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Unit 26: Swift–Hints Towards An Essay on Conversation ...

In the Swift 2,000-word sample, 678 begin with a connective and 354 of these are with and, but or Notes
for (but is his favourite). Milic observes that Swift does not use and, but, or or in the customary way
to impart the logical connection between sentences, but rather as a neutral connective, that is a
word which shows a connection without specifying the nature of that connection. Milic points out
that in English if a sentence does not begin with the subject (a noun or nominal) but begins with
a connective, it is safe to assume that the next word will be a nominal or determiner. Not so in
Swift. Almost a third of the times, Swift defers the subject to interject a further connective or
transitional word (e.g., But although, And first, but then, but at present). According to Milic, two
effects of this idiolectal use of connectives by Swift is to involve the reader more in the text and to
create the illusion of greater clarity and simplicity (Milic, 1967: 136).
Sadly, space does not permit us to follow this analysis which takes us to the King James version
of the Bible among other places. Milic discovers and attempts to explain many other interesting
features of Swift’s style (e.g., his lists), testing and often proving vacuous many of the claims made
about Swift’s style in the centuries since his death.
Self-Assessment
1. Choose the correct options:
(i) ............... Swift led the Irish people in their resistance against the English, who continued
to oppress them.
(a) 1724 (b) 1725
(c) 1730 (d) 1710
(ii) ............... Gulliver’s Travels in 1725, and it was published in 1726 by
(a) Swift (b) Bacon
(c) Addisson (d) Steele
(iii) ............... observes how Swiftian irony works by “materializing the abstract or by literalizing
the figurative” often through the use of pun.
(a) Bacon (b) Steele
(c) Addisson (d) Hammond
(iv) ............... Swift was offered the deanship of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin.
(a) 1715 (b) 1714
(c) 1713 (d) 1720

26.2 Summary
• In this Unit, I have looked at some of the ideas of Jonathan Swift and their possible implications
for the historical background of corpus linguistics. Although Swift is always playful and
elusive, I think he shows a genuine fascination with the physical and quantificational side of
language. In my own work on phraseology, I continue to learn from his works, especially his
Hints towards an Essay on conversation (1710-1712) and Polite Conversation (1738) - but above all
from Gulliver, that compendious treatise on human nature. I suggest he be posthumously
consecrated as the Bishop of Balnibarbi and Grammarian-in-chief of Glubbdubrib. Or have I
been taken in by one of the greatest hoaxers of all time?

26.3 Key-Words

1. Genuine fascination : The act of taking on or displaying an attitude or mode of behavior not
natural to oneself or not genuinely felt.
2. Virtuoso : an experimenter or investigator especially in the arts and sciences,
one skilled in or having a taste for the fine arts.

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