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. 

Of Jabberwocks and Nazgul
For today's post I thought we would discuss the topic of word formation and the way different languages structure their words. But we are going to be looking at something rather different linguistically and that is gibberish words. That’s right we are going to talk about words that don’t exist and have absolutely no definition. The thing is, that even though they are gibberish words they can still carry meaning in our minds. This ties together very well with our theme of constructed languages as you shall soon see.  

To start things off I would first like to look at one of my favorite poems, Jabberwocky, by Lewis Carroll. Now as you can obviously tell there are quite a few words in the poem that are in fact gibberish, 27 to be exact. But despite the fact that the poem relies only mostly made up words to describe itself, you get a wonderfully vivid idea of the world Lewis Carroll has created. I'm sure for everyone it's slightly different, but can't you just picture something in your mind when you read about the slithy toves or hear the noise of the burbling Jabberwocky. 

This is because Lewis Carroll does a fantastic job of using the English phonetic system to his advantage. He creates words using only sound pairings and phonetic combinations that naturally occur in the English language. This allows us to feel that these made up words are real and imprint meaning to them. And the method by which we do this is also fascinating.  

For our next example we use the Ringwraiths from lord of the rings. Now while wraith is not a made up word, before it was brought to popularity by Tolkien in the early 50s, it was not a commonly found word, so many were unaware of its meaning. Now the word wraith is fascinating because it brings a slew of images to mind. It represents evil, death, twisted haunting spirits, and generally not good things. But why is this? 

If we look at the word phonetically it share similarities with quite a few other English words. One being "wrath" a severe burning hatred, and the second being, "wreath" a ring of twisted gnarled branches. Both of these word bring very clear images to mind as well. So when combined with "wraith" the word Ringwraith, while totally made up, brings about a very clear idea of what one of these foul creatures might look and feel like if you were to meet one.  

Going back to the Jabberwocky, all of the made up words Lewis Carol uses bring to mind very clear images because not only do they follow our phonetic rules, but though phonetic similarities they can bring to mind strikingly vivid images of things that have no actual connection to. This to me is truly fascinating. 

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) 

As we move forward with this blog together in the weeks to come, I figured it would be beneficial to take the time in this first blog post to not only discuss my first topic, but also to use that topic to help lay out my plans for the future of this blog. As you may know from reading my introductory post I am fascinated with constructed languages. That is any language not grown naturally but created deliberately by an individual or group. So, for my blog I plan to focus on linguistics overall, with an emphasis on constructed language when the material permits, and for our post today that is the case.  
I recently read a fascinating, albeit short, article on constructed language and its practical use in our world. While, of course, I particularly love constructed languages when they pertain to fantasy and sci-fi literature, in this case I will be sticking to non fictitious instances of constructed language. The article talked about the concept of constructed languages that were designed specifically to be logical and easily applied, one in particular. This was in the context of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis that one's language changes how one perceives and thinks about reality. So that if a completely practical and logical language where devised anyone who spoke it would therefore see the word in a much more logical way and therefore act in an appropriately logical manner. While the study latter found this to not necessarily be the case with the future dismissal of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, It brought to my mind the peculiar concept of constructed language as a tool for bettering the human race. Allow me to elaborate.   

(Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf, the two co-creators of the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis)

Many dignified, scholars, linguist, sociologist, and other scientific professionals believe that a one world language would be greatly beneficial to global society. While it is very unlikely that we as a human race will be speaking one language in the next few hundred years, it is definitely an idea to ponder. But what if instead of letting a one world language develop naturally through the inevitable blending of all languages, what if we devised a constructed language for the human race. If we were to do this we would want to devise a language that is in all manners of speaking, perfect. Linguist could design a language that has the most logical structure and grammar to make it easier to learn and to communicate. This language would obviously have to be phased in over a few generations but if a theoretically perfect language was applied and adopted as a global method of communication it could revolutionize the human race, and possibly move us toward our next step of evolution. 

Such a theoretically perfect and logical language could also be applied to our electronics and computer system, allowing for our computers to use our language as code, creating a literal one world language. Imagine every microchip, telephone, supercomputer, man, woman, and child on the entire planet all speaking the same language. It would be a monuments feet in human evolution. However, it is very unlikely any such "perfectly logical language" could be devised, and even more unlikely that it could ever be implemented as a worldwide language. However it is a fascinating theory to think about.