Houyhnhnms are a race of intelligent horses described in the last part of Jonathan Swift's satiric Gulliver's Travels. The name can be pronounced either [ˈhuːɪnəm] (BE) or [ˈhwɪnəm/huˈɪnəm] (AE).^[1] Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (November 30, 1667 – October 19, 1745) was an Irish priest, satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer, and poet, famous for works like Gullivers Travels, A Modest Proposal, A Journal to Stella, The Drapiers Letters, The Battle of the Books, and A Tale of a Tub. ... First Edition of Gullivers Travels Gullivers Travels (1726, amended 1735), officially Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, is a novel by Jonathan Swift that is both a satire on human nature and a parody of the travellers tales literary sub-genre. ... Diagram showing the geographical locations of selected languages and dialects of the British Isles. ... English language spread in the United States. ...

Houyhnhnms contrast strongly with the Yahoos, savage humanoid creatures: whereas the Yahoos represent all that is bad about humans, Houyhnhnms have a stable, calm, and rational society. Gulliver much prefers the Houyhnhnms' company to the Yahoos', even though the latter are biologically closer to him. In Gullivers Travels by Jonathan Swift, a Yahoo is a vile and savage creature, filthy and with unpleasant habits, resembling human beings far too closely for the liking of Lemuel Gulliver, who finds the calm and rational society of the Houyhnhnms far preferable. ... The term humanoid refers to any being whose body structure resembles that of a human. ...

Interpretation of the Houyhnhnms has been vexatious. It is possible, for example, to regard them as a veiled criticism by Swift of the British Empire's treatment of non-whites as lesser humans, and it is similarly possible to regard Gulliver's preference (and immediate division of Houyhnhnms into color-based hierarchies) as absurd and the sign of his self-deception. The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps. ...

Book IV of Gulliver's Travels is the keystone, in some ways, of the entire work, and critics have traditionally responded to the subject of whether Gulliver is insane (and therefore just another victim of Swift's satire) or not by questioning whether or not the Houyhnhnms are truly admirable. The Houyhnhnm society is based upon reason, and only upon reason, and therefore the horses practice eugenics and genocide based on their analyses of benefit and cost. They have no morality and no religion, and therefore they are not particularly moved by pity or [by] a belief in the intrinsic value of life. Gulliver himself, in their company, builds the sails of his skiff from "Yahoo skins." They have a poor concept of individuality; none of the Houyhnhnms have names, and Gulliver's "Master" himself assents to Gulliver's eventual exile only because the other Houyhnhnms ask him to. Logic, from Classical Greek λόγος (logos), originally meaning the word, or what is spoken, (but coming to mean thought or reason) is the study of criteria for the evaluation of arguments, although the exact definition of logic is a matter of controversy among philosophers. ... It has been suggested that Dysgenics be merged into this article or section. ... Look up Genocide in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Morality refers to the concept of human ethics which pertains to matters of good and evil —also referred to as right or wrong, used within three contexts: individual conscience; systems of principles and judgments — sometimes called moral values —shared within a cultural, religious, secular, Humanist, or philosophical community; and codes... Individualism, in general, is a term used to describe a theoretical or practical emphasis of the individual, as opposed to, and possibly at the expense of, the group. ...

On the one hand, the Houyhnhnms have an orderly and peaceful society. They possess philosophy and have a language that is entirely pure of political and ethical nonsense. They possess, for example, no word for a "lie" (and must substitute a phrase -- to say a thing which is not). They also have a form of art that is derived from nature. Outside of Gulliver's Travels, Swift had expressed longstanding concern over the corruption of the English language, and he had proposed language reform. He had also, in Battle of the Books and in general in A Tale of a Tub, expressed a preference for the Ancients (Classical authors) because their art was based directly upon nature, and not upon other art. On the other hand, Swift was profoundly mistrustful of attempts at reason that resulted in either hubris (e.g. the Projectors satirized in A Tale of a Tub or in book III of Gulliver's Travels) or immorality (e.g. the speaker of A Modest Proposal, who offers an entirely logical and wholly immoral proposal for cannibalism). The Houyhnhnms embody both the good and the bad side of reason, for they have the pure language Swift wished for and the immorally rational approach to solving the problems of humanity (Yahoos); the extirpation of the Yahoo population by the horses is very like the speaker of A Modest Proposal. The Death of Socrates, by Jacques-Louis David (1787) depicts the philosopher Socrates carrying out his own execution. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... The Battle of the Books is the name of a short satire written by Jonathan Swift and published as part of the prolegomena to his A Tale of a Tub in 1704. ... A Tale of a Tub (play). ... Hubris or hybris (Greek ), according to its modern usage, is exaggerated self pride or self-confidence, often resulting in fatal retribution. ... A Tale of a Tub (play). ... A Modest Proposal: For Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland from Being a Burden to Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick, commonly referred to as A Modest Proposal, is a satirical pamphlet written by Jonathan Swift in 1729. ... A Modest Proposal: For Preventing the Children of Poor People in Ireland from Being a Burden to Their Parents or Country, and for Making Them Beneficial to the Publick, commonly referred to as A Modest Proposal, is a satirical pamphlet written by Jonathan Swift in 1729. ...

When Gulliver returns to England at the end of Gulliver's Travels, he finds the smell and look of his countrymen intolerable. He regards all around him as Yahoos, and spends much of his time in the stables near his horses, with whom he converses. Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: God Save the King/Queen Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq mi  Population    - 2005 est. ...

References

1. ^ Daniel Jones: English Pronouncing Dictionary. Cambridge/New York/Melbourne: Cambridge University Press 1997. ISBN 0-521-45272-4, ISBN 0-521-45903-6