I really enjoyed our class discussion Tuesday about what faith is (wait, did i really just say that...take mental note). I guess it is intriguing to understand what the writers of the text actually meant, but at the same time it is so very sad we lose so much in the translation process. I have had multiple classes dealing with language (2 semesters of Spanish, 1 of Greek, and small pieces from Dr.Borders whenever he goes on a rant) and have really had the time to think about language. During that thinking process I came to 2 conclusions:
1. The English language is so simple
2. The English language stinks
I thought the English language was simple because all other languages seemed to be more complex, such as the Greek way for having 3 words to describe love, whereas the English language has only one word. I have a good one for the spanish, but i do not think there is a way i can type it without it being confusing. All the same, my thought was, "English was simple, why cant all other languages be simple?"
But that is the problem I think. In our attempt at creating a 'simple language', we lose far too much...and as new generations are born and the old pass away, these thoughts and ideas become foreign to us, but they can help us understand so much more (such as describing something as a verb instead of a noun...faith). Even though I speak English, I find the more I learn about other languages (especially ancient ones), the more I begin to dislike the simplicity of my own.
I agree. Throughout our discussion on Faith I kept finding myself thinking that using "faith" as a verb was just wrong. It didn't make sense. It made me kind of jealous of other languages that seem to communicate their ideas much more directly than we do.
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean, "whenever he goes on a rant?"! :-) You know, "rant" spelled backwards is, . . . well, . . . jibberish. But you see where I'm going. There's meaning somewhere in there. Anyway, perhaps the problem isn't so much the language, but the way we use our language. After all, our words, sentences, etc., carry meaning only because we say they do. What if we simply begin to take seriously the multiple ways our language can convey "meaning"?
ReplyDeleteWell, our words would have meaning to us, but who would understand what we were trying to communicate/say/mean if it was something only we understood? I do agree with what you say though. I believe there is potential in our language, but it will still be lacking at some points...which, i guess to be fair, that is the story of all languages...pro's and con's
ReplyDeleteAs for the rant thing, you might view it as a negative comment (just assuming based off you calling me out in class) but i certainly NEVER said i hated the rants. In fact, i remember back in the early days when your rants consisted of stories of bunnies and your son asking about the birds and the bees....haha, good times.