The Language of Persuasion
Jane Austen was born to an intellectual father who encouraged his daughters to learn, read, and write with a great degree of freedom and curiosity. Because Austen was given this freedom, she was able to experiment with writing in such a way that would hone her literary talents and voice that are characterized by her wit, intelligence, and keen observance of social flux. If all this were not enough, Austen is also a direct contributor to English vocabulary and perhaps an unwitting record-keeper of ongoing changes in the English language. In all of her novels, Austen demonstrates that English is a highly flexible, creative language.
Persuasion is the story of Anne Elliot, the middle daughter of a family whose fortunes have fallen on hard times because of her father’s and her oldest sister’s vanity and pride. Anne, unlike the rest of her family, is prudent and kind. Because her family does not understand these characteristics, Anne is unloved and unappreciated at home. When Anne is eighteen, a family friend, and the only person who shows affection for Anne, persuades Anne to refuse a marriage proposal from Frederick Wentworth. Anne regrets her decision and she spends the next ten years thinking of Captain Wentworth and what might have been as she continues to “lose her bloom”. Then, fate throws them together again and the question becomes: Will Anne and Wentworth reunite in love?
In Persuasion alone, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) records six words that were recorded in print for the first time (outlined below). Austen and her social circle may have been using the methods outlined below in their daily speech already, and Austen merely recorded them naturally in her prose, or Austen created words in order to communicate voice and character to the reader. It must be said that her purpose certainly was not of the inkhorn variety.
Functional Shifts
“He drew, he varnished, he carpentered” (99). Austen changes “carpenter,” which was formerly a noun, into a verb to which she added the past tense morpheme –ed. I suspect that she chose to do this for parallelism and brevity. Considering the context, the reader likely had no problem considering carpenter as a verb. The use of carpenter as a verb continues today.
“That cousinly little interview” (106). Again, Austen changes the part of speech by taking the noun “cousin” and making it an adjective. Though we virtually never hear or read the word “cousinly” today, we would not be confused if someone used it because English speakers often use productive derivational morphemes (adding affixes to existing words) to create temporary words. This will be discussed further below. In fact, if we look at it through the eyes of analogy, it makes perfect sense—if you can be brotherly, why not cousinly?
“Mrs. Charles's nursery-maid…is always upon the gad.” Gad has an interesting history. Austen uses gad as a noun, but it was normally a verb meaning “to wander with no serious object”. However, “gad” is thought to be a backformation of the word “gadling” which first meant “a companion” but later pejorated to mean “a vagabond”. (The backformation would have come from gad meaning vagabond.) In this context, gad may even have begun as slang.
Compounds
“Lady Russell could not hear the door-bell.” Here Austen creates a new noun by compounding two nouns. Of course, in Austen’s day, a door-bell would have been a rope attached to a bell, but speakers of American English still use “doorbell” for a modern device that serves the same function as Austen’s door-bell. Austen’s creation of door-bell is also a record of how language changes, which I will discuss below.
Affixes
“Feelings…too strict to suit the unfeudal tone of the present day” (136). By adding the prefix un-, Austen negates the adjective “feudal”. According to the OED, Austen is the first and last author to use “unfeudal” in print, but this is not surprising. Even today in regular conversation, English speakers use productive derivational morphemes to create words like “unfeudal” for emphasis, for humor, or for lack of better phrasing. Some examples may include words such as uncool or unfunny. Of course, this type of application of affixes is used with affixes other than un-: seven-ish, broken-ish, purpley, and as above, cousinly.
“The mansion of the squire,…substantial and unmodernized.” This is another example of a temporary word created by Austen. I think that “unmodernized” is used as a gentle euphemism for old-fashioned, but it still draws attention to the fact that the mansion is old-fashioned. Very clever, indeed.
In “Persuasion” there are several characters that are members of the British Navy. Accordingly, Austen uses Navy jargon or slang in the characters’ day-to-day conversations to add depth and color to her characters.
“Yes, yes, we will have a snug walk together.” (166) Snug refers to a ship that is neat, compact, and properly prepared for bad weather.
“I wish Frederick would spread a little more canvas, and bring us home one of these young ladies to Kellynch.” (92) Of course, to spread a little more canvas means to release more sails in order to pick up speed.
“He does not give the least fling at Benwick.” (169) At different intervals in English history, fling is used in relation to the motion of the sea and to casting a fishing line or nets.
“But James Benwick is rather too piano for me.” (168) Piano is not navy jargon, but it is worth noting. Piano was borrowed from French as a noun to refer to the instrument, but piano was borrowed from Italian as an adjective that refers to playing the piano softly and quietly. Piano then became an idiomatic expression to describe a subdued and reserved person.
Other Compounds & Affixes
Austen offers up in her prose small pictures of how English was changing. For instance, “for ever” (237), “every body” (131), and ‘any body” (27) are presented open compounds, but “somebody” (193) and “nobody” (34) are closed compounds. If these compounds were anything like the “all right” versus “alright” debate today, the process of moving to closed compounds was probably a difficult one that made perscriptivists howl and gnash their teeth.
Like door-bell mentioned above, to-morrow (154), head-ache (78), hazel-nut (88), school-fellows (154), and scare-crows (138) are just a few of the examples of open compound nouns that have adopted hyphens on their way to closing completely. Today, compounding may be the most productive way that English speakers gain new vocabulary.
As demonstrated above, Austen is very comfortable using productive derivational morphemes. Just a few examples include: re-established (150), re-kindled (150), re-commencing (185), re-settling (186), re-urge (227), and re-entered (241).
Comparatives & Supurlatives
Another snapshot that Austen captures involves comparatives and superlatives. Today, there are specific syllabic rules regarding the use of comparatives and superlatives. However, Austen leaves a record that shows that we did not start out with these rules. “I believe Mrs. Charles is not quite pleased with my not inviting them oftener” (46). “You, who have not a mother’s feelings, are a great deal the properest person” (58).
Sentence Structure
Yet another record of language change in Persuasion involves sentence structure. “Anne herself was become hardened to such affronts” (35) feels odd because it uses “be” instead of the auxiliary “have” to create the past perfect tense. Instead we might say, “Anne had become hardened to such affronts.”
“But what a thing here is, by way of a boat” (165). This structure is so foreign that today we might reword it completely, instead staying something like “Look at this strange picture of a boat.”
Through Persuasion alone, we can see that Austen’s contributions to English are significant and undeniable. But her most valuable contribution may be her playful display of creativity with language. She demonstrates that English is a highly flexible language that becomes better as it grows and changes, adding color and depth to our communication.
Works Cited
Austen, Jane. Persuasion.
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