November 25, 2008
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“The limits of my language is the limits of my world”
A few days ago something very sad happened. I could not remember a word that I wanted to look up. And judging from the way I saw it used, I thought I probably was going to like this word a lot, and might start using it on a frequent basis. But now it is gone. Perhaps I will stumble across it again someday, but until then I will have to sadly fire sentences into the battlefield of conversation without it standing ready in my arsenal.
Which is too bad, because when there is a concept that you do not know the word for, you tend to ignore that concept. It is a subconscious phenomenon: words make ideas pinpointable, like names of cities on a map. In this way, the realm of ideas really is like a world of its own, and words are the way we map that terrain. Concepts which do not have words, then, is like unchartered territory. And when a place isn’t named on a map, it is exceedingly difficult to try to tell someone how to get there. “Go by that place where there’s that big thing that’s kind of, um, grey, I think. I mean, I guess you could call it grey. Like how pretty much anything could be called grey. But yeah, and then it’s a little past that.”
What a vague and subfusc world it is to walk along life’s variegated terrain without the lanterns of language to guide you along.
The more words we know, the more we can define exactly where we are in the conceptual world. And the more defined we are, the more we can know ourselves, and the more other people can know us. Unfortunately, sometimes there are no words which when said can recreate the exact mental states we experience in the minds of others. And that is why there is art.
Comments (11)
Precisely. Words are more than just words. “When we were cavemen we gave names to objects. We legitimized their existence communally. Today we recognize independent states at the United Nations. A name is verification: metonymous in nature, magical in its connotations. It localizes a body into abstraction, symbolizes and simplifies and streamlines it into the fabric of our communication.”
Some of my favorites: apoplectic, cavalcade, celestial, coruscation, diaphanous, empyreal, ethereal, lascivious, magnanimity, mellifluous, nonpareil, sardonic, and shrubbery (LOL, doesn’t that one sound so awesome?).
So, how sad is it that I had to look up about 1/3 of the words in this post?
JUST kidding.
But you write the truth here. I hope that you find your missing word sooner than later.
@yello_lego -
Good ones! Here are a few of my favorites, too:
lackadaisical, arrant, sylvan, sub rosa, dastardly, paragon, ebullient, bravado, alpenglow, gloaming. Any place where those will fit is a treat indeed!
I did not know “empyreal” or “nonpareil” but they have definitely been admitted to the ranks. (Haha..we do love sardonic, don’t we?)
“What a wee little part of a person’s life are his acts and his words! His real life is led in his head, and is known to none but himself”
~Mark Twain
It’s frustrating to me, as a writer, that words will never be more than a description.
“Which is too bad, because when there is a concept that you do not know the word for, you tend to ignore that concept.”
I liked this. Very true. When you experience something that doesn’t have a word description to go along with it, you tend to have this idea that it doesn’t really exist. Which is ludicrous.
“Your word is alive and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow.” ~Hebrews 4:12
God’s got us beat in the communication-area, apparently.
And yet God is so amazing and unexplainable.
It really puts things into perspective if you ask me….
How Holy and indescribable and uncomprehendable he really is
- yes i just made up that word uncomprehendable –
God is truly breathtaking and beautiful.
And those words are still not enough…
But I’m not letting go of this concept
hello
@RoBoChIcA -
Frustrates you as a writer? What about as a person? Haha..but on the happy side, that’s the thing that makes writing fun, I suppose. The neverending quest to get closer and closer to what you actually mean.
@redeeming_passion -
And that is why the Spirit must intercede for us with “groans that words cannot express.” God truly is more than words can contain. The Bible may be able to point toward God, but is itself insufficient in capturing his reality. A
And that brings us to another quality word I didn’t mention, ‘ineffable.’
Ohhh, those are good ones, too! I had to look up alpenglow and sub rosa.
If all else fails, you could simply read the dictionary. Think of it. You’ll eventually find the word you misplaced and learn a few hundred more in the process.
In all seriousness, the rest of your post is very true. It’s not surprise that, supposedly, the invention of language spawned civilized culture. It wouldn’t surprise me.
Have you ever studied a foreign language? Foreign languages open up a whole new word of understanding about languages. With a new vocabulary comes an entirely new matrix of shades and meanings. Although a meaning in the mind of two people might be the same [i.e. "This is a cup."], the two people are restricted by the matrix of significance in their mother tongue.
One’s native tongue has does a lot to shape the way one thinks. When you’re searching for a word in your mind — any ordinary and perfectly reachable word — it’s not the word you think of. Instead, you think of the concept, and the word follows. Yet, you very probably, originally learned that concept FROM that word and its context. It’s a very curious interplay.
I think your post outlines one of the multiple blessings of reading. It never ceases to expand one’s vocabulary. It’s a very perfect setup, if you think about it. Books are entertaining, they provide the occasional unknown word, and the context — from which you can often extrapolate the unknown word’s meaning. Books are beautiful things.
Oh, and Happy Thanksgiving by the way, if you celebrate it.
@Yume_Shii -
Yeah! I studied Italian and that really got me thinking. Sometimes I would read translations and see how different they chose to express something! Definitely gets you wondering about the legitimacy and capability of the language you primarily use.
Yeah, I always see three to four words in a book before I convince myself to get up off my butt and get a piece of paper and pen to write them down. For some reason I always forget to start, and then ironically tell myself I will be able to remember them all. Heh.
Yeah! HAPPY THANKSGIVING. Definitely celebrate it. Football, turkey, relatives – gotta love it!
P.S. I’ve tried to read the dictionary, but the main problem with doing that is there are way too many characters and simply not enough plot development.
@StrokeofThought -
Italian? That’s not a very common language. I don’t suppose you learned it in order to understand opera?
*laughing* Oh my. You have greater gumption than I. I don’t bother to write down words I come across, but rather I garner the meaning of the word from the context and am satisfied. Needless to say, I’ve gotten myself into a pickle or two for not grasping the finer connotations of some words…
Hahahaha! Funny fellow. Very funny…. But don’t you know, character interaction is key to well written book?