quite naturally and autornatically, i.e., without anyintervention of a metalinguistic idiom, in the case of philologists

whose competence in the historical variety is (almost) native. Norm lIy,the evaluation of language as inadequate because of historical impuritystarts in the idiorn: such evaluation has a strong syrnbolic rneaningand shows intirnate connections with a nationalistic ideology.

2.5tforeign dependence

Features of language and culture serve as syrnbols of association withcertain social realities and this relationship may be undesirable. Thisis the basis of the rnost widely recognized form of purismo Foreignelements are evaluated negatively not because they would be in dis-agreement with the character of the language, not because they would

be harrnful to the stability of the language, not because they wouldbe inaccessible to sorne parts of the population, or historically irnpure,but because they are foreign. This factor can perhaps occasionallywork in discourse without reference to idiorns anrl ideologies, butnorrnally it starts as ideological purism, is t ransferred to the idiom,and only then begins to operate in discourse.lt is interesting to note that the purging of foreign words is often

lirnited lo loans frorn a particular language only. For instance, most

2.3 Communicative ineffectivenesí

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Features of language that are unequal ly dist ributed in the cornmunity(limited to those with special education) may be ncgatively evaluated.

1n other words, some Ieatures of language may hinder cornrnunicativeeffectiveness. This fact can lead to corrective adjustment of foreign

" loans. The mild Iorrn of Czech purism of the 1950s and early 1960swhich I had the opportunity to experience myself seerncd to be atleast partly motivated by this factor. In my experience, this instaneeof purism was a result of social rather than political pressure.It may be true that Standard English, Russian or PoJish - all without

strong puristic tendencies - have been developed mostly by membersof an intelIectual class which, to a considerable extent, derived Irornthe highly educated upper classes of the resnective societies. Thesame is true of Japanese. On the other hand, one might argue thatStandard German or Czech are to ;¡ larger éxtent connected with thelower mid dle class, and that this accounts for the dislike of loanwordsin both. One could refer to the different perccntage of foreign 10al1-words in the German language in Germany (with stronger purism)and in Austria (with weaker puristic tendencies, ef. Clyne 1984: 100).However, even if the factor did work in all these cases, it could hardlybe c1aimed that it was the only decisive one. Notiee that Hungarianis a strongly puristic language, in which, apart from modern marx istterrninology, a casual foreign rcader cannot recognize a single word,because of the purely indigenous character of the vocabulary. This



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218 J. V. Neustupny

Czech purist literature of the end of the nineteenth century focusseson German words and German calques. Yet, at the time when theGerman elemcnts were successfully being eliminated, a considerablenumber of French words entered the language with an occasionalgrudge but without an effective counterpolicy. Loans f rom Latin,if removed at all, were removed because of the requi rement of corn-rnunicative efficiency, but not bccause they would be felt as syrnbols

of any unclesirable relationship.

2.6 Lack of distinctiveness

Another possible source of ncgative evaluation of language in puristicacts is the feeling of a need for distinctiveness. This is a factor differentfrom the fear of foreign dependence as defined above. The argumenthere is that since the language is a diffcrent language, i t i s only naturalthat it shall have its own dif ferent means of expression.The nced to express one's distinct identity in language should not

be undercstiruated.eOf course, in individual cases it may be difficullo separate it from the need to purgo foreign elements because they

serve as symbols of undesirablc ,'lalions. To what extent should one/ believe lhat occasional coinagc of a purely Slovak term, differentfrorn its Czech counterpart, is a case of "delirnitation", rather thanthe rernoval of an unwanted Czech connection?In summarizing discussions on purism at the 1976 Liblice conference

on the cultivation of language (Kuchar 1979) , Jelinek accepted thatdelimitative trends are likely to he retained by sorne smaller Slaviclanguages (e.g., Slovak) which are being strongly inlluenced by largerethnic groups. On the othcr hand, he concludes that within contern-porary Slavic languages "defensive" purism is already anachronisticand lacks any justification (Jelinek 1979).

3. Pu r isti c idiom s

Discourse correction can be effected without speaking about it at all.Speakers can correct without cornmunicating about such adiustmentsto anyone. Much of pre-corrective purisrn in contact situations is ofthis typc. For instance, when I speak Czech in Melbourne, I systernati-

Language purism as a type o[ language correction 219

cally pre-correct al! English words in my discourse, but 1have hardlyever cornrnunicated about this phenomenon with anyone.The next step up on the scale towards a full metalinguistic idiorn

is a formulation which says that the expression A is "incorrect" andshould be replaced by B. This is the most cornrnon principie used inmany puristic manuals. No reason is given for the correctness or in-correctness of the expressions concemed.

A m40restrongly metalinguistic approach is to explain why correctionis carr ied out. This can be done by using sorne words or routine for-

mulae (e.g., " irnpure", "foreign word", " influence of German"), orby articulating reasons in some detail.Finally, a puristic correction can also be comrnented upon in an

indirect way. The situation and the context, rather than an implicitfonnulation, becorne communicative in this case. For instance, a textmay not mention the problem of English loanwords in an explicitway, but a ll examples of "incorrect" expressions it gives may be Englishloans. This fact, together with a general context of anti -English purism(in language or other areas of culture), may constitute a very strongstatement within the metalinguistic idiom concerned.Metalinguistic staternents of the idiom rnay be statements which

support the negative evaluation of the corrected forrn, or the positiveevaluation of the correcting formo The former type includes statementssuch as " ... is of new orig in, with no basis in old documents and, more-over, unnecessary" (Brus 1877:11). The latter type covers such sta te-ments as "this word was used by VeleslavÍn as well as by Comenius",implying that the word must be good (Brus 1877:4).Preliminary analysis of the puristic idiom of the Brus jazyka ceskeho

indicates that:- Most puristic statements in the book are of the "incorrect" vs."correct" type.

- There are no routine labels which would be consistently usedthroughout the book to justify adjustments (such as, for instance,

germanismus "germanism" or ciz omluv "foreign word").- Positive evaluations outnumber negative ones.- Reference to foreignness and to a negative attitude to German isobviously played down, though it rnay be retrieved from the context.

- Reference to historical facts is often made, even if contemporaryusage isnormally preferred.The obvious question in this context is: what is the relationship

between discourse correction and the metalinguistic puristic idiom?

I



(

l

220 J. V Neustupny

The following tentative suggestions can be made:

l. Some sources of puristic adjustment (such as structural incongruity)

may play an important rolc in discourse purism without receivingany attention in the idiom.

2. Some sources of adjustment may be strongly emphasized in the

idíorn, without actually being used much in the correction processes.

In the author's view, the principle of historical purity works in

this way in the Brus jazyka ceskeho .3. As already mentioned above in the case of the factors of "historical

impurity" and "Ioreign dependence", purism may start in the

ideological or idiorn component and gradually transfer to discourse.

Speakers may then develop competence in labeting the use of "im-

pure" elements as inadequate without mucb recourse to the puristic

idiom or ideology. Of course, in some cases the ideology/idiom

processes rnay remain and accompany the processes of d iscourse

correction. This mixture of metalinguistic and linguistic factors is

a general characteristic of all correction processes.

If what I have suggested above is correct, two adjustments to our

thinking about purisrn will be necessary. Firstly, we must not confuse

what actually happens in discourse (discourse purisrn) with the wayspeople talk about it (puristic id iorn s) , The two phenomena do coincide

./ to a considerable extent, but in sorne instances they show important

differenccs. Secondly, the relationship between discourse purism

and puristic idiorns may vary characteristically in different types of

purismo For instance, while in the early stages of modernization the

metalinguistic idiom rnay play only a secondary role, in later stages

(such as the stage at which the Prague Linguistic Circle developed its

anti-puristic activities, cf. Ilavránek and Weingart 1932), purism may

be alrnost fully based on metalinguistic evaluations which lack any

real support in discourse inadequacies.

To those interested in the study of purism the phenornenon has

prirnarily been available through the idiom and the knowledge of

accornpanying ideologies (h a , 1he 1'11t;"f~ (and anti-purists) developed.Claims concerning the importance o] historical purity and tir e unde-

sirability 01 foreign elements were most strongly developed and

attracted the widest attention. Other [actors 01 the purist ic processes, as

outlined abolle, were neglected. Pllr¡SII/ \Vasmostly taken lo be what the

purists and anti-purists themselves thought and claimed it to be. One

of the airns of this paper is to show that actual intr-actíon should be

studied separately frorn the pronouncernents speakers rnake about it.

- ---_ _ .------- --_._--_._-~-

Language purism as a type o[ language co rrec tion 221

4. Ideologies of purism

Although ideologies are normally expressed in an idiorn, they are not

necessarily fu l Iy and correctly reflected in it. One cannot assurne that

people mean what they sayo

So me puristic movements may have a strong overt ideological back-

ground, while others rnay be based more on unconscious and unpo-litica l evaluat ions. The ideological background of purism rnay be of

an economic nature (defense of markets), it may be "political' (struggle

for political independence), or perhaps of a "cultural" character. An

inter es ting argument has been put forward by Jakobson (1932:121)

who claimed with regard to the Czech purism of the 1930s that its

ideological basis consisted in hostility towards modern society ingeneral.

Correct identification of the ideological values of a system of purism

is of considerable importance for its evaluation. The Modern (structural)

period of social thought often tended to give purism a predominantIy

negative evaluation. AII purism was unneccssary, deplorable, and in

most cases hannful. The attitude of the Prague School represented

in its sharpest form in the volurne Spisovna cestina a jat y kova kultura

(Havránek and Weingart 1932), is a good example. While it should be

admitted that the Prague School did contribute significantly to our

understanding of one particular type of purisrn, we cannot forgct

that its analysis was timited to a single historical spccimen of the

phenomenon.

The structuralistic attitude to purism stil1 survives. However, con-

temporary evaluations of purism should be based on a full analysis

of all the processes concemed and should explicitly sta te what criteria,

on whose behalf, are being ernployed (Neustupny 1983). The analysis

of purism in this paper has shown the great variety of factors involved

in the discourse processes of puristic correction. lt is impossible to

accept the simplistic assumption that all correction processes whichqualify for the designation "purisrn" are undcsirable and that this

negative evaluation rcpresents an "objective " judgement which

can be made on behalf of the whole socicty. We neeu a full analysis

of all factors involved in puristic correction in discourse and the idioms

and ideologies of purismo This analysis should include not merely

language conceived in the narrow traditional way as gramrnatical

cornpetence, but all non-grammatical processes of communication



\

222 J. V. Neustupny

anel human eulture in general. Of course, the final conclusion eannotbe attempted before we also understand the opposite proeess of Iinguis-tic internationalization (Befu 1983, Passin 1983) in all its eomplexityand variability.

Notes

./

l. W ei n ga rt g ives exar n pl es of th e hi s to ricizi ng pur ism in F re nch , C errn a n , and

Cz ech a rc hi tec ture of th e n ine tec n th cen tu ry, suc h a s S ain te Cha pelle , "o ld

Ce rrn an " hou ses in N íírnb erg , th e res toration of th e Cz ech ca stle Kar lstejn

and the princ ip Ie of "re st itu t io in int eg rum " th rough w hic h valuable la te r

additions to buildin g s h av e bee n destr oyed in the ínterest of "stylistic purity"(1 934 : 29). In m usic , We i ng ar t re fers to a tt ac k s on Sm eta n a bec ause of th e

non -Bohem ian cha ra cte r of hi s mus ic (34) , an obj ec ti on w hi ch app ea rs absu rd

Ir o rn th e co nt crn porary poi nl o f v ie w but w h ic h w a s oft en rai se d by Czech

cul tu ra l pur ists o f th e ni n e tee nt h ce n lu ry.

2. In a cc ord an cc w ith u su al prac ti ce in linguistics the t .e rm "speech" w ill be us ed

as a sur rog a te for "sp ee ch /wr i t i ng" a nd rc fers th u s bot h lo spok en and to

wr i t ten language .

3 . Th e aut hor ha s pa rt ly su gg ested th c d is l inc t ion already in 1970 w hen h e s poke

of a di fferenl depth o f d if feren t insta nce s of lan g u ag e lr ealm enl (cf . N eu st upny

1978 :259 ). A "surface" account based on fo lk tax onomies and other acceptedw ays of speaki n g abo ut la n g uag e pr obl ems h as lit tle dep t h. Th is is w h at w it hin

a w ide r frame w ork ca n 1l0W be describ ed as a fac t o f th e id io m . F or in sta nc e ,

in va rieli es of Japan es e la ng uag e tr eat men t w hic h re ly on surfa c e ac coun ts,

a ll la n gu ag c pr obl ern s a re u sua lly exprcs sed as pr obl em s of th e sc r ipt. On a

"deeper" lcvel, i.e., thc lev el o f w h a l a c t ua lly h ap pcn s in d isco urse , they appearas prob lern s ra ng in g from stylis t ic a n d lcxi ca l lo ph onologi c al issu es (cf .

Ne ustu pny 1978 :25 9).

4. Skalicka's typ o log y , a lt ho u g h u sin g CJ;,~~ic1 1 lc rmin olog y such a s "isolation","agg lu ti n a t ion", "inf lec ti on ", etc. diffe rs ra di ca lly from its 191h cen tu ry pre-

de cessors, Fo r ins tan ce , fo r Skali éka , m ore th an on e type ca n be present in

th e sar n e la n g u age (cf . Ska l icka 19 79 , N e us iup ny 1978).

5. Su ch peo p le re m ain ed in the mi no rity . To day , th e ver b listovat is g en er a ll y

us ed a n d doe s not c arry a n y n eg a tive ev alu a ti on at a ll .

6 . The possibility of a G errna n inf lu en ce in the gr am m ar of Czech is o f cou rseve ry rern ot e. Th e onl y c lea r case in the Brus (p . 10) is th e re jec tio n of Marie

Wagner in fav our of Marie Wag/lerová.

7. Restora tion of an o ld cr u sage is onl y req u ire d in a coup le of ca ses an d in ea c h

of th ern th ere is a n ad d it i onal n on -h is tor ica l reason (suc h as th e lo ss o f c om o

rn u n ica tive di sti n c tio n ) w hi c h a c corn pa ni es th e h is lor ica l arg ur n ent .

\

Language pur ism asa type of language correction 223

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