meditations on a friend
There is a point, when learning a foreign language, at which a person stops simply translating their thoughts and ideas from their own language into another, and instead begins to think and express themselves in the language that they have long studied. This is known to most people as the point of fluency. Language, however, is a tricky thing and very hard to master. While many come to a general knowledge of vocabulary and syntax - the heres, the theres, the whats, whens and wheres - it is nearly impossible to comprehend nuance without the intimacy of conversation. It's here where words and meanings cease to be a thing outside you, and become something greater within you.
The nature of linguistics, however, is that same nature of all things in life, and that is evolution. Words lose their meanings or aquire new ones; pronunciations change and accents muddle. Sometimes languages die, as do we all
As long as there are people who understand it, can a language really be dead? Sometimes it merely becomes a secret.What a terrible and wonderful thing it is to be the knower of secret languages: to feel the memory of words in your heart, but have no one to speak them to.
The nature of linguistics, however, is that same nature of all things in life, and that is evolution. Words lose their meanings or aquire new ones; pronunciations change and accents muddle. Sometimes languages die, as do we all
As long as there are people who understand it, can a language really be dead? Sometimes it merely becomes a secret.What a terrible and wonderful thing it is to be the knower of secret languages: to feel the memory of words in your heart, but have no one to speak them to.