The Complete Novels Of George Orwell Part 75

In addition, any wordthis again applied in principle to every word in the languagecould be negatived by adding the affix un un-, or could be strengthened by the affix plus plus-, or, for still greater emphasis, doubleplus doubleplus-. Thus, for example, uncold uncold meant 'warm', while meant 'warm', while pluscold pluscold and and doublepluscold doublepluscold meant, respectively 'very cold' and 'superlatively cold'. It was also possible, as in present-day English, to modify the meaning of almost any word by prepositional affixes such as meant, respectively 'very cold' and 'superlatively cold'. It was also possible, as in present-day English, to modify the meaning of almost any word by prepositional affixes such as ante-, post-, up-, down ante-, post-, up-, down-, etc. By such methods it was found possible to bring about an enormous diminution of vocabulary. Given, for instance, the word good good, there was no need for such a word as bad bad, since the required meaning was equally wellindeed, betterexpressed by ungood ungood. All that was necessary, in any case where two words formed a natural pair of opposites, was to decide which of them to suppress. Dark Dark, for example, could be replaced by unlight unlight, or light light by by undark undark, according to preference.

The second distinguishing mark of Newspeak grammar was its regularity. Subject to a few exceptions which are mentioned below all inflexions followed the same rules. Thus, in all verbs the preterite and the past participle were the same and ended in -ed. The preterite of steal steal was was stealed stealed, the preterite of think think was was thinked thinked, and so on throughout the language, all such forms as swam, gave, brought, spoke, taken swam, gave, brought, spoke, taken, etc., being abolished. All plurals were made by adding -s or - or -es as the case might be. The plurals of as the case might be. The plurals of man, ox, life man, ox, life, were mans, oxes, lifes mans, oxes, lifes. Comparison of adjectives was invariably made by adding -er, -est (good, gooder, goodest), irregular forms and the more, most more, most formation being suppressed. formation being suppressed.

The only cla.s.ses of words that were still allowed to inflect irregularly were the p.r.o.nouns, the relatives, the demonstrative adjectives, and the auxiliary verbs. All of these followed their ancient usage, except that whom whom had been sc.r.a.pped as unnecessary, and the had been sc.r.a.pped as unnecessary, and the shall, should shall, should tenses had been dropped, all their uses being covered by tenses had been dropped, all their uses being covered by will will and and would would. There were also certain irregularities in word-formation arising out of the need for rapid and easy speech. A word which was difficult to utter, or was liable to be incorrectly heard, was held to be ipso facto ipso facto a bad word: occasionally, therefore, for the sake of euphony, extra letters were inserted into a word or an archaic formation was retained. But this need made itself felt chiefly in connexion with the B vocabulary. a bad word: occasionally, therefore, for the sake of euphony, extra letters were inserted into a word or an archaic formation was retained. But this need made itself felt chiefly in connexion with the B vocabulary. Why Why so great an importance was attached to ease of p.r.o.nunciation will be made clear later in this essay. so great an importance was attached to ease of p.r.o.nunciation will be made clear later in this essay.

The B vocabulary. The B vocabulary consisted of words which had been deliberately constructed for political purposes: words, that is to say, which not only had in every case a political implication, but were intended to impose a desirable mental att.i.tude upon the person using them. Without a full understanding of the principles of Ingsoc it was difficult to use these words correctly. In some cases they could be translated into Oldspeak, or even into words taken from the A vocabulary, but this usually demanded a long paraphrase and always involved the loss of certain overtones. The B words were a sort of verbal shorthand, often packing whole ranges of ideas into a few syllables, and at the same time more accurate and forcible than ordinary language.

The B words were in all cases compound words.* They consisted of two or more words, or portions of words, welded together in an easily p.r.o.nounceable form. The resulting amalgam was always a noun-verb, and inflected according to the ordinary rules. To take a single example: the word They consisted of two or more words, or portions of words, welded together in an easily p.r.o.nounceable form. The resulting amalgam was always a noun-verb, and inflected according to the ordinary rules. To take a single example: the word goodthink goodthink, meaning; very roughly, 'orthodoxy', or, if one chose to regard it as a verb, 'to think in an orthodox manner'. This inflected as follows: noun-verb, goodthink goodthink; past tense and past participle, goodthinked goodthinked; present participle, goodthinking goodthinking; adjective, goodthinkful; goodthinkful; adverb, adverb, goodthinkwise; goodthinkwise; verbal noun, verbal noun, goodthinker goodthinker.

The B words were not constructed on any etymological plan. The words of which they were made up could be any parts of speech, and could be placed in any order and mutilated in any way which made them easy to p.r.o.nounce while indicating their derivation. In the word crimethink crimethink (thoughtcrime), for instance, the (thoughtcrime), for instance, the think think came second, whereas in came second, whereas in thinkpol thinkpol (Thought Police) it came first, and in the latter word (Thought Police) it came first, and in the latter word police police had lost its second syllable. Because of the greater difficulty in securing euphony, irregular formations were commoner in the B vocabulary than in the A vocabulary. For example, the adjective forms of had lost its second syllable. Because of the greater difficulty in securing euphony, irregular formations were commoner in the B vocabulary than in the A vocabulary. For example, the adjective forms of Minitrue, Minipax Minitrue, Minipax, and Miniluv Miniluv were, respectively, were, respectively, Minitruthful, Minipeaceful Minitruthful, Minipeaceful and and Minilovely Minilovely, simply because -trueful, paxful, and -loveful. were slightly awkward to p.r.o.nounce. In principle, however, all B words could inflect, and all inflected in exactly the same way.

Some of the B words had highly subtilized meanings, barely intelligible to anyone who had not mastered the language as a whole. Consider, for example, such a typical sentence from a Times Times leading article as leading article as Oldthinkers unbellyfeel Ingsoc Oldthinkers unbellyfeel Ingsoc. The shortest rendering that one could make of this in Oldspeak would be: 'Those whose ideas were formed before the Revolution cannot have a full emotional understanding of the principles of English Socialism.' But this is not adequate translation. To begin with, in order to grasp the full meaning of the Newspeak sentence quoted above, one would have to have a clear idea of what is meant by Ingsoc Ingsoc. And in addition, only a person thoroughly grounded in Ingsoc could appreciate the full force of the word bellyfeel bellyfeel, which implied a blind, enthusiastic acceptance difficult to imagine today; or of the word oldthink oldthink, which was inextricably mixed up with the idea of wickedness and decadence. But the special function of certain Newspeak words, of which oldthink oldthink. was one, was not so much to express meanings as to destroy them. These words, necessarily few in number, had had their meanings extended until they contained within themselves whole batteries of words which, as they were sufficiently covered by a single comprehensive term, could now be sc.r.a.pped and forgotten. The greatest difficulty facing the compilers of the Newspeak Dictionary was not to invent new words, but, having invented them, to make sure what they meant: to make sure, that is to say, what ranges of words they cancelled by their existence.

As we have already seen in the case of the word free free, words which had once borne a heretical meaning were sometimes retained for the sake of convenience, but only with the undesirable meanings purged out of them. Countless other words such as honour, justice, morality, internationalism, democracy, science honour, justice, morality, internationalism, democracy, science, and religion religion had simply ceased to exist. A few blanket words covered them, and, in covering them, abolished them. All words grouping themselves round the concepts of liberty and equality, for instance, were contained in the single word had simply ceased to exist. A few blanket words covered them, and, in covering them, abolished them. All words grouping themselves round the concepts of liberty and equality, for instance, were contained in the single word crimethink crimethink, while all words grouping themselves round the concepts of objectivity and rationalism were contained in the single word oldthink oldthink. Greater precision would have been dangerous. What was required in a Party member was an outlook similar to that of the ancient Hebrew who knew, without knowing much else, that all nations other than his own worshipped 'false G.o.ds'. He did not need to know that these G.o.ds were called Baal, Osiris, Moloch, Ashtaroth, and the like: probably the less he knew about them the better for his orthodoxy. He knew Jehovah and the commandments of Jehovah: he knew, therefore, that all G.o.ds with other names or other attributes were false G.o.ds. In somewhat the same way, the Party member knew what const.i.tuted right conduct, and in exceedingly vague, generalized terms he knew what kinds of departure from it were possible. His s.e.xual life, for example, was entirely regulated by the two Newspeak words s.e.xcrime s.e.xcrime (s.e.xual immorality) and (s.e.xual immorality) and goods.e.x goods.e.x (chast.i.ty). (chast.i.ty). s.e.xcrime s.e.xcrime. covered all s.e.xual misdeeds whatever. It covered fornication, adultery, h.o.m.os.e.xuality, and other perversions, and, in addition, normal intercourse practised for its own sake. There was no need to enumerate them separately, since they were all equally culpable, and, in principle, all punishable by death. In the C vocabulary, which consisted of scientific and technical words, it might be necessary to give specialized names to certain s.e.xual aberrations, but the ordinary citizen had no need of them. He knew what was meant by goods.e.xthat goods.e.xthat is to say, normal intercourse between man and wife, for the sole purpose of begetting children, and without physical pleasure on the part of the woman: all else was is to say, normal intercourse between man and wife, for the sole purpose of begetting children, and without physical pleasure on the part of the woman: all else was s.e.xcrime s.e.xcrime. In Newspeak it was seldom possible to follow a heretical thought further than the perception that it was was heretical: beyond that point the necessary words were non-existent. heretical: beyond that point the necessary words were non-existent.

No word in the B vocabulary was ideologically neutral. A great many were euphemisms. Such words, for instance, as joycamp joycamp (forced-labour camp) or (forced-labour camp) or minipax minipax (Ministry of Peace, i.e. Ministry of War) meant almost the exact opposite of what they appeared to mean. Some words, on the other hand, displayed a frank and contemptuous understanding of the real nature of Oceanic society. An example was (Ministry of Peace, i.e. Ministry of War) meant almost the exact opposite of what they appeared to mean. Some words, on the other hand, displayed a frank and contemptuous understanding of the real nature of Oceanic society. An example was prolefeed prolefeed, meaning the rubbishy entertainment and spurious news which the Party handed out to the ma.s.ses. Other words, again, were ambivalent, having the connotation 'good' when applied to the Party and 'bad' when applied to its enemies. But in addition there were great numbers of words which at first sight appeared to be mere abbreviations and which derived their ideological colour not from their meaning, but from their structure.

So far as it could be contrived, everything that had or might have political significance of any kind was fitted into the B vocabulary. The name of every organization, or body of people, or doctrine, or country, or inst.i.tution, or public building, was invariably cut down into the familiar shape; that is, a single easily p.r.o.nounced word with the smallest number of syllables that would preserve the original derivation. In the Ministry of Truth, for example, the Records Department, in which Winston Smith worked, was called Recdep Recdep, the Fiction Department was called Ficdep Ficdep, the Tele-programmes Department was called Teledep Teledep, and so on. This was not done solely with the object of saving time. Even in the early decades of the twentieth century, telescoped words and phrases had been one of the characteristic features of political language; and it had been noticed that the tendency to use abbreviations of this kind was most marked in totalitarian countries and totalitarian organizations. Examples were such words as n.a.z.i n.a.z.i, Gestapo, Comintern, Inprecorr, Agitprop Gestapo, Comintern, Inprecorr, Agitprop. In the beginning the practice had been adopted as it were instinctively, but in Newspeak it was used with a conscious purpose. It was perceived that in thus abbreviating a name one narrowed and subtly altered its meaning, by cutting out most of the a.s.sociations that would otherwise cling to it. The words Communist International Communist International, for instance, call up a composite picture of universal human brotherhood, red flags, barricades, Karl Marx, and the Paris Commune. The word Comintern Comintern, on the other hand, suggests merely a tightly knit organization and a well-defined body of doctrine. It refers to something almost as easily recognized, and as limited in purpose, as a chair or a table. Comintern Comintern is a word that can be uttered almost without taking thought, whereas is a word that can be uttered almost without taking thought, whereas Communist International Communist International is a phrase over which one is obliged to linger at least momentarily. In the same way, the a.s.sociations called up by a word like is a phrase over which one is obliged to linger at least momentarily. In the same way, the a.s.sociations called up by a word like Minitrue Minitrue are fewer and more controllable than those called up by are fewer and more controllable than those called up by Ministry of Truth Ministry of Truth. This accounted not only for the habit of abbreviating whenever possible, but also for the almost exaggerated care that was taken to make every word easily p.r.o.nounceable.

In Newspeak, euphony outweighed every consideration other than exact.i.tude of meaning. Regularity of grammar was always sacrificed to it when it seemed necessary. And rightly so, since what was required, above all for political purposes, was short clipped words of unmistakable meaning which could be uttered rapidly and which roused the minimum of echoes in the speaker's mind. The words of the B vocabulary even gained in force from the fact that nearly all of them were very much alike. Almost invariably these wordsgoodthink, Minipax, prolefeed, s.e.xcrime, joycamp, Ingsoc, bellyfeel, thinkpol, and countless others were words of two or three syllables, with the stress distributed equally between the first syllable and the last. The use of them encouraged a gabbling style of speech, at once staccato and monotonous. And this was exactly what was aimed at. The intention was to make speech, and especially speech on any subject not ideologically neutral, as nearly as possible independent of consciousness. For the purposes of everyday life it was no doubt necessary, or sometimes necessary, to reflect before speaking, but a Party member called upon to make a political or ethical judgment should be able to spray forth the correct opinions as automatically as a machine-gun spraying forth bullets. His training fitted him to do this, the language gave him an almost foolproof instrument, and the texture of the words, with their harsh sound and a certain wilful ugliness which was in accord with the spirit of Ingsoc, a.s.sisted the process still further.

So did the fact of having very few words to choose from. Relative to our own, the Newspeak vocabulary was tiny, and new ways of reducing it were constantly being devised. Newspeak, indeed, differed from most all other languages in that its vocabulary grew smaller instead of larger every year. Each reduction was a gain, since the smaller the area of choice, the smaller the temptation to take thought. Ultimately it was hoped to make articulate speech issue from the larynx without involving the higher brain centres at all. This aim was frankly admitted in the Newspeak word duckspeak duckspeak, meaning 'to quack like a duck'. Like various other words in the B vocabulary, duckspeak duckspeak was ambivalent in meaning. Provided that the opinions which were quacked out were orthodox ones, it implied nothing but praise, and when was ambivalent in meaning. Provided that the opinions which were quacked out were orthodox ones, it implied nothing but praise, and when The Times The Times referred to one of the orators of the Party as a referred to one of the orators of the Party as a doubleplusgood duckspeaker doubleplusgood duckspeaker it was paying a warm and valued compliment. it was paying a warm and valued compliment.

The C vocabulary. The C vocabulary was supplementary to the others and consisted entirely of scientific and technical terms. These resembled the scientific terms in use today, and were constructed from the same roots, but the usual care was taken to define them rigidly and strip them of undesirable meanings. They followed the same grammatical rules as the words in the other two vocabularies. Very few of the C words had any currency either in everyday speech or in political speech. Any scientific worker or technician could find all the words he needed in the list devoted to his words occurring in the other lists. Only a very few words were common to all lists, and there was no vocabulary expressing the function of Science as a habit of mind, or a method of thought, irrespective of its particular branches. There was, indeed, no word for 'Science', any meaning that it could possibly bear being already sufficiently covered by the word Ingsoc Ingsoc.

From the foregoing account it will be seen that in Newspeak the expression of unorthodox opinions, above a very low level, was well-nigh impossible. It was of course possible to utter heresies of a very crude kind, a species of blasphemy. It would have been possible, for example, to say Big Brother is ungood Big Brother is ungood. But this statement, which to an orthodox ear merely conveyed a self-evident absurdity, could not have been sustained by reasoned argument, because the necessary words were not available. Ideas inimical to Ingsoc could only be entertained in a vague wordless form, and could only be named in very broad terms which lumped together and condemned whole groups of heresies without defining them in doing so. One could, in fact, only use Newspeak for unorthodox purposes by illegitimately translating some of the words back into Oldspeak. For example, All mans are equal All mans are equal was a possible Newspeak sentence, but only in the same sense in which was a possible Newspeak sentence, but only in the same sense in which All men are redhaired All men are redhaired is a possible Oldspeak sentence. It did not contain a grammatical error, but it expressed a palpable untruthi.e. that all men are of equal size, weight, or strength. The concept of political equality no longer existed, and this secondary meaning had accordingly been purged out of the word is a possible Oldspeak sentence. It did not contain a grammatical error, but it expressed a palpable untruthi.e. that all men are of equal size, weight, or strength. The concept of political equality no longer existed, and this secondary meaning had accordingly been purged out of the word equal equal. In 1984, when Oldspeak was still the normal means of communication, the danger theoretically existed that in using Newspeak words one might remember their original meanings. In practice it was not difficult for any person well grounded in doublethink doublethink to avoid doing this, but within a couple of generations even the possibility of such a lapse would have vanished. A person growing up with Newspeak as his sole language would no more know that to avoid doing this, but within a couple of generations even the possibility of such a lapse would have vanished. A person growing up with Newspeak as his sole language would no more know that equal equal had once had the secondary meaning of 'politically equal', or that had once had the secondary meaning of 'politically equal', or that free free had once meant 'intellectually free', than for instance, a person who had never heard of chess would be aware of the secondary meanings attaching to had once meant 'intellectually free', than for instance, a person who had never heard of chess would be aware of the secondary meanings attaching to queen queen and and rook rook. There would be many crimes and errors which it would be beyond his power to commit, simply because they were nameless and therefore unimaginable. And it was to be foreseen that with the pa.s.sage of time the distinguishing characteristics of Newspeak would become more and more p.r.o.nouncedits words growing fewer and fewer, their meanings more and more rigid, and the chance of putting them to improper uses always diminishing.

When Oldspeak had been once and for all superseded, the last link with the past would have been severed. History had already been rewritten, but fragments of the literature of the past survived here and there, imperfectly censored, and so long as one retained one's knowledge of Oldspeak it was possible to read them. In the future such fragments, even if they chanced to survive, would be unintelligible and untranslatable. It was impossible to translate any pa.s.sage of Oldspeak into Newspeak unless it either referred to some technical process or some very simple everyday action, or was already orthodox (goodthinkful would be the Newspeak expression) in tendency. In practice this meant that no book written before approximately 1960 could be translated as a whole. Pre-revolutionary literature could only be subjected to ideological translationthat is, alteration in sense as well as language. Take for example the well-known pa.s.sage from the Declaration of Independence: would be the Newspeak expression) in tendency. In practice this meant that no book written before approximately 1960 could be translated as a whole. Pre-revolutionary literature could only be subjected to ideological translationthat is, alteration in sense as well as language. Take for example the well-known pa.s.sage from the Declaration of Independence: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are inst.i.tuted among men, deriving their powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of Government becomes destructive of those ends, it is the right of the People to alter or abolish it and to inst.i.tute new Government....

It would have been quite impossible to render this into Newspeak while keeping to the sense of the original. The nearest one could come to doing so would be to swallow the whole pa.s.sage up in the single word crimethink crimethink. A full translation could only be an ideological translation, whereby Jefferson's words would be changed into a panegyric on absolute government.

A good deal of the literature of the past was, indeed, already being transformed in this way. Considerations of prestige made it desirable to preserve the memory of certain historical figures, while at the same time bringing their achievements into line with the philosophy of Ingsoc. Various writers, such as Shakespeare, Milton, Swift, Byron, d.i.c.kens, and some others were therefore in process of translation: when the task had been completed, their original writings, with all else that survived of the literature of the past, would be destroyed. These translations were a slow and difficult business, and it was not expected that they would be finished before the first or second decade of the twenty-first century. There were also large quant.i.ties of merely utilitarian literatureindispensable technical manuals, and the likethat had to be treated in the same way. It was chiefly in order to allow time for the preliminary work of translation that the final adoption of Newspeak had been fixed for so late a date as 2050.

* Newspeak was the official language of Oceania. For an account of its structure and etymology see Appendix. Newspeak was the official language of Oceania. For an account of its structure and etymology see Appendix.

*Compound words, such as speakwrite speakwrite, were of course to be found in the A vocabulary, but these were merely convenient abbreviations and had no special ideological colour.