Can someone please explain newspeak from George Orwell's book 1984?

Question

I am having trouble writing notes about newspeak.

Answer 1

Newspeak is, as suggested, the modified form of English that has been simplified and reduced in words to its basic components that Big Brother tried to impose on the people.  The major purpose of introducing Newspeak, no matter what the pretence might have been, I am sure, was to make the English language so vague and ambiguous that people could not adequately qualify what they meant.  It impaired communication by making the language as imprecise as possible.  In this way, Big Brother and his followers could misinterpret anything they wished to.  It also accommodated lies and misunderstandings through omission.  It would eventually have had all people exercising inadequate communication with one another and thereby increased the level of control that Big Brother exercised over the people.  Bureaucrats of Big Brother and of governments in general are notorious for using this type of language anyways.  Big Brother may have suggested that it was to keep language as generic as possible and promote nationalism by reducing foreign expressions.  If it was supposed to make relationships simpler, it made matters more complex, resulting in more chaos.  It was a form of theft from the culture on the part of Big Brother.    

Answer 2

Orwell wrote about it as an appendix to "1984." Have you looked at that?

Also, I've just reviewed the wikipedia article on it, and  it's quite good:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspeak

The main thing to remember is that the main point of Newspeak (which all of its applicable rules support) is to emphasize the totalitarianism of the Party by completely controlling its speakers. It doesn't allow for any deviation, removes words related to freedom from the vocabulary, and stifles creativity. Remember that most languages in the world are eternally growing and expanding--new words are added as new concepts come about. Newspeak actually destroys words, causing language to shrink and necessitating that everyone use the exact same term to describe something. No variations are allowed--note the absence of synonyms.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

In the novel, it is described as being "the only language in the world whose vocabulary gets smaller every year." Orwell included an essay about it in the form of an appendix[1] in which the basic principles of the language are explained. Newspeak is closely based on English but has a greatly reduced and simplified vocabulary and grammar. This suits the totalitarian regime of the Party, whose aim is to make any alternative thinking – "thoughtcrime", or "crimethink" in the newest edition of Newspeak – or speech impossible by removing any words or possible constructs which describe the ideas of freedom, rebellion and so on. One character says admiringly of the shrinking volume of the new dictionary: "It's a beautiful thing, the destruction of words."

The genesis of Newspeak can be found in the constructed language Basic English, which Orwell promoted from 1942 to 1944 before emphatically rejecting it in his essay "Politics and the English Language".[2] In this paper he laments the quality of the English of his day, citing examples of dying metaphors, pretentious diction or rhetoric, and meaningless words — all of which contribute to fuzzy ideas and a lack of logical thinking. Towards the end of this essay, having argued his case, Orwell muses:

“ I said earlier that the decadence of our language is probably curable. Those who deny this would argue, if they produced an argument at all, that language merely reflects existing social conditions, and that we cannot influence its development by any direct tinkering with words or constructions. ”

Thus forcing the use of Newspeak, according to Orwell, describes a deliberate intent to exploit this degeneration with the aim of oppressing its speakers.

Answer 4

Just watch any interview by Gordon Brown, you will pick up any tips on newspeak there!

1984 is a politicians manual for modern day England.

Big Brother really IS watching you......