The 27th Letter
The English language is severely lacking. How many times have you sat in front of the keyboard, a sharp point or feeling clarified in your mind, but at a complete loss for the words to type to translate your thoughts? I think our language is getting even more outdated as technology improves. The rapid rise of smilies is a testimate to this (wretched though they are). With the quick increase in email communications, corresponders found they could not accurately convey the meaning behind their straight sentences accurately. Jokes were made and people did not get them. Sarcasm was completely missed. Feelings were hurt, people were fired, it was very ugly. Enter the smilies.For example, compare: "I never want to see you again!" with "I never want to see you again! ;-) "
Some may argue that smilies are just a poor substitute for clear writing and that we must simply take the time to write the extra sentences that make our meaning clear without silly faces. While I agree that writing can be pretty lazy (particularly in emails), I think our language should not be a hindrance to us. If our minds can think that fast, and if technology can transmit our messages instantly, why shouldn't our language work a little harder to keep up with us. Rather than us slowing down to meet the limitations of our language.
So, how do we solve this? I propose that what we need is not more words, but rather, a new letter. Think of the multiplicity of new combinations that simply adding one letter would add! Wow! And, as the deficiency in our language seems to be inflection (or emotional gist) I further propose that this letter is not a sound, but rather the absence of sound. This letter would represent a space for inflection, a slight lilting of the voice.
For those familiar with Japanese, this letter would be similar to the Japanese little tsu, only it would have a different meaning. Once the population has practice and experience with this new letter, the meaning could be manipulated to convey doubt, sarcasm, questioning, general snarkiness, and so on, depending on context and placement.
If you could change the English language, what would you change? Would you add or subtract. What would your letter look like?
posted by Scribbler @ Tuesday, June 01, 2004
1 Comments:
If I could add something to the english language it would be different quotation marks for onomatopoetic words. I really like the word onomatopoeia and would never take it out of the English language. It is my favorite word....it brings tears to my eyes.
I would also add inflection symbols in our writing rather than simple italics. Italics do little for me other than exaggerate things. I want different italic spin offs for different inflections. When one is distraught and says a word like, "Oh NO." Instead of silly caps I would create a way of expressing it by, say, writing the word backward.
I can't remember what Asian language has the inflection throughout their sentences (maybe most asian languages). It sounds like tehy are singing their words rather than just stating them.
Riiiiiiiiing! The phone in the library just rang. I love onomatopoeias. amen.
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