At the time when the United States split off from Britain,

there were proposals independence should be linguistically 【M1】________

acknowledged by the use of a different language from that of

Britain. There was even one proposal that Americans should adopt

Hebrew. In the end, like everyone knows, the two countries 【M2】________

adopted the eminently practical and satisfactory solution of

carrying on with the same language as before. For nearly two

hundred years now, they have shown to the world that 【M3】________

independence and national identity can be complete with 【M4】________

sacrificing the enormous mutual advantages of a common

language.

Like religion, language is clearly a powerful unifying and

dividing force. As we have seen, moreover, there is nothing about 【M5】________

language as such that makes linguistic identity conterminous with

national identity. “If he speaks French, he is by no means

necessary a Frenchman.” French is not the private property of 【M6】________

Frenchmen, and still less is English the private property of

Englishmen. Yet many of us still half-consciously feel that anyone 【M7】________

other than an Englishman uses English, we have a special right to

criticise his use because he has been privileged to deal something 【M8】________

which is in the Englishman’s gift. We feel that he must necessarily

look to us for a “standard”, because it is “his” language. 【M9】________

It is high time that such naive notions about English are 【M10】________

firmly stopped. They do not even remotely correspond to linguistic

realities and they can do nothing but harm to the cause of human

relationships and international harmony.

【M2】