The American Language

The American Language Summary | Chapter 1.1 Summary

In the first introductory chapter, author H. L. Mencken begins by quoting Thomas Jefferson, who foresaw a "new American dialect," based on new circumstances that would call for "new words, new phrases, and for the transfer of old words to new objects." Mencken then takes the concept of an inevitably changing language back to Noah Webster's theories that held similar predictions based on "a new country, new associations of people, new combinations of ideas in arts and sciences, and some intercourse with tribes wholly unknown in Europe. The author introduces his approach to English by discussing the trends of language development and its nature to change based on the evolution of people speaking that language.

Americans now know more about England and therefore more about how English evolves because they read more, learn more from newspapers, and travel more than did early Americans. Mencken concedes that his book is not based on "known laws of language" and does not work to prevent divergences he writes about. Rather, his book points out erroneous theories and false inferences Americans used to teach grammar and uphold the laws of standard English. The writer acknowledges that this artificial language matches in stateliness the ancient Latin, serves teachers and orators well, and furthers the endeavors of writers. At the same time, for the average American, English is remote and vague at best. The average speaker, he says, does not learn from professors the language he or she knows and speaks but "a dialect that stands quite outside [his/her] common experience."