J. L. Borges on English

A finer language than Spanish

Jorge Luis BorgesAlso, I'm reading in English. I find English a finer language than Spanish. Why? Well, there are many reasons.

Two registers, Germanic and Latin

Jorge Luis BorgesFirstly, English is both a Germanic and a Latin language, so you have two registers. For any idea you take, you have two words, and those words do not mean exactly the same. For example, if I say "regal", it's not exactly the same thing as saying "kingly". And if I say "brotherly", or "dark" and "obscure", those words are different — it makes all the difference.

Take, for example, the Holy Spirit, you know: the whole difference in the world, in a poem, if I write about the Holy Spirit or the Holy Ghost. Since "ghost" is a fine, dark Saxon word, while "spirit" is light — it's the Latin word.

The most physical of languages

Jorge Luis BorgesWell, and then there is another reason. I think that English is the most physical of all languages. Physical — for example, "he loomed over". That couldn't very well be said in Spanish, not exactly the same.

And then, in English, you can do almost anything with verbs and prepositions. For example, "to laugh off", "to dream away" — those things can't be said in Spanish. "To live down something", "to live up to something" — I can't say those things in Spanish.