What's in a word?
All Indo-European languages have the capacity to form compounds. Indeed, German and Dutch do it, one might say, to excess. But English does it more neatly than most other languages, eschewing the choking word chains that bedevil other Germanic languages and employing the nifty refinement of making the elements reversible, so that we can distinguish between a houseboat and a boathouse, between basketwork and a workbasket, between a casebook and a bookcase. Other languages lack this facility
Bill Bryson
I’ve been back at school for a month now, helping the year 2 ‘Raindrop’ class with their reading. They are at various stages of development. Some even tackle words such as palaeontologist; no mean feat for a 7-year-old.
It prompted this Reflection on reading and language. In truth, I cannot remember at what age I read with fluency, inflexion, and rhythm. Happily tackling tricky words. Understanding the pause length for a comma, semicolon, colon, and full stop. Do you recall when you felt you had mastered the art?
My mother told me I could read when I started infant school at five years old. Taught by my then thirteen-year-old sister. How proficient my reading was, is another question.
I’ve enjoyed reading from an early age; my favourite stories when young were the Brer Rabbit stories and Richmal Crompton’s ‘Just William’ books. As a teenager, I discovered D H Lawrence (to whom I confess I never took). And Aldous Huxley (who I did). Emily Brontë (the tortured romance of Wuthering Heights enthralling my 16-year-old self). John Le Carré (whose gritty espionage gripped me. It seemed far more authentic than the world of James Bond). A few years later came Orwell, Fitzgerald, Hemingway and the like. Then there were the poets; Keats, Shelley, Larkin, Eliot, Dickenson, Angelou. I’m always impressed when one of my Raindrops tackles a book of poetry. Especially prose.
I believe we should all stand by the saying by AJ Styles, “never criticise someone who mispronounces a word. It means they learned it by reading”.
How else do you expand your vocabulary? I’ve never felt embarrassed to come across an unfamiliar word and ask someone its meaning or pronunciation.
I’m fascinated by words. We all have one or two favourites. One of mine is loquacious. I love how it rolls around the mouth, and I’m guilty of it too! My wife often mentions that I employ meandering and cacophony a lot in my writing. She’s correct, I do, but again, I like their sound. And their sound implies their meaning.
I discovered, during the Lockdowns, a set of podcasts by Kevin Stroud called the ‘History of the English Language’. I’m playing catch-up in listening to them. I’m only on number 17 of 147, and I find them compelling.
Stroud takes us on the journey from the Proto-Indo-European language of thousands of years ago that is the source of today’s English. That early language predates Latin, Greek and Celt. They, too, originate from the language spoken by the Indo-European people. It is their migration that spread their language across Europe and beyond. A language that, over centuries, developed into those spoken around the western world today.
The trick that Stroud pulls off is to make what might appear a dry subject come to life for anyone with an interest in the English language or History. He explains how pronunciation changed over time. For example, how did P become F (such as ‘pater’ in Latin becoming ‘father’ in English)? Why is a C sometimes soft (circle) and occasionally hard (castle)? Why does PH sound like F?
The podcast also covers why the spelling of some words is different in the USA and UK; Color, center, plow, etc. (it was all down to one man back in the late 1800s).
The podcast does include some history to explain how the English language evolved into what it is today. What led to the Magna Carta? What was behind the publication of the first law books in English? Which wars caused changes in demographics and thus the evolution of a language (e.g. the Norman conquest of England)?
There’s also a website to support the podcast. Maps show the migration of the Indo-Europeans from their believed homeland of the Steppes of Eurasia as they spread their language.
Future podcasts promise the evolution of modern English accents and dialects. People can leave a voice sample on the website and where they originate.
I would certainly recommend the podcast to those interested in the English language, pronunciation, and history.
And so, to this week’s music. I could have gone for something like the Bee Gees, ‘Words’. Instead, I’ve opted for a song I like and understand can help those learning English. The use of Beatles songs is supposedly common in that regard, but I prefer this by Leonard Cohen.
