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“Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thought-crime literally impossible, because there will

“Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? In the end we shall make thought-crime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it. Every concept that can ever be needed will be expressed by exactly one word, with its meaning rigidly defined and all its subsidiary meanings rubbed out and forgotten... Has it ever occurred to you, Winston, that by the year 2050, at the very latest, not a single human being will be alive who could understand such a conversation as we are having now?” ― George Orwell, 1984

DonaldPShimoda 7y ago
"In the end we shall make thought-crime literally impossible" To accomplish this successfully depends upon a strong interpretation of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis: that your language determines your thought. Most linguists disagree with this principle. Just because you have no word for a chair does not mean you couldn't use one, and just because you have no word for love doesn't mean you can't feel it. (However, a weakened from of the hypothesis — that language merely influences your thought — is frequently accepted.) It's also worth pointing out that not all people think explicitly in words. Such a person would be impervious to the Party's methods of thought-control, I think.