Monday, September 5, 2011
Language - A Key to Knowlege
One of the most important parts of Knowlege, and one that can reinvent it, is language. Language can make the passing of knowlege either progress or stop. Language can limit who gets knowlege. Like the Tower of Babel, language is a controlling factor in how knowledge and action is passed, from one person to the other, and preserved. Rather than consider all aspects of communication, I would like to focus on the spoken word. The spoken word is an incredibly unique and broad part of folk knowlege. Not only can actual language differ, such as Japanese versus German, but phrases considered common in a specific culture may seem baffling to another. After living in the Western part of the United States most of my life, I move to Dacula, Georgia in 2008 - a city just north of Atlanta. I quickly learned the value of language and understanding different phrases and sayings. For example, being told to put something "up" rather than to put it away, or to say "book bag" rather than backpack - even using the word "y'all". Although this was, at first, confusing and new to me, I quickly picked up a few Southern sayings, and even find myself confusing people at BYU when I use them! It's incredible how language can differ from place to place, and how it can affect communication and knowledge as a whole, depending on location, culture, or any number of factors.
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After reading the article by Ursula LeGuin, it seems like language really can play a big role in all of our lives. She makes the point that languages (specifically the "father tongue", or academic language, and the "mother tongue", the colloquial knowledge) can actually have dominating effects upon each other. We can even separate people based on their language. It creates that "Us" and "Them" dichotomy. We become more focused on the literal language itself than just the basic understandable emotion beneath it. However, this separation gives either the "Us" or the "Them" power over the other. And power is everything.
ReplyDeleteas someone who has learned a second language, i think it is interesting to note that the way in which we vocalize an idea can influence the way we think of it. spoken language is, after all a sort of code of sounds that we have all agreed mean something. for instance, when i say "i love my wife" you all know what the emotion i'm talking about feels like, because you all have someone you love - even though the way i feel about my wife and the way you feel about your parents are different feelings, they are similar enough to fall under the english designation of "love". so if i were to make a list of the people i love, then switch over to french, that list would have to be divided into different groups, because the english word "love" can be translated different ways in french depending on the context. in my opinion, this difference in the spoken language leads to a different way of thinking of things. and since we are discussing ways of learning and thinking, i find it interesting that the division caused by different languages isn't simply a division in the way we communicate, but a division in the ways we process knowledge
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