THE STUDY OF LINGUISTICS

Language changes with history and time. Our perception of

words changes. Everything changes, from cooking with fire to

cooking with a microwave. Even language changes, examples are

accents and books, influential people, and historical occurrences.

Accents shows development of culture over time, maybe over a

historical occurrence, such as a new country being found, the

people living there might adopt the culture of the founders.

Language also changes, from using different sounds in words, which

are called phonemes.

The english language has about 43 different phonemes, such as

OH, EE, etc. which make up our language. Different cultures, such

as some Indian Tribes, may have more or less phonemes in their

language, showing either a lower form of language with less words

and sounds or a higher form with only the necessary sounds and

words.

Also the syntax, also known as grammar, have an effect on the

society. There is no 'proper' way to write a book, for example,

but just a 'standard' way everyone uses. This may be thought of as

the 'proper' way but rebels will use no periods and have one long

paragraph in a 400 page book. Maybe the culture says it is

mandatory to have everything in one continuous sentence, while

others more civilized or advanced will follow the rules to the very

letter.

Accents also have different languages linked to them.

Different letters, phrases, and even a whole new language may be

created in the process of learning the language, over time and a

metamorphosis to keep up with the changing world.

Letters are called graphemes, meaning the 26 letters of the

alphabet, more or less in different languages. In inuit for

example, every grapheme follows a very obvious pattern of a prefix

followed by a certain suffix, a combination of vowels and

consonants. For example, there might be a set of the letters r, t,

and h, and with the suffixes oo, ot, etc.

Different symbols can also be associated with different

cultures. The cross is associated with our religion, although it

might not be in Tasmania, for example. The newer addition of these

symbols helps to understand the concept more clearly, as in

television, which is like a talking and showing book.

How can language have meaning? Through time it may lose and

gain new meaning, through historical occurrences, for example.

During the war, a whole new kind of lingo spread like wildfire

through the battling nations. The study of how language contains

meaning is called semantics, and through this we can see what has

occurred and what will occur, like a time machine right before our

eyes which we must study to use efficiently.

The influence of different people has a major effect on our

lives. Our political system, family, friends, this all may

adversely affect our lives in ways we might regret. Influential

people coining words, for example might 'nuke' a country. George

Bush set a world record by saying the most metaphors in his

presidential speech after winning. Language might not change

obviously with historical occurrences, but it does.

The change is obvious in historical occurrences which affect

the whole world. The 'meeting' in the Gulf has stirred up an

entire planet, maybe starting a war which will devastate the earth.

As gas prices rise, everything needing fuel does. The means of

communication between two people change, from ignorance to

shouting, to whispering, to nothing between the two. Our

perception of the concept must be clear before we can actually

communicate efficiently, language itself must be understood fully

for it to be used fully.

Changing with history and time means a whole new environment

to live in where we must constantly adapt to our surroundings to

survive. Car insurance, for example, was considered a luxury 70

years ago, now it is life and death. The change can be so subtle

over time that it hits us so hard we do not expect it, with

horrendous results sometimes the outcome.

Different cultures have different perceptions of their

language, the languages of others, their beliefs about God and

their religion, etc. Communication is better if we know more about

the second party, the lesser known the better sometimes, as one may

not want to communicate with a bunch of motorcycle bandits, for

example.

Slang may also be considered a different belief, as different

cultures have different languages, and slang may be the key that

holds them together as their central language with which to

communicate. This is not always bad, but sometimes another party

has no idea of what they are saying, which causes trouble. Slang

is a direct example of how over time we can 'bind' together and

create something new, according to our culture and beliefs.

Our evolution of language from a simple 'ug' to our advanced

system of grammar has changed the world drastically. Communication

between countries, people, have had eventually an effect on our

lives.

As mentioned earlier, there is no 'proper' way to use

language. There is a standard way, as slang is a change on the

standard, like options on a new car. The standards have changed

over time, and are different from culture to culture as a culture's

evolution may have played an important part in the culture's

future.

The proper ways have been stretched, strung out, and hung to

dry, in several examples. Slang is a first, while languages

developed from different languages also is an example. Latin is

the base of many, many languages, and it is also known if you study

a language which is very same as one you know, you will learn

faster. The standard is changed everyday, as we coin and use new

words.

Influential people also play a part in our evolution of

language. The may use one word that is a habit to them, but do

they know they might make a habit for a million people? ten

million? The whole world? This is an example in speeches of

important people, books of all kinds, etc.

Books also may influence our writing in a myriad of ways. Our

style, our subjects, our concepts, all may be affected. Not all to

the worst, not all to the best. Long time authors with many fans

may be surprised at how their die-hard readers have copied their

writing style. This also gives people a sense of confidence, as

they can write with a famous author.

We lose effectiveness in our everyday use of language. For

example, it is like walking down a road, with a bag of sand in your

arms, and the bag has a hole in it. The sand slowly trickles away,

being replaced by something new. The analogy shows how something

old in language may be replaced by something new: effectiveness for

completeness? effectiveness for new standards? This plagues many

people, as one day their ideas which they so meticulously thought

out have gone out of style.

The standards are called Form Classes. Form Classes are parts

of speech, nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. The rules are not always

followed closely, but everything may be categorized into one or two

form classes.

Adjectives are minor 'extras' in our language. They enrich

our language, giving vivid, clear concepts, describing the scene as

we may not see it. Without them, we still have language, except a

dead language. No one will use it, and it wills slowly fade away.

A good example is latin. It is the base to many languages, though

it is considered 'a dead' language.

The change over time has made many languages unknown. As with

latin, there are many so called 'universal' languages, which the

creator had the intent for it to be learned worldwide and beyond.

Many of these have never caught on like latin, which died before it

had a chance to live. Time will strengthen it for its comeback.

An example of a 'universal' language is Esperanto. This is similar

to spanish, with no exceptions to the rules. Its syntax is good,

clear cut and concise. But hardly no one can speak this language,

except for those who choose to learn it. A familiarity between

spanish and Esperanto is evident although the creator was polish.

Perhaps he though the spanish to be a dominant race in the future

when he created this language? Or did he want the whole world to

come together as one to cooperate and live freely? The perception

is different with time and culture, as in the future the spanish

will dominate the earth and spanish will die, revealing the

undercoating of another language, another culture?

People's perception of modern language and the language of old

is surprising. In a survey, ninety six percent of the people

thought of old language as words like thou, thee, dost, ye, etc.

And in the same survey, when an example was given, people followed

the example, not reading the question fully. I purposely misworded

the phrase to see what people would write.

The results are surprising.

Only TWO people answered the question right. The others wrote

words with the same meaning. like big-large, etc. like in t he

example. The reading and the understanding of the question shows

how people have developed their understanding over time.

As new concepts are developed, used, and used again, a whole

new language might be created from it. Names for the new concepts

are also created, as with robots. Airplanes, cars, and many other

machines are examples. A second generation from that might

pronounce things differently, like over here we pronounce 'Levi's'

LEE-VIES, while in Europe, they pronounce it LEH-VIS. This shows

a change to adapt to their language, french.

Language has to expand to take on the new concepts we develop.

Historical events, such as wars, have a part in uniting two

cultures or destroying two. They can destroy one, leaving them to

pick up the pieces and to start over, or bring two together to make

a whole new language. This is good in a way, but if a culture is

completely destroyed, can it come back to its previous stature?

Can it get better?

Our perception of phrases can be altered too. As our sense of

humor has developed from medieval England, for example, we develop

our phrases too. Fred lost a string in the house which was all

tied up. What do you see? Fred looking for a knotted string? Or

Fred looking at a knotted house? Our perception of this phrase

might have been only one, the first one, while today there are

millions of possibilities. Language in the form of humor, changes

with time.

If we were freezed in time right now, and woke up in the year

2090, we would be surprised and shocked to find ourselves there.

If we had no way of going home, we wo uld have to stay, and adapt

to the new cultures. We have not seen what has transpired before

that, so we do not know what to do. But, if we had stayed in 1990

and let our evolution take place, we would have seen everything.

In the future this is like learning a new culture all by itself.

Language changes with historical occurences and time. Time

changes it, the influences of people change it, history changes it.

We all live it, and the change everyday is so subtle we often

cannot detect it. If we were zapped into the future, we would find

it foriegn, because we do not know the language and cultures.

Historical influences can unite two cultures, destroy many, make

new ones. We all have a different perception of what language is

and how it changes, and it might change when we share that

information with others, getting their ideas and using our own.

Our standards and meanings of words changes too, our sounds and

syntax expanding for new concepts. New concepts help us to

understand the world, new concepts are made with time and the need

for them. Language is a wonderful thing that we all use and change

ourselves to our own suits and needs.