- 02 Aug, 2025
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Is It Possible to Use Language Purely?
“He who knows no foreign languages knows nothing of his own,” said the esteemed author of the Westen world, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. The idea that Goethe tried to portray, was most likely, one of literary romanticism, but at the same time a message that most young people should keep close to their hearts. Language is an experience that not only allows communication with others, open doorways to new experiences and cultures, but also a way to understand one’s own mother tongue better.
There is always an argument that is being made about how young people influenced by the development of technology and exposure to mainstream media use words that are not part of the proper literary language. However, one thing that should be noted is that a language is never an end product in itself. The words and phrases that used to be a part of our language centuries ago, have either been lost, or the meaning of which have been misinterpreted and transformed. To change is a human experience. We cannot go without adapting, without learning and transforming as human beings, and since language is an extension of our experiences and feelings, it is most natural that we change our language as well. There are so many words that due to a growing impact of globalization we borrow from foreign languages, and the most fascinating aspect of that is how each human experience makes the words that we use daily carry a different meaning and weight.
Let’s take Latin as an example and use it as a base for our analysis. Many call Latin the “dead language”, due to the fact that there are no active users of this ancient language. The language can be traces to 700 BC, and is contemplated to have been an active communication form till 700 AD, whereupon it was declared as the official language of the Catholic church, as well as main political correspondence in the Roman Empire. As the Romans started to colonize majority of Europe, the spread of the language started to showcase a change in the languages. Anglo-Saxons, more commonly known in our age as the English, as well as the Germans and many other European countries use Latin words to this day. The word ‘street’ in English, ‘strasse’ in German and ‘straat’ in Dutch all originate from the Latin word ‘strata’. We even see the influence of Latin in the Russian language, where the Latin word ‘schola’ has transformed to ‘школа’ (schkola).
So, why should we not evolve our language, and why are so many young people in countries with multiple languages used on a daily basis, accused of not speaking properly? We put a lot of pressure on the language speakers to use the purest version of the language, without having a clear understanding of what that even means. With the technological advancement, changes in science and human experience, it is impossible to not use new languages. So, as Goethe said, knowing a different language, using it as part of your speech does not take away from your fluency, but rather adds to it.
The CEO of Lingua Language Center
Asnaya Zeynalli