"Studies in Language and Linguistics" is an occasional series incorporating major new work in small areas of linguistics. Linguistic purism is identified with the efforts to preserve a language from corruption and foreign influence. No language is exempt from the impact of puristic intervention. This study examines puristic attitudes and provides an overall framework for describing the multifaceted nature of purism. It identifies the processes involved, chronicles the role of individuals and institutions in invoking the puristic cause and seeks to assess the impact wrought by such language situations. Many illustrative diagrams are provided to clarify the text and terminology is kept to a minimum and all new terms are introduced to make accessible reading. It is aimed at undergraduate and postgraduate students in sociolinguistics, theory of literary languages, as well as ethnographers of human communication. It should also be of interest to cultural historians, social psychologists, students of nationalism and ethnicity and the informed general reader.