Richard Verstegan A Restitution of Decayed Intelligence 1608
Since the tyme of Chucer, more
Latin & French, hath bin mingled with our toung
than
left out of it, but
of late we haue falne to ſuch borowing of woords from, Latin, French,
and other toungs, that it had bin beyond all ſtay
and limit, which albeit ſome of vs
do
lyke wel and think our toung thereby much bettred, yet
do ſtrangers therefore carry the
farre leſſe opinion
thereof, some saying that it is of it self no language at all, but the
ſcum of many langauges, others that it is most barren and that wee are dayly faine to
borrow woords for it (as though it yet lacked making) out of other
languages to patche it
vp withall, and that yf wee were put to repay our borrowed ſpeech back again, to the
langauges that may lay claim vnto
it; wee ſhould bee left litle
better then dumb, or
ſcarſly able to speak
any thing that should bee ſensible.
This is a thing that eaſily may happen in ſo
ſpatious a toung as
this, it beeing ſpoken
in ſo
many different
countries and regions, when wee ſee that in ſome ſeueral partes of
England it ſelf, both the names of things and pronountiations
of woords are ſomwhat
different, and that among
the countrey people that neuer
borrow any woords out of the
Lain or French, and o fhtis different pronountiation
one example in ſteed of many ſhall
ſuffice, as this: for pronouncing
according as one would ſay in London,
I would eat more
cheeſe of I had it/the northern main
ſaith, Ay ſud
eat mare cheee gin ay hadet/and
the
westerne man ſaith:
Chud eat more cheeſe
an chad it. Lo heer
three different
pronountiations in our own countrey in one thing, &heerof
many the lyke examples
might be alleaged.
My comment:
He believes that Anglo-Saxon
is the essence of English Language. He also thinks that all those borrowings
have transformed their language beyond recognition. He also asserts that in the
hypothetical case of giving all those words back they would not be able to
speak.