Language and the Human Understanding Through Time Essay...

If we were time travelers, would we be able to understand our ancestors? Would we even be speaking the same language? Important questions about the definition of a language arise when temporal shifts come into play. Where is the line between a new language, and simply a dialect? Were Shakespeare and Chaucer writing in different languages? Does Barack Obama use a different dialect than George Washington did? The deciding factor of whether a language has evolved past the point of dialectical variation is mutual intelligibility, which can apply to linguistic changes based on geography, ethnicity, and, although it is less concrete, time. But this begs an important question: how can we test this? Because we are relying solely on textual†¦show more content†¦If two dialects of a language change enough–because of the combination of geographic distance and time–so that the dialect from one region is not understandable by the people using the other dialect, then the two are no longer dialects of one language. Instead, they have become two entirely different languages. Although it is, for the most part, impossible to isolate geography from time, it is possible to isolate time from geography. The rule of mutual intelligibility still applies: when a language changes to the point where its modern users cannot understand its traditional texts, then the traditional language and the modern one can be considered two separate languages. Mutual unintelligibility is not the case with the English used today as compared to the English used in the late 1770s. For example, Barack Obama and George Washington, although there may have been small discrepancies, undoubtedly would have been able to understand each other’s writing and speech. We, as students at the University of Chicago, frequently read texts written in the 1770s and before, and are able to comprehend them even if they are unabridged. English has not changed enough in the last two hundred years to constitute two separate languages. However, when it comes to Shakespeare and Chaucer, it is difficult to say whether they would have been able to understand each other. Although the time gap between them was roughly the same as the one between ObamaShow MoreRelatedWhat Is Anthropology? Essay1245 Words   |  5 Pagescuriosity about humans. Not only concerned with an interest in human beings and their developements, Anthropology is much more broad in concept of trying to understand the relationships between human beings and all possible questions about them. 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Language is conventional and dynamicRead MoreChanging The World One Human At A Time1366 Words   |  6 PagesChanging the World One Human at a Time David Foster Wallace’s style of writing evokes human emotions that are often repressed or simply over looked. While emailing his editor Wallace once wrote, â€Å"I want to author things that both restructure worlds and make living people feel stuff† (Max qtd. Wallace). His ability to tie readers and characters together creates a relationship with the reader that does just that; Wallace makes his readers â€Å"feel stuff†. In Larry McCaffery’s â€Å"An Interview with DavidRead MoreAssignment One. ‘†¦.To View Language As Though It Were An1248 Words   |  5 PagesOne ‘†¦.to view language as though it were an object, devoid of the social context of its creation and use, is to dislocate it from the field of human interaction within which language derives the full quality of its meanings†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (Grugeon and Gardner 2000: 105) Introduction In this essay we will look at different perspectives of language viewed as an object devoid of the social context of its creation and use. However, language becomes truly meaningful only when it’s combined with human interaction.Read MoreWhat Is Language Devoid Of The Social Context Of Its Creation And Use1499 Words   |  6 PagesTo make language devoid of the social context of its creation and use is to dislocate it from which it derives its meanings. Thus ridding it of its use with the only benefit of understanding what it is made up of. 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The Cheater s Guide For Love By Junot Diaz - 895 Words

In â€Å"The Cheater’s Guide to Love†, Junot Dà ­az presents a story about love that goes sour after the primary character, Yunior’s infidelity is discovered. But beyond just an emotionally bleak story, Dà ­az also uses the background of a love story gone bad to explore issues of race through Yunior’s narrative style, second-person point of view, and the characterization of the various women Yunior meets. One of Dà ­az’s greatest gifts in storytelling is the intimacy of his voice through the use of second-person point of view. Throughout the entire story, the reader is placed in the position of Yunior. â€Å"You write her letters. You drive her to work. You quote Neruda.† (p. 2) But even though second-person point of view is usually used to include readers of all types and all races, in this story, it is clear that the â€Å"you† that Dà ­az uses does not encompass all readers. This is apparent as soon as page two of the story when Yunior (Dà ­az) writes, â€Å"For some Negroes that wouldn’t mean shit. But you ain’t that kind of Negro.† Through this sentence, it is clear that the â€Å"you† refers to a person of color. Yunior is openly angry and while most of his ire is directed at the women in his life and his failing body, as he gets more and more depressed, some of it starts to get directed at white people as well. White people scream at him at traffic lights, white kids throw soda cans at him, drunk white guys try to pick fights with him, and even though he’s a tenured professor, he is unable to stepShow MoreRelatedThe Cheater s Guide For Love By Junot Diaz997 Words   |  4 Pagesthen you should read, The Cheater’s Guide to Love, by Junot Diaz. In his story, The Cheater’s Guide to Love, Diaz covers the journey of Yunior of finding and losing love and the ups and downs along the way. This journey is chronicled by year, starting at year â€Å"0† t he breakup and ending in year â€Å"5† where he starts to write his story. Throughout the story Yunior is faced with internal and external conflicts, including his downfall and rise towards the end. Diaz also covers the effect of these conflicts

The Voyage free essay sample

The Voyage, by Katherine Mansfield is a short story set in the early 1900s, about a young girl called Fenella who is being taken from her home in Wellington to live with her Grandparents in Picton, after the death of her mother. She along with her grandmother travels across the Cook Strait on the Picton Boat to her new home. Mansfield uses the literary techniques of symbolism, setting and dialogue to convey the idea of the transition from childhood into adulthood. Mansfield uses the symbolism of the umbrella to show that growth within Fenella has occurred. Fenella’s grandma allows Fenella to take care of her â€Å"swan-necked umbrella† which is very precious to her. At the beginning of the story Fenella finds the umbrella large and awkward, â€Å"giving her shoulder a sharp little peck. † Her Grandma has to remind her to be mindful of the umbrella, â€Å"be careful the umbrellas aren’t caught in the stair rail. We will write a custom essay sample on The Voyage or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page † This shows us that Fenella is still a child, young and irresponsible. During the middle of the story Fenella begins to be aware of the umbrella. On the boat Fenella thinks about the umbrella, worrying about its safety at the same time as her grandmother. â€Å"Fenella remembered she had left the swan-necked umbrella†¦. if it fell over, would it break? † This implies that Fenella is being more conscience of the world, which shows the beginning of her change as she matures. At the end of the story when they are about to leave the ship Grandma begins to remind Fenella of the umbrella, but she does not need to, as Fenella has already done her job. â€Å"’You’ve got my—‘Yes, Grandma. Fenella showed it to her. † This symbolism shows us the Fenella’s sense of responsibility has grown and she is now old enough to take care of something on her own, which shows us the quick change from a child to a grown-up after the death of her mother. The contrast of the setting also helps us understand the idea of the transition from childhood into adulthood. At the beginning Mansfield uses repetition of the word â€Å"dark† and â€Å"huge† to describe the setting to convey the world through Fenella’s eyes. â€Å"It was dark†¦very dark†¦. , â€Å"all seemed carved out of solid darkness†, â€Å"huge black mushroom. † These words give us negative connotations which help us see that Fenella finds the world imposing, frightening, unwelcoming and full of the unknown. However, by the end Mansfield describes the setting using words such as â€Å"little† and â€Å"white† to show the change in Fenella’s view of the world. â€Å"little horse†¦little path†¦.. little house,† and â€Å"white picottes†¦white cat†¦white, warm fur. † This helps us understand that Fenella’s situation from the beginning is different. She is seeing the world in a different way. She has changed from the girl in the beginning who saw everything as â€Å"huge† and â€Å"black†. Instead the world is now full of light and hope for her future, her mourning for her mother is slowly becoming easier and eventually everything is going to be alright. This change in views shows us a growth in perception, thinking and understanding, which has been speed up because of the death of her mother. This shows the change from an innocent child into adult who understands the hardships in life. The use of dialogue is also used to convey the idea of a child transitioning into adult hood. In the middle of the story, Fenella and her grandma are sitting in their small cabin. Fenella sees her grandma undress for the first time, which is a strange sight for her. â€Å"Then she undid her bodice, and something under that, and something else underneath that. † This shows us Fenella’s youth as she is unable to identify what the items of clothing are. After Grandma is finished undressing, Fenella puts on her flannel dressing gown and asks her grandma if she should take off her boots. The grandma takes a moment to considerate and she replies Youd feel a great deal more comfortable if you did, child. † Grandma gives Fenella advice but ultimately leaves the decision up to her. This shows us that Fenella is gradually entering into adulthood where she is now believed to be mature enough to make decisions on her own, as her mother is no longer there to make them for her. In The Voyage we can clearly see the idea of the transition from childhood into adulthood. Mansfield has successfully used different literary techniques to convey this idea. The symbolism of the umbrella, the contrast in the setting and the dialogue between Fenella and her grandmother, all show us the journey of growth that Fenella has taken after the death of her beloved mother. From The Voyage we can learn that even after a tragic event has occurred and the world may seem dark there is always light and hope to be found. Life is too short and time is too precious to waste a single moment of it, so we must not live in the past, but start enjoying every moment that we have now.

The Retreat free essay sample

In the poem, The Retreat, the author expresses a longing for the angelic innocence he once had as a child before being corrupted by the harsh realities of the world. The variation of past and present has a significant impact on the evaluation he is making based upon his life. Wishing to return to a life of glory, but not having the courageous soul to embark on the journey because of the corrupt habits Vaughn has developed causes him a predicament. In the imagery and tone used in the poem, Vaughn expresses the mental settings that a place of purity and chaos can put one in. The imagery used in this poem to describe the past and present is very black in white. He uses childhood and the afterlife waiting for him as white, positive, celestial ideals while his experiences throughout life and his adulthood and used as black, negative connotations. We will write a custom essay sample on The Retreat or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page To describe his early years he uses the term â€Å"angel infancy† (line 2). The thought he perceived then were â€Å"white, celestial thought† (line 6); but as he grew older, he began teach â€Å"sin to every sense† (line 18). With his words he â€Å"taught the tongue to wound† (line 15) and his conscience was changed into a â€Å"sinful sound† (line 16). He wishes to return to his previous state of innocence before he left his â€Å"glorious train, / From whence th’ enlightened spirit sees/ That shady city of palm trees† (lines 24-26). However, he has noticed the flaws in his ways, â€Å"my soul with too much too much stay/ Is drunk, and stagger in the way† (line 27-28) When his â€Å"dust falls to the urn† (line 31), he is confident that he will be returned to his original state, to an everlasting entity. Along with imagery and tone, the structure of the poem also plays a vital role in showing the contrast between his current state of longing and his past state, which was full of experiencing glory. The Retreat is also set up as a two-stanza poem that allows the reader to clearly see the two distinct phases of the speaker’s life—both past and present. The first stanza of the poem speaks of the happier days in life, when he was bound in splendor in glory. On the other hand, â€Å"O, how I long to travel back† (line 21) is the desire expressed in the second stanza. Through the second stanza, the speaker relays that his life has changed and how he wishes he could return to his former state of pleasure (line 21). Between the two stanzas, the first is longer than the other is. One could say that because death is such an unknown concept, he knows less to write about and inform any reader. The first stanza was longer because certain persons can develop thoughts about how to perceive existence before conception and becoming mortal. After death, there is no one to tell us what could come or how someone may feel since the individual who has passed has no way to inform others. Written by Henry Vaughan, The Retreat tells of the longings experienced by a lost man who recollects former days of joy, yet cannot journey back to obtain such feelings. The poem clearly contains forms of imagery, tone, and a set structure to pinpoint specifically the former and present state of the speaker. Through these techniques, the reader can easily enter into the mindset of the speaker whose feelings of emptiness and distraught cause his yearning to enter back into heaven to be even stronger.