Word Drunk

I'd like to post some thoughts from class that I have not referenced when writing about the chapters.

-Word of the day for me:
Mellifluous: sweetly or smoothly flowing; sweet-sounding: a mellifluous voice; mellifluous tones.

-I find I am greatly interested in the flow of language. This can be in conversation (as mentioned in class) the way one topic changes, reflects on itself, broadens and focuses in over time. I once drove to California (from Idaho) with my sister and her friend. For about almost an hour I stopped participating in there conversation and instead, wrote down the subjects and how they evolved. What interested me is that the topics would blend and flow smoothly for a long time before suddenly changing with no apparent motivation for the tangent. Later on they would return to an earlier train of thought as if uninterrupted. Similarly, it is interesting when having a conversation with a friend how a very specific conversation point will occur and you realize that they told you the exact same thing days, weeks, or months ago. It's not just the subject matter but the angle and perspective from which it is approached.

Another flowing of language deals with larger stories. The Battle of Troy, King Arthur, and countless other tales began as "true" accounts told by witnesses. These would be retold, exaggerated, and re-examined countless times over generations. Certain elements would stick, others would not. Eventually we reach modern times and while different interpretations exist, we have come to know the essential stories (even though much of them are rather unlikely). Once again I turn to Joseph Campbell on this topic, who also brings up that had writing not become widespread, all of our stories would have evolved in a similar fashion. Many stories that seem hard to understand would have advanced along with us, adapted to suit our needs as a culture. Unfortunately this seems to have been lost due to writing as well as news media and increase in general knowledge throughout the world. While all of this seems like a vast game of Telephone, Campbell insists that the subconscious mind plays a major part in the evolution of a story. Perhaps with the right amount of added chaos, a game of telephone could result in something innovative.

Finally, and much more briefly as I have already written about this subject, spoken language itself flows. In distant human prehistory, certain sounds stuck and became words. As the capabilities increased, the need for specificity in communication increased as well. The way in which we pluralize, infer the past, or speak sarcastically gradually emerged. Dialects became standard languages, which subsequently broke into new dialects. Words were borrowed, reinterpreted, and forgotten. These days less and less people write freehand. The grammatical shortcuts of texting culture is affecting the spoken word. We are rapidly becoming oral again due to cell phones, webcams, and the like. Language has become international. As subcultural blends of the standard languages become more prevalent, perhaps we as a world will communicate easier. It may look as though we are speaking and writing poorly, but "Standard English" is simply another interiorized technology that may need to go.

Change is the norm, loosen up.