My purpose requires me to advert in these alleged secondary uses of
language, not, however, for the view of counter-arguing them, but rather
in order to indicate what seems to me the true mode of bringing them to
the proof.
The most usual phraseology for describing the indirect benefit of
languages is, that they supply a _training_ to the powers of the mind;
that, if not information, they are _culture_; that they re-act upon our
mastery of our own language, and so on. It is quite necessary, however,
to find phrases more definite and tangible than the slippery words
"culture" and "training": we must know precisely what particular powers
or aptitudes are increased by the study of a foreign language.
Nevertheless, the conclusions set forth in this paper do not require me
to work out an exhaustive review of these advantages. It is enough to
give as many as will serve for examples.
Now, it must be freely admitted as a possible case, that a practice
introduced in the first instance for a particular purpose, may be found
applicable to many other purposes; so much so, that, ceasing to be
employed for the original use, the practice may be kept up for the sake
of the after uses. For example, clothing was no doubt primarily
contrived for warmth; but it is not now confined to that: decoration or
ornament, distinction of sexes, ranks and offices, modesty--are also
attained by means of clothes. This example is a suggestive one. We have
only to suppose ourselves migrating to some African climate, where
clothing for warmth is absolutely dispensed with. We should not on that
account adopt literal nudity--we should still desire to maintain those
other advantages. The artistic decoration of the person would continue
to be thought of; and, as no amount of painting and tattooing, with
strings of beads superadded, would answer to our ideal of personal
elegance, we should have recourse to some light filmy textures, such as
would allow the varieties of drapery, colours, and design, and show off
the poetry of motion; we should also indicate the personal differences
that we were accustomed to show by vesture. But now comes the point of
the moral; we should not maintain our close heavy fabrics, our
great-coats, shawls and cloaks. These would cease with the need for
them. Perhaps the first emigrants would keep up the prejudice for their
warm things, but not so their successors.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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