I never thought language was so complex and
systematic until after this reading and class discussion. This topic
particularly interested me because I speak three languages.
In the
reading, De Saussure says: "If words stood for pre-existing concepts, they
would all have exact same equivalents in meaning from one language to the next;
but this is not true." This excerpt was an "aha" moment for me
because I could immediately think of plenty of examples of words in Spanish
that do not have a direct translation to English. This also speaks to the fact
that meaning is highly contextual and dependent on the community.
I encounter
these differences daily, even when interacting with people that speak my same
language but are from different countries. Meaning is ascribed by people. In my
country, for instance, "paja" means lie. In the Dominican Republic,
the same word is used as a vulgarity/profanity. Both words are spelled and
pronounced the same way, and are considered Spanish. Despite this, their meaning is dependent on
the community where they are used. It is
interesting how language's many layers and complexities manifest themselves
within the same language.
Another interesting fact De Saussure puts
forward is that even though words might have direct translations, the value the
word carries also forms an imperative part of the meaning. In Spanish for
example, “I love you” has a different value than “Te amo”, but they have the
same signification. In fact, a lot of Spanish-speaking countries have adopted
the English “I Love you” to use in less serious circumstances such as
expressing love towards a friend. So, direct translation does not always carry
the same meaning based on value. Again, I think that this sheds light on the
fact that the usage of words is situational and contextual because value also
forms part of the overall meaning. In short, meaning is not one-dimensional,
but rather composed of many overlapping layers that are manipulated through
human interaction.
I also found this aspect of De Saussure's writing to be incredibly intriguing! Although I solely speak English, my boyfriend, as well as many of our friends, is bilingual. In everyday occurrences, I find instances of the excerpt you mentioned. Oftentimes, when my friends are speaking to family members in their native tongues, I will hear them rambling in conversation and then quickly switch to English for words that do not translate. However, more often than not, these terms are usually things that are mainly found in America (i.e. fraternities and sororities, slang we have created, etc.).
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, De Saussure's statement rings true when thinking of my boyfriend's native language, Turkish, which is known for using suffixes. While I can say a sentence of 6 words, he can find a single word in Turkish to encompass the entire phrase. For instance, "sensizlik" translates to "the state of being without you."
I do think English has more words than most languages, though. It always startles me acknowledging that I was born in American and I am fluent in English, yet when I read certain books, there are some words I do not understand. Moreover, I also thinks it is surprising (yet great) that English has various words for the same thing depending on the region. For example, hero/sub, clicker/remote, sneakers/tennis shoes, etc.
P.S. I do find it funny that many Spanish speakers have adopted "I love you" instead of "te amo" or "te quiero." I always thought "te quiero" was the more casual phrase of the two.