The following is a research paper I wrote for my Linguistics class. The assignment was to choose a partner, create a prompt, and then each partner write their own response paper over the prompt. This is my response to the prompt my friend and I came up with. I won't tell you the grade I got on this paper, but I will say that I was proud of myself when I finished writing it and even more proud when I got it back. I've have included citation in the paper and the list of resources is at the end. Fell free to check out the sites/books I got my information from. In fact, I encourage you to.
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Prompt: "The
Lewis and Clark expedition played a huge role in the development of the English
Language; yet it is not given such credit in today's society. In what
influential ways did this expedition create a pathway for the development of
the English Language? Should this expedition be given more credit than what has
briefly been bestowed upon this piece of history?" (Worded by my friend).
Lewis and Clark’s Contribution to
the English Language
It is a chilly January day and snow
covers the ground like a glistening blanket. Children sit inside warm
classrooms, their backpacks jammed into lockers, and their minds trained on the
snow. They want to be anywhere but sitting at their desks. They want to bundle
themselves up in hats, coats, and gloves. They want to rush out the doors and
build snowmen. Yet, they are prevented from doing so. Their teacher stands at
the front of the class with a piece of chalk in one hand and a book in the
other. Written on the chalkboard behind the teacher, in flowing script, are two
names: Lewis and Clark.
Who has not heard of Lewis and
Clark? Their expedition is a required lesson in history classes. Teachers tell
children and teens about the two men who led a team of explorers through the
rough lands around the Missouri River. Yet, what is not taught is how big of an
impact their journey had on the English language. Lewis and Clark did not only
pave the way for settlement in the land they explored, but paved the way for a
new English.
In January of 1803, President Thomas
Jefferson sent a message to Congress asking for $2,500 (Buckley). The original
plan for this money was to send a dozen men to explore the Missouri River.
Jefferson hoped that the men could make contact with Native Americans, expand
America’s fur trade, and find the Northwest Passage (Buckley). On February 28,
of the same year, President Jefferson’s request was approved and preparations
started taking place (“Lewis and Clark Expedition”).
The odd thing about the expedition
that Jefferson was planning was that the United States did not actually own the
land he wished to explore, at least not all of it. It was not until the year
1804 that America actually purchased the entirety of the land they wished to
expand into (Bragg). This purchase of land, made between America and France,
has become known as the Louisiana Purchase in history books. After the purchase
of the land, the rush to send out the explorers heightened and Jefferson put
together a team of forty-five men –a bigger team than he had originally planned
–to do the job (Bragg). A ship is nothing without its captain, however, so the
President had to find the right man, or men in this case, to lead the
expedition. He ended up handing the torch to Captain Meriwether Lewis and
William Clark (Bragg).
Lewis and Clark turned out to be the
right men for the job. They were men with military experience and who could
handle the rough terrains the Missouri River presented to them (Bragg). President
Jefferson did not want them to only explore the land, however, he also required
them to journal about their experiences (Bragg). Though his intentions in
having them journal may have been to gain a better understanding of the
landscapes and the Native Americans, their journals ended up having a big
impact on the English language.
Being proper men, both Lewis and
Clark were well versed in the ways of English (Bragg). With puritan backgrounds
and tongues that were capable of speaking such beautiful English that Webster
himself would weep in joy at their speech, one would have expected only the
best English from them (Bragg). Yet, the thing about English is that it morphs.
It shifts and changes to adapt to its surroundings. Though Lewis and Clark
began their expedition with tongues of gold, they ended with tongues of the
common.
We can see the shift in Lewis and
Clark’s language throughout their journal entries, but the new words they were
picking up –and inventing –are very much a part of entries such as the
following, which is an excerpt of an entry from Clark’s journal:
“ The Americans are Settled up the Mississippi for 56 miles as high up
a[s] the Sandy river from thence across to the Missouries river
a Salt works is establish[ed] on a Small river 30 miles up the river 10 miles
from the mississippi I am told that an old french fort was once
built on the opsd Side of the river from me, and that Some remains of the
clearing is yet to be seen, this must be the fort which was built in the year
1724 by M. de Bourgmot the Comdt.” (“Journals”).
The
above passage may be hard to understand. Words like “opsd” and strange spacing
is used. Though this language is different from what is seen today, it is still
English. It is not the English that Lewis and Clark had been taught as
schoolchildren, however. It is English showing the creativity of its yielders.
English that shows influences of other languages.
The
travels of Lewis and Clark brought them into contact with Native Americans,
whom neither of the men could understand. The language barrier between
themselves and the Native Americans brought about the need of a translator,
thus Sacajawea –a female Native American –was recruited to aid them
(“Sacajawea”). With her help, the men were able to communicate with the Native
Americans they encountered, which led to them picking up on some of their
words. Native American words –such as: “Maize,” “moccasin,” “moose,” “opossum,”
“pecan,” “squaw,” “powwow,” and “totem” –made their way into the speech of
Lewis, Clark, and their team of explorers (Bragg). With the men speaking theses
words, as well as writing them in their journals, they were integrated into the
English language.
Native
American languages were not the only thing that caused the English language to
morph. There was also the landscape. The expedition team encountered many
rivers and landscapes that they had never seen before. As a result, they were
forced to change their language. They began naming the rivers they came upon
after members of their team –such as Reuben’s Creek –and combined words to name
birds or trees, like with the cottonwood tree (Bragg).
The
original English word “Creek” had meant a tidal inlet, but the explorers used
it to describe all sorts of streams (Bragg). Words like “rapid” were turned
into “rapids”, going from a quick movement to rapidly moving water. Likewise,
“bluff” started to mean broad faced cliffs (Bragg).
Incidents
that happened along their travels, the physical features of landscapes, and the
names of those they loved were used to name places (Bragg). “Colt-killed
Creek,” “Diamond Island,” and “Fanny’s Island” are all examples of this. Also,
the naming of subspecies began to happen by the combining of color and the name
of the species, such was the case with “blue grass,” and “black bear,” (Bragg).
As
Melvyn Bragg writes in his book, The
Adventures of English: The Biography of a Language, “English went
word-drunk and it was to stay intoxicated out west for decades to come.”
(Braggs). It could be argued that English has yet to sober up. With modern
language changing into slang, and slang changing into text-talk, English is
still jamming words to together as well as shortening them.
Even
though English is a constantly changing language, it is still beautiful. It is
adaptable, it is flexible, and it caters to all classes. Without Lewis and
Clark, English would not be what it is today. Without their influence, and the
opening up of more land for people to settle and converse on –consequently
leading to a mass immigration – English would not have gotten the same
opportunity to evolve. Yes, it would have eventually changed, but –though it is
sad to say –it is very unlikely that Native American languages would have
served such a great role in its change. It was, after all, Lewis and Clark that
helped introduce the Native American languages to the English one. Thank goodness
for President Jefferson’s desired expedition. English certainly would not be
the same without it and its leaders, Captain Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.
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Works Cited
Bragg, Melvyn. The Adventures of English: The Biography of a language. New York:
Arcade
Publishing, 2003. Print.
Buckley, Jay H. “Lewis and Clark Expedition.”
Encyclopedia Britannica. 2013.
“January 3-4, 18-04.” The Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. N.P. Web. 6 Mar.
2013.
“Lewis and Clark Expedition.” US.
History. N.P. Web. 4 Mar. 2013.
“Sacajawea.” Lewis and Clark Trail. Lewis and Clark Trails, n.d. web. 7 Mar.
2013
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