Funday Monday

Language is the human form of communication that we use everyday to convey a message, tell a story or to relate news.

Throughout history language was used to build bridges of communicating to one another and to this day, it still is. (My apologies to the deaf/mutes who I am excluding from language as a form of communication.) Although other forms of communicative systems are used by every species, it is language that is the most widely used by human beings.

The grammar rules are what define the English language. There is a structure, form and a system that plays into the use of correct language. I’m not here to discuss foreign languages such as Japanese, Chinese, or Spanish (and many other languages) because I know absolutely nothing about them.

Linguistics (not to be confused with linguine) is the scientific study of language. Theoretical linguistics is the study of syntax, phonology, morphology and semantics. Basically it is studying phonetics (the sounds of words), morphology is studying the way words are formed and the composition of words, syntax are the rules on how to form phrases and sentences.

The human language is referred to as a Natural Language, it is in a constant state of change and if it weren’t it would be deemed a Dead Language.

Did you ever think of language as a structure? Well when you become a writer, your mind is always thinking of language on all levels because if you didn’t then you would be considered a dead writer. (ok that is my theory in trying to add some humor to the post.)

We have words that we use regularly, we have words that are slang, we have dialect that shifts with the coasts, and we have languages that we have never known or learned. That’s me, I’ve never learned a foreign language because I’ve always enjoyed picking apart the English language so much, I’ve never gotten around to learning a different language.

Whatever the case may be, explore your language in depth so you can bring your writing to the table and have all of the readers gobble it up. If you don’t understand the make-up of your own language how do you expect readers to understand what you’ve written?

Here are some words for you to mull over. Words you might use in your everyday language or in your writing. Now go make some sentences, form them into paragraphs and get that story written! Now wasn’t this FUN? I didn’t think so. I can hear you now, "About as much fun as a root canal." :-)

adage:
a traditional saying expressing a common experience or observation; a proverb

clamorous:
1. full of, marked by, or of the nature of clamor
2. vigorous in demands and complaints

extenuate:
1. to represent (a fault, offense, etc.) as less serious: to extenuate a crime.
2. to serve to make (a fault, offense, etc.) seem less serious.
3. to underestimate, underrate, or make light of: Do not extenuate the difficulties we are in.

imbibe:
1. to consume (liquids) by drinking; drink: He imbibed great quantities of iced tea.
2. to absorb or soak up, as water, light, or heat: Plants imbibe moisture from the soil.
3. to take or receive into the mind, as knowledge, ideas, or the like: to imbibe a sermon; to imbibe beautiful scenery.

innate:
1. existing in one from birth; inborn; native: innate musical talent.
2. inherent in the essential character of something: an innate defect in the hypothesis.
3. originating in or arising from the intellect or the constitution of the mind, rather than learned through experience: an innate knowledge of good and evil.

quiescent: kwee-ess-uhnt or kwy-ess-ent
being at rest; quiet; still; inactive or motionless: a quiescent mind.