THE PRINCIPLES OF NEWSPEAK

1984

Newspeak Newspeak is the official language of

Oceania and was devised to meet the ideological needs of Ingsoc, or English Socialism.

Socialism Socialism is a theory or system of social

organization in which the means of producing and distributing goods is owned collectively or by a centralized government that often plans and controls the economy.

Purpose The purpose of newspeak was not

only to provide a medium of expression for the world-view and mental habits proper to the devotees of Ingsoc, but to make all other modes of thought impossible.

Purpose Newspeak was designed not to

extend but to diminish the range of thought, and this purpose was indirectly assisted by cutting the choice of words down to a minimum.

Three Classes A Vocabulary – for everyday life B Vocabulary – compound words (such

as goodthink, crimethought) used for political purposes

C Vocabulary – scientific and technical terms

A Vocabulary A vocabulary consists of words

needed for the business of everyday life – for such things as eating, drinking, working, gardening, cooking, etc.

A Vocabulary A newspeak word of this class was

simply a short sound expressing one clearly understood concept.

It was intended only to express simple, purposive thoughts, usually involving concrete objects or physical actions.

A Vocabulary It was composed almost entirely

of words that we already possess – words like hit, run, dog, sugar, and house.

B Vocabulary B vocabulary consists of words

that had been deliberately constructed for political purposes. Words, which not only had political

implications, but were intended to impose a desirable mental attitude upon the person using them.

B Vocabulary The B words were in all cases

compound words. They consisted of two or more

words, or portions of words, welded together in an easily pronounceable form.

Noun-Verb Combination Example: Goodthink = to think in an

orthodox manner

Noun-verb = goodthinkPast tense = goodthinkedPresent participle = goodthinkingAdjective = goodthinkfulAdverb = goodthinkwise

Other Examples Crimethink = thought crime Thinkpol = thought police Sexcrime = sexual immorality (covered

all sexual misdeeds – punishable by death)

Joycamp = forced-labor camp Minipax = Ministry of Peace (Ministry of

War)

B Vocabulary The name of every political organization,

body of people, or institution is included in B words.Ministry of Truth = MinitrueRecords Department = RecdepFiction Department = FicdepTeleprograms department – Teledep

C Vocabulary C vocabulary consists of scientific and

technical terms. Any scientific worker could find all the

words he/she needed in the list devoted to his specialty, but he seldom had knowledge of more than a few words included on the other lists.

Grammar of Newspeak There is almost a complete

interchangeability between different parts of speech.

Any word in the language could be used either as a verb, noun, adjective, or adverb.

Grammar of Newspeak The word thought does not exist

in newspeak.

Its place was taken by think, which did duty for both noun and verb.

Grammar of Newspeak There is no such word as cut,

its meaning being covered by the noun-verb knife.

Grammar of Newspeak Adjectives are formed by adding -ful

to the noun-verb and adverbs by adding -wise.

Speedful = quickSpeedwise = quickly

Grammar of Newspeak The word well was

replaced by goodwise.

Grammar of Newspeak Any word could be made negative by

adding un, or could be strengthened by adding plus, or, for still greater emphasis doubleplus.Uncold = warmPluscold = very coldDoublepluscold = bitter cold

Grammar of Newspeak There is no need for the word

bad because good becomes ungood.

Grammar of Newspeak

Past Tense Plurals

Steal becomes stealed

Think becomes thinked

All plurals are made by adding –s or –es:

man=mansLife=lifes

Grammar of Newspeak Comparison of adjectives is made

by adding –er, or –est:

good, gooder, goodest

Grammar of Newspeak Words such as honor, justice,

morality, democracy, and religion ceased to exist.

Grammar of Newspeak All words grouping themselves

around the concepts of liberty and equality were contained in the single word crimethink, while words associated with the concept

of objectivity and rationalism were contained in the single word oldthink.

Grammar of Newspeak Newspeak differs from almost all other

languages in that its vocabulary grows smaller instead of larger every year.

Each reduction was a gain, since the smaller the area of choice, the smaller the temptation to take thought.