Language by definition
Languages have always fascinated me, and knowing five languages - well, six if we count Latin - I always landed on conclusions that helped me understand definitions, phrases much better, sometimes coming out even funny.
Yeah, that...
My verbal skills are limited; most of my communication is done by writing and reading and inside my head - with myself. So I cannot say I "speak" any of those languages, but I am confident that I know them. So, of course, the English which this little series I decided to start here will be based on because that is what we all use on WA.
My go-to is the Oxford English Dictionary.
Most people don't think about this much but just understanding why a word is what it is and why its definition is what it is can powerfully boost the speed of thinking, reading and writing.
The human mind is an "Amazing Maze" - yeah, wordplay from the Amazing Grace, which also is true- where science so far proved that if in a sentence just one word's definition is not fully understood, the entire sentence is a waste. Most human conflicts - including wars, domestic fights, etc. - result from that elementary scientific fact. As it's been said, understanding, knowledge, the information does not result in conflicts. Misunderstandings, ignorance, lack of information do.
We formed many words we use today from another verb or noun, and in some languages, it never changed.
Studying the history of languages used around the world was one of the most entertaining things I have learned in my life. What is fascinating is that many languages today originate from nearly the same. Greek, Hebrew and Latin.
With English, the ironic part is that origins cannot be threaded back to those, or the word itself is newer. Instead, in many cases, they lead back to French and Latin.
With the intention and hope that this series of knowledge will help others, like it helped me understand, know better, I will start with the most obvious word and its definition.
I will not just copy the definition from the dictionary - that would not be legal, and some words have a large number of different variations - but I'll choose one or two of the most relevant and most frequently used and needed definitions.
Language
"Noun
The method of human communication, either spoken or written, consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way."
Origin
From the old French language, based on the Latin lingua, which means tongue.
Fan facts regarding a few other languages that unlike in English which only originated it from and then changed, the word tongue exactly is the same as the word language.
English
Tongue = tongue
Language = language
Russian:
Tongue = zazyk
Language = zazyk
Hungarian:
Tongue = nyelv
Language = nyelv
French:
Tongue = langue
Language = Langue
Latin:
Tongue = lingua
Language = Lingua
Greek:
Tongue = glossa
Language = Glossa
In French, Latin and Greek, the language is capitalised while the tongue isn't.
On to the next word...
Recent Comments
4
Hi Andy
This looked like becoming an interesting series. Thank you.
As a matter of interest, what is not legal about quoting from a dictionary so long as they are credited with the definition?
:-)
Richard
Thank you. Well, I meant the entire content without editing. Copyright and all, which makes sense, I think.
Hi Andy
I’m not a lawyer but I did look into this in the past. I was advised that placing quotes in quote marks for a single word definition and citing the source is ok because it’s considered to be “reasonable use”, whatever that means.
:-)
Richard
Oh, good to know that. That helps with the sharing. Thank you!