Story Lab: Language and Grammar
I have chosen to watch one of the TEDed Videos: How Languages Evolve, by Alex Gendler and Does Grammar Matter? by Andreea S. Calude.
How Languages evolve, by Alex Gendler, taught me that all of humanity once spoke a single language until they suddenly split into many groups unable to understand each other. We don;t really know if there is such as an original language that existed, but we do know that there are thousands of languages existing as of today that can be traced back to a much smaller number. This may happen due to groups of people that shared a single language and culture split into smaller tribes going in separate ways in search of fresh game and fertile land. Therefore, they became isolated with one another and grew with different interests. Chinese, for example, is classified as a single language. However, its dialects vary to the point of being mutually unintelligible. Therefore, the next time you hear a foreign language, pay close attention because it may not be as foreign as you think.
How Languages evolve, by Alex Gendler, taught me that all of humanity once spoke a single language until they suddenly split into many groups unable to understand each other. We don;t really know if there is such as an original language that existed, but we do know that there are thousands of languages existing as of today that can be traced back to a much smaller number. This may happen due to groups of people that shared a single language and culture split into smaller tribes going in separate ways in search of fresh game and fertile land. Therefore, they became isolated with one another and grew with different interests. Chinese, for example, is classified as a single language. However, its dialects vary to the point of being mutually unintelligible. Therefore, the next time you hear a foreign language, pay close attention because it may not be as foreign as you think.
Does Grammar Matter?, by Andreea S. Calude, reminded me that grammar is always important to have a better understanding for another person. Grammar is a set of patterns for how words are put together to form phrases or clauses, whether spoken or in writing. In the English language, the subject should always come first, followed by the verb, then the object. However, in the Japanese language, the subject comes first, followed by the object, then verb. Prescriptivism think a given language should follow consistent rules, while descriptivism see variation and adaptation as a natural and necessary part of language. Overall, linguists have understood that speech is a separate phenomenon from writing with its own regularities and patterns. Grammar is best thought of as a set of linguistic habits that are constantly being negotiated and reinvented by the entire group of language users.
Artwork. Art Didn't Work, Link Text.
Hi Hoai-Quoc!
ReplyDeleteI am in the middle of surfing the blog stream for some commenting extra credit, and your post caught me eye. It was the cute yet funny image that I noticed first. The videos sound interesting. I like the idea of there being one ancient language for humanity. It does not seem so far fetched. Like how Spanish and Italian came from Latin. Thanks for posting this. I learned something new. Good luck on the rest of the semester!