The Telesis of terminology and
the creation of contrived expressions.
When good
quality milk is available in a sachet why bother owning a herd of cows and milk
them followed by a hoard of other concomitant tasks before you get a cup of
milk to drink.
Similarly, when
certain single words are available that can convey a simple or complicated
idea/ideas, thought/s, concept, philosophical approaches why resort to use multiple
words and expressions to convey the same thing.
Personally, I feel
the beauty of, grandeur of and the maximum number of users and domains in which
the English language is used are attributable to a very great extent to its
willingness and ability to absorb, assimilate and adopt words and expressions
from many languages and allow them to permeate permanently in certain contexts.
I also feel that
the recipient or reader must take the trouble of finding out the exact meaning
new words and expressions that he/she encounters.
I have gathered,
like many addicts of linguistics, etymologies and lexicology many excellent
expressions in many languages which are so nice that there is neither any harm
in adopting nor in using them in any context.
For example an
Italian friend of mine admonished me for using words like bribe and corruption
during UPA regime, instead he asked me to say, “ Busterella” [Italian term for ‘Envelop
stuffed with money given as bribe] and I said it is a
“Mokita” [ Word
from a language called
Kivila, spoken in Papua New Guinea meaning “the truth we all know but agree not to talk
about.”]
There are many
ways of attracting and appealing to sensitivities and sensibilities of the
receiver.
It is done by adding aesthetic aspects to any
art either through individual improvisations or imaginations or innovations or
through repeated and refined reuse of some abstract elements or bombastic
frills to project a style and create a niche of elitism or identity.
Even within the
same language certain new expressions render as endangered species certain very
easily and universally comprehensible generic expressions.
For example the
mere term ‘Changes or changing trends’ have been replaced by ‘paradigm shifts’.
In additions to
naturally evolving changes required to adapt to emerging new contexts and newer
domains of human activities, there are also these types of affected usages [like
paradigm shift] to replace the existing words and expressions.
This arena is
further crowded by the ejection of multitude of carefully crafted nuanced new
connotations [too far removed from the denotation, and devoid of any etymological
justification] assigned to certain terminologies by the new breed of professionals
known as ‘agenda setters, the dinosaur like predatory [but selective in their prey]
mass opinion molding narrative peddlers who contradictorily are moving in the
safe sanctuaries of main stream media [MSM] houses and they also go about appropriating
lofty terms like intellectuals, scholars, liberals and so on.
There is no
counter to this terminological terrorism because it operates from safe
sanctuaries.
The nibbling of
terminologies portraying greatness by these termites or bugaboo
[Media sponsored
opinion nibblers] has squeezed out the sap of greatness attached to those
terms. [‘Bugaboo’ is an
American English term for an object
of fear or alarm in both the literal and figurative sense is from
Jamaican word for scary insects]
There are, and
preferably there cannot be or must not be any hard and fast rule, either in punctuation
or usage of words and expressions, especially if they restrict the free flow of
thoughts and ideas in specific contexts.
However, we
cannot totally ignore the importance and role of certain reasonable [a highly
relative term in this context] broad guild lines in punctuation, grammar, and word
usage that enable and enhance the recipient or the reader to understand better
without too much of ambiguity.
Having said all
the above there are certain inherent inadequacies and illogicalities in every
language in some aspects of every language and they get further mutilated when
a non native speakers use those languages.
Let us confine
ourselves to English, which is not a native language of most Indians, most struggle,
and rightly so, the illogicality of prepositions in many expressions and the
real meaning of certain idioms.
Neither the usage of words and expressions nor
the evolving connotations beyond and besides strictly etymological
justifications can be stopped and let the language to get petrified, if that
had happened then the language would not have expanded its influence and superior
importance. I am tempted to quote what David Crystal writes in his books WORD,
WORDS, WORDS and THE STORIES OF ENGLISH wherein he shares certain
interesting of information like these:- “ words science, conscience and shit all had originally common
etymology”, and “It
remains a lexicological puzzle why some words were accepted and some rejected.
We do not know how to account for the linguistic ‘survival of the fittest’. Both impede and expede were introduced during the same period as well as disabuse and disadorn, but in each of
these pairs the first item stayed in the language and the second did not”.
Yes indeed
words have eternal wings, enormous power and phoenix like survival instincts.
Articulation is
one of the greatest arts which can enhance or extinguish anything.
But equally powerful are the interpretations, connotations with contextual
relevance, perceptions, frames of references used to perceive and perspectives,
ability look beyond and beneath the words and many other factors.
It is
therefore, important to pay very minute attention to the nuances and learn the
art of diplomatic articulation.
At the end of
the day, even if we are not able to create a great impact or convince and make
others accept our stand or a particular stand, at least we must be able to get
across what we intend to convey to others in a way that they can grasp or
preferably how we want them to grasp.
The earth may
be rotating on its own axis but the world is getting rotated by multitude of
axes of various versions and carefully crafted narratives.
Words evolve
and live only in an environment created by literature and other contexts that involve
dominant human activities.
That’s why, if
we travel with or through the words we will know that many centuries ago
vocabularies in most languages were dominated by mythological, religious and
hunting terminologies, then wars and battles, followed by philosophical
discourse, science, economics, politics, advancing technologies like internet
and so on.
Mathematician Theodor Molien was fluent in German, Estonian,
French, Swedish, Greek, Hebrew, Latin, English, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese,
Dutch, and Norwegian. He said, “Read a
hundred novels in a language,” he liked to say, “and you will know that
language.”
In political
arena very few focus on economic development, social engineering for
improvement of living conditions for as many as possible and instead some of them
are concentrating on verbal articulation.
So, in that
process, we are bound to encounter variety of styles including bombastic language
and using obscure terms etc.
The Telesis [n. the intelligent direction of effort toward the
achievement of an end] decides the curve of articulation and the nature of
vocabulary used.
I wish the
readers to also read authors like Steven Pinker, David crystal on linguistics besides
the usually prescribed linguistics books and authors.
Further
dressing of appreciation of language can emerge through reading of ‘Aesthetics and the Theory of Criticism: Selected Essays of Arnold Isenberg’ By Arnold
Isenberg
Two of my own write ups on the same topic ‘Marriage’, first
one written in a totally affected style when I was in the final year of my
schooling as an exercise of challenge among our friends as to who can write a
free verse with maximum number of difficult words and the second one really
what I felt after attending a wedding a few years back.
Neither fastidious scrutiny of grammatical correctness
nor the most easily comprehensible expressions can act as sanctifying authority
to impose any specific style as that would stifle free flow of expression.
Usages of specific terminologies depend on context, purpose
and individual style.
However, if you want to know anyone’s natural reaction and
spontaneous language, take him out of the comfort zone and making him take a walk
in beach and unleash some ten [10] hounds and then record the language or
screams that he utters in any language or ask him to take ten [10] rounds of
rum on the rocks and let him speak.
