Ever since I was a freshman in college, I have been presented with the argument that language is dying. No more are our children, students, Public, whomever, capable of understanding the intricacies of the English language. They no longer understand the ten dollar words spoken by learned individuals whose sole purpose is to communicate their knowledge to those of us less fortunate than they. To this I say to them, with all sincerity…big deal.
I’m by no means saying that we should eliminate the acquisition of knowledge. What I argue is that we need to expedite our language to increase the efficiency, and speed at which we acquire knowledge. For that to happen it will be required for us to transform the language in a way that will enable our brains to acquire more information in that shorter period of time.
I was recently privy to a conversation where a couple was discussing how terrible it was that their students could not spell. They seemed to be using the abbreviations used when texting on a phone. U, instead of you. R instead of are. You get the idea. It infuriated them that these kids wouldn’t use the whole word when writing papers. They were so used to the shortened, abbreviated version, that the longer one was no longer in their lexicon. Languages evolve. If you don’t believe me, then you might want to pick up a copy of Chaucer in the original middle-English: “Thanne telleth here speche and al the blysse.” I have long believed that using 12 words when 2 will do is a waste of time. I could care less that someone texts to me, “How r u, rather than How are you.”
Like many things, language is an evolution of knowledge. If we, as a species, are to evolve, then our language has to evolve as well. If that wasn’t the case we’d still be speaking like Chaucer. As the computer age grows larger, and as knowledge expands, it is only logical that language will have to evolve to accommodate the need to read more information in a shorter period of time. If that means we need to alter spellings to increase efficiency, I’m all for it. However, if you think that we should spend endless hours learning the spellings of words long dying, or dead, then more power to ya. I’m sure there’s an Amish family that will be more than happy to take you in.