Language Notes Continued 12-19-08

Problems with Translation
10. Untranslatable Words are words that are so succinct that they cannot be translated from one language to another, such as "huzeluch" (sp?) which is most closely translated into English as "sitting in a small room with a bunch of Dutchmen drinking coffee and smoking cigars" or something like that.

11. Idioms are colloquial phrases that cannot really be translated literally, word-for-word, into another language without losing the meaning, such as the foreign idiom which in English says "You are invited to take advantage of the chambermaid" or expressions such as "off his rocker".

12. Labels are group names we assign to a collection of objects/people, etc. instead of naming each one individually, which would be very tiring and confusing. Instead of calling each table or grain of sand a specific name, we simply say "tables" or "sand".

13. Stereotypes are a common effect of labeling, when a group of (usually) people are given a label and then associations that accompany that label and every person inside it, such as "IB students are smart."

14. Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis is the theory (hypothesis) that how you use your language determines how you see your world, such as Americans' use of nouns before verbs which empowers and emphasizes the noun, person, or 'do-er' so that we see ourselves as more important.

Emotionally Laden Language
15. Emotive Meaning is when certain words have emotions connected to them, such as "gassy" which provokes disgust, so we say "sparkling water" instead of "gasyy water". Or the negative, depressing emotions we feel when "death" is mentioned that cause us to say "pro-choice" instead of "pro-death", because everyone wants "choice"!

16. Weasel Words are (vague) words we use to "weasel" our way out of things or give ourselves "wiggle-room" in uncomfortable situations or when we don't want to give definitive answers and tie ourselves to something. Examples of Weasle Words are "Probably, Maybe, and Kind of".

17. Grammar is the set of rules that governs how we form sentences, the order we place our words in, etc. An example would be that we say "Jason types the paper" not "The paper Jason types" and that we are required to put noun, verb, object in a sentence.

18. Revealing and Concealing can both be results of our use of grammar. If we say "The villages were bombed." instead of "We bombed the villages." it conceals the party accontable/responsible for the action and thus makes it sound almost like a natural disaster, a random tragedy that ocurred on its own.