The Quirks Of Language And How To Use Them

Today I am finally going to start discussing something I have been dying to talk about since the beginning of this course and something I have been meaning do to for a very long time know. As I have mentioned before I have always been fascinated with constructed languages, and so it has been my dream for some time know to actually construct my own, and this course has given some of the preliminary knowledge to make that happen. So for today's subject we get to dip our feet into the process of actually constructing a language, and more specifically, the quirky attributes that languages naturally develop. 

              So the idea behind this is that when you are trying to create and constructed language, usually the goal is to fit it into some sort of fantasy world, so you are trying to make a language that seem like it has naturally developed over hundreds or thousands of years. So with this in mind, it’s a good idea to make sure when creating your language to include a fair number of linguistic, grammatical and syntactical quirks. Having grammatical rules that aren't universal, and adding odd exceptions to rules may seem odd at the time, but really adds a sense of depth to your language. A great example of some of these oddities in English is this poem I found. It wonderfully demonstrates how some things in a language just don’t make sense.

               Now as fun as it might be to make an odd and twisted language with conflicting rules, it is also important to show some restraint in a number of areas for a number of reason. firstly if you make you language too convoluted no one will ever be able to learn it or speak it fluently. But more importantly, if you want to make your constructed language realistic it is important to shy away from creating phonetic abstractions. Even though many languages have odd and varied syntactical rules, they almost always have an ironclad set of consistent phonetic sounds. Certain languages doesn't use specific sounds and highly use others, so while it's important to establish which sounds your language will and wont use (a great way to determine this is using the International Phonetic Alphabet) you must then maintain consistency with those sounds. 

               These are just two good examples, in my opinion, of universal linguistic rules and quirks that can really help establish realism in a constructed language. And I can assure you will be incorporated into my own. Which I am excited to say we will start to work on with my next post. 

Yolo, Swag and other such things

     For today's entry we are talking about something that I have been thinking about for while, and is a really fascinating subject in general, and that would be what makes the words we speak "real." Before we get into this too much, it would probably be beneficial to watch the video that is the cause of our post today. It’s a fascinating TED Talk by language historian Anne Curzan and it discuss in depth the very subject we are talking about and raises some interesting points, you can find it here. Now the main thing this video talks about that I find interesting the usage of slang.  

     Slang is a subset of words in a language that are considered very informal, and in some cases incorrect or "not real." Slang words come into being a million different ways and can mean a million different things. Another interesting fact about slang is that it is one of the fastest changing areas of a language. Each generation of speaker develop their own unique slang words and phrases that set the apart. Now why some may look at this as a way to draw rings around certain cultural groups, I look at it as almost a language experiment. A kind of test each generation does to find new and useful words for future speakers of that language. Let me explain.  

     As humans advance and culture, science, and history move forward, it's inevitable that we as speaker of language will need new words for things. But the funny thing is that in the past, these new words we developed to meet new needs started out as slang. A very recent example is google. Google started out as a slang term and is now a full fledged word with official meaning. Society recognized a gap in the language that could be filled and filled it. And because it was applicable and was frequently used and needed in conversation it stuck. But this isn't always the case with slang words. 

     Here is a list of slang words and phrases from the 1920s. This is an excellent example of slang terms that were common place at the time, but now have no meaning and are rarely, if ever, used. Now, this isn't necessarily because we didn’t need them, every generation comes up with its own euphemisms, (Netflix and chill seems to be a common theme with a very robust selection of terms and phrase) I think it has more to do with whether people like them, whether they "catch on". No one says gams referring to a woman's legs anymore, in fact right now Microsoft Word is telling me it's not a real word. But other 20s phrase you still here people today say, like wet blanket in reference to someone who is no fun, for example.  

      Slang is just a term for words that are on a trial run. Some stick and some don’t. I doubt people will be saying that a song is hype or fire in 10 years. But they might talk about how someone ghosted out of a relationship. Slang is each generations way of testing out word for future generations. 

(P.S. Sorry for the inconsistent format, I'm still figuring out the formatting) 

Introductions Are In Order

Hello all! I'll start off by introducing myself so everyone knows a little bit more about where I come from. My name is Erik Wilson, I'm 18 years old and I'm currently in my 4th semester attending GCC. Attending GCC for what you ask? Well that’s a very good question, and I'm not sure I know the answer myself. But before we get into that, lets start somewhere a little less complex, how about why I'm taking a linguistics class. 

While I don't plan to go into language as any sort of job or carrier, I do want to learn more about the subject. I have always been fascinated by other languages, and how they are structured different from our own.  I'm particularly interested in constructed and synthetic languages, that is, languages that someone built or designed as opposed to ones that developed naturally. Now if your wondering what kind of languages those are, prepare yourself for the completely nerdy response. The languages that I've been interested are have been languages such as Elvish, Navi, Dothraki, and Klingon. All of these are made up languages for books, TV shows, and movies of a geeky nature. I have always been a big geek and loved sci-fi and fantasy. That combined with my love of language quickly lead me to be interested in these fake languages.  

(A sample of Sindarin. The elvish language created by J.R.R. Tolkien)

A Little bit more information about myself, being such a big fan of sci-fi and fantasy I am a very avid gamer. But despite the stereotype this brings to mind I'm actually very active. I love to go hiking, backpacking, canoeing, kayaking, camping and pretty much anything outdoors. I have also been teaching myself parkour these past few months.  

Now to the subject of my carrier. I have always loved building things, tinkering in the garage and such. And in the last year or so I've combined my knack for building things with my love for sci-fi and fantasy to start my own business, Polygon Props, as a prop maker. What this means is that I build prop replicas of various  thing from video games and movies, (although it's mostly space guns) 

(A suit of armor I made from the video game Halo, worn by yours truly)

So I build suits of armor and weapons for people from their favorite games and TV shows. while it's still small right now, I would eventually like to turn this hobby into a full time carrier, and maybe even make props for big name movies one day. So that’s a little about me. I hope it gave you some insight into the person behind the blog. and I look forward to sharing my thoughts with you over the next few months.