Tolkien scholar: JRRT avoided words with French or Latin origins

[Clark_K]

@Andy_L

Indeed. When a German publisher wrote him asking if he was “Aryan,” (between the wars) Tolkien’s first draft of a response was:

“I regret that I am not clear as to what you intend by ‘arisch’. I am not of Aryan extraction: that is Indo-Iranian; as far as I am aware none of my ancestors spoke Hindustani, Persian, Gypsy, or any related dialects. … But if I am to understand that you are enquiring whether I am of Jewish origin, I can only reply that I regret that I appear to have no ancestors of that gifted people. … I have been accustomed, nonetheless, to regard my German name with pride, and continued to do so throughout the period of the late regrettable war, in which I served in the English army. I cannot, however, forbear to comment that if impertinent and irrelevant inquiries of this sort are to become the rule in matters of literature, then the time is not far distant when a German name will no longer be a source of pride.”

Wow. This is a great quote! Way to go, Professor.

[Elendil_s_Heir]

Heh. Leave it to the Professor to bitch-slap the Nazis in so cultured yet disdainful a way.

[Giles]

@Elendil_s_Heir

Heh. Leave it to the Professor to bitch-slap the Nazis in so cultured yet disdainful a way.

I especially like his inclusion of Gypsy among the Aryan languages. He could not have know that Gypsies would be included in the Holocaust, but he would have known that the Germans (like the English) would have been more prejudiced against Gypsies than against Jews.

[Ranchoth]

@Qadgop_the_Mercotan

But I’d never heard of someone trying to speak or write in English while purging it of as much of its French or Latin words as possible.

I’d heard of something like this awhile back in an old wiki article (since revised) referring to it as “a language game” replacing French-origin words with Germanic-origin words (for example, replacing “rock” with “stone”), but I hadn’t known that anyone had done anything substantial along those lines, like with Tolkien or “Anglish”—and I’m heartily glad find out someone has!