The fictional new language of Oceania in George Orwell's dystopian novel 1984. In the novel, the language was developed by the ruling party of Oceania, Ingsoc, to meet its ideological needs. Newspeak was designed to limit the range of human thought and one's choice of words by reducing redundant words or words that did not fit with Oceania's totalitarian ideology. Often, used to describe double-talk and propaganda.

The syntax and theory of newspeak makes a quite fascinating appendix at the back of the book. It is reproduced, along with a full dictionary, in the webpage choasmind mentions above. Not many authors have the balls to create a whole new language to play with in a novel. Anthony Burgess' nadsat, from a Clockwork Orange is another example though.

Not only is newspeak a method of controlling speech, but also thought. It actively encourages only orthodoxy, with all unorthodox words, by reducing the size of the vocabulary. The premise is that if an idea cannot be expressed as a word, then it cannot be thought - and thoughtcrime, and the eradication of it, plays a major part in the society of 1984. The example Orwell gives in the appendix is the meaning of the word free. In newspeak, 'free' can be used only in the context of 'free from lice', the meaning of free as in free speech or free thought simply no longer exist. They are not valid newspeak, and to use the word in that way is a crime, even to think it is thoughtcrime.

The (ambitious) aim was to do away with what we know as the the English language (Oldspeak) altogether by 2050, replacing it with wordless noise, like a duck's quaking, called duckspeak. Duckspeak takes newspeak to new extremes; absolutely no thought is required to use it - only orthodox sentiments can be expressed. Winston, the main character from 1984, hears a party member using duckspeak during the course of the book, and it is disturbing.

Newspeak was also the name of the WPI campus student-run newspaper. It was changed because many people did not get the Orwellian reference, and they wanted to have some sort of change. It is now named "tech news", which personally, I think is a step backwards in creativity. It seems to work for them. Same content, different name.

It's all about the marketing.
Newspeak pervades our contemporary reality as well, in nonsense words such as 'downsizing,' which take all of the emotional connotation and most of the meaning out of previously accepted terms like 'massive layoffs.'

In the way of some further examples, minimum wage cashiers are told that they are ‘team members,’ temporary placement agencies speak of ‘fulfilling the dreams’ of applicants, and employees everywhere are encouraged to be ‘pro-active’ and participate in a ‘paradigm shift.’

Orwell was truly a prophet.

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