The Study of Linguistics

Language changes with history and time. Our perception of
words changes. Everything changes, from cooking with fire
to cooking with a microwave.
 
Even language changes, examples are accents and books,
influential people, and historical occurrences.
 
Accents shows development of culture over time, maybe over
a historical occurrence, such as a new country being found,
the people living there might adopt the culture of the
founders. Language also changes, from using different
sounds in words, which are called phonemes.
 
The english language has about 43 different phonemes, such
as OH, EE, etc. which make up our language. Different
cultures, such as some Indian Tribes, may have more or less
phonemes in their language, showing either a lower form of
language with less words and sounds or a higher form with
only the necessary sounds and words.
 
Also the syntax, also known as grammar, have an effect on
the society. There is no 'proper' way to write a book, for
example, but just a 'standard' way everyone uses. This may
be thought of as the 'proper' way but rebels will use no
periods and have one long paragraph in a 400 page book.
Maybe the culture says it is mandatory to have everything
in one continuous sentence, while others more civilized or
advanced will follow the rules to the very letter.
 
Accents also have different languages linked to them.
Different letters, phrases, and even a whole new language
may be created in the process of learning the language,
over time and a metamorphosis to keep up with the changing
world.
 
Letters are called graphemes, meaning the 26 letters of the
alphabet, more or less in different languages. In inuit for
example, every grapheme follows a very obvious pattern of a
prefix followed by a certain suffix, a combination of
vowels and consonants. For example, there might be a set of
the letters r, t, and h, and with the suffixes oo, ot, etc.
 
Different symbols can also be associated with different
cultures. The cross is associated with our religion,
although it might not be in Tasmania, for example. The
newer addition of these symbols helps to understand the
concept more clearly, as in television, which is like a
talking and showing book.
 
How can language have meaning? Through time it may lose and
gain new meaning, through historical occurrences, for
example. During the war, a whole new kind of lingo spread
like wildfire through the battling nations. The study of
how language contains meaning is called semantics, and
through this we can see what has occurred and what will
occur, like a time machine right before our eyes which we
must study to use efficiently.
 
The influence of different people has a major effect on our
lives. Our political system, family, friends, this all may
adversely affect our lives in ways we might regret.
Influential people coining words, for example might 'nuke'
a country. George Bush set a world record by saying the
most metaphors in his presidential speech after winning.
Language might not change obviously with historical
occurrences, but it does.
 
The change is obvious in historical occurrences which
affect the whole world. The 'meeting' in the Gulf has
stirred up an entire planet, maybe starting a war which
will devastate the earth. As gas prices rise, everything
needing fuel does. The means of communication between two
people change, from ignorance to shouting, to whispering,
to nothing between the two. Our perception of the concept
must be clear before we can actually communicate
efficiently, language itself must be understood fully for
it to be used fully.
 
Changing with history and time means a whole new
environment to live in where we must constantly adapt to
our surroundings to survive. Car insurance, for example,
was considered a luxury 70 years ago, now it is life and
death. The change can be so subtle over time that it hits
us so hard we do not expect it, with horrendous results
sometimes the outcome.
 
Different cultures have different perceptions of their
language, the languages of others, their beliefs about God
and their religion, etc. Communication is better if we know
more about the second party, the lesser known the better
sometimes, as one may not want to communicate with a bunch
of motorcycle bandits, for example.
 
Slang may also be considered a different belief, as
different cultures have different languages, and slang may
be the key that holds them together as their central
language with which to communicate. This is not always bad,
but sometimes another party has no idea of what they are
saying, which causes trouble. Slang is a direct example of
how over time we can 'bind' together and create something
new, according to our culture and beliefs.
 
Our evolution of language from a simple 'ug' to our
advanced system of grammar has changed the world
drastically. Communication between countries, people, have
had eventually an effect on our lives.
 
As mentioned earlier, there is no 'proper' way to use
language. There is a standard way, as slang is a change on
the standard, like options on a new car. The standards have
changed over time, and are different from culture to
culture as a culture's evolution may have played an
important part in the culture's future.
 
The proper ways have been stretched, strung out, and hung
to dry, in several examples. Slang is a first, while
languages developed from different languages also is an
example. Latin is the base of many, many languages, and it
is also known if you study a language which is very same as
one you know, you will learn faster. The standard is
changed everyday, as we coin and use new words.
 
Influential people also play a part in our evolution of
language. The may use one word that is a habit to them, but
do they know they might make a habit for a million people?
ten million? The whole world? This is an example in
speeches of important people, books of all kinds, etc.
 
Books also may influence our writing in a myriad of ways.
Our style, our subjects, our concepts, all may be affected.
Not all to the worst, not all to the best. Long time
authors with many fans may be surprised at how their
die-hard readers have copied their writing style. This also
gives people a sense of confidence, as they can write with
a famous author.
 
We lose effectiveness in our everyday use of language. For
example, it is like walking down a road, with a bag of sand
in your arms, and the bag has a hole in it. The sand slowly
trickles away, being replaced by something new. The analogy
shows how something old in language may be replaced by
something new: effectiveness for completeness?
effectiveness for new standards? This plagues many people,
as one day their ideas which they so meticulously thought
out have gone out of style.
 
The standards are called Form Classes. Form Classes are
parts of speech, nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc. The rules
are not always followed closely, but everything may be
categorized into one or two form classes.
 
Adjectives are minor 'extras' in our language. They enrich
our language, giving vivid, clear concepts, describing the
scene as we may not see it. Without them, we still have
language, except a dead language. No one will use it, and
it wills slowly fade away. A good example is latin. It is
the base to many languages, though it is considered 'a
dead' language.
 
The change over time has made many languages unknown. As
with latin, there are many so called 'universal' languages,
which the creator had the intent for it to be learned
worldwide and beyond. Many of these have never caught on
like latin, which died before it had a chance to live. Time
will strengthen it for its comeback. An example of a
'universal' language is Esperanto. This is similar to
spanish, with no exceptions to the rules. Its syntax is
good, clear cut and concise. But hardly no one can speak
this language, except for those who choose to learn it. A
familiarity between spanish and Esperanto is evident
although the creator was polish. Perhaps he though the
spanish to be a dominant race in the future when he created
this language? Or did he want the whole world to come
together as one to cooperate and live freely? The
perception is different with time and culture, as in the
future the spanish will dominate the earth and spanish will
die, revealing the undercoating of another language,
another culture?
 
People's perception of modern language and the language of
old is surprising. In a survey, ninety six percent of the
people thought of old language as words like thou, thee,
dost, ye, etc. And in the same survey, when an example was
given, people followed the example, not reading the
question fully. I purposely misworded the phrase to see
what people would write.
 
The results are surprising.
 
Only TWO people answered the question right. The others
wrote words with the same meaning. like big-large, etc.
like in t he example. The reading and the understanding of
the question shows how people have developed their
understanding over time.
 
As new concepts are developed, used, and used again, a
whole new language might be created from it. Names for the
new concepts are also created, as with robots. Airplanes,
cars, and many other machines are examples. A second
generation from that might pronounce things differently,
like over here we pronounce 'Levi's' LEE-VIES, while in
Europe, they pronounce it LEH-VIS. This shows a change to
adapt to their language, french.
 
Language has to expand to take on the new concepts we
develop. Historical events, such as wars, have a part in
uniting two cultures or destroying two. They can destroy
one, leaving them to pick up the pieces and to start over,
or bring two together to make a whole new language. This is
good in a way, but if a culture is completely destroyed,
can it come back to its previous stature? Can it get better?
 
Our perception of phrases can be altered too. As our sense
of humor has developed from medieval England, for example,
we develop our phrases too. Fred lost a string in the house
which was all tied up. What do you see? Fred looking for a
knotted string? Or Fred looking at a knotted house? Our
perception of this phrase might have been only one, the
first one, while today there are millions of possibilities.
Language in the form of humor, changes with time.
 
If we were freezed in time right now, and woke up in the
year 2090, we would be surprised and shocked to find
ourselves there. If we had no way of going home, we wo uld
have to stay, and adapt to the new cultures. We have not
seen what has transpired before that, so we do not know
what to do.
 
But, if we had stayed in 1990 and let our evolution take
place, we would have seen everything. In the future this is
like learning a new culture all by itself.
 
Language changes with historical occurences and time. Time
changes it, the influences of people change it, history
changes it. We all live it, and the change everyday is so
subtle we often cannot detect it. If we were zapped into
the future, we would find it foriegn, because we do not
know the language and cultures. Historical influences can
unite two cultures, destroy many, make new ones. We all
have a different perception of what language is and how it
changes, and it might change when we share that information
with others, getting their ideas and using our own. Our
standards and meanings of words changes too, our sounds and
syntax expanding for new concepts. New concepts help us to
understand the world, new concepts are made with time and
the need for them. Language is a wonderful thing that we
all use and change ourselves to our own suits and needs.