Language

What is language?

To me, language is a means of communication. It is also a way of expressing oneself through spoken words or writing. It can be used to communicate, or persuade people to do something like in advertising. Language is used all around us by everyone. It can also reflect one's culture. Language can determine the meaning when answering a question. It can direct one's thoughts.

List the different ways in which language is used for the purpose of communication.

• spoken words (talking, speaking, saying a speech, advising, socializing)
• writing (e-mails, poetry, novels, books, articles, advertising, blogging)
• body language (actions and the way one acts or does things)
  

Language and Values - Objective or subjective?

Language can be both objective and subjective. When personally answering a question, writing, or expressing oneself, language can be considered subjective. In many cases, choice of words is crucial. Language is also subjective in the sense that some languages don't have certain words, which direct the ways one speaks or thinks. Like Mandarin, that does not have a word for 'no'. I would consider language to be more subjective than objective, but it could be considered objective by stating facts, or inventing new words to suit one's thoughts as thoughts are limitless and language should reflect that.

The writer of the piece on the Texan revolution supported the Texans. This is evident as he writes from the Texan perspective, and says that "Sam Houston led a surprise attack.... securing victory for the Texans". The word victory is used instead of saying that the Texans simply 'won'.

Select a newspaper article that has a biased slant. The article I chose was an analysis and comparison between the iPhone and the Blackberry. Although the writer stated the advantages and limitations to each phone brand, at the end of the article it said "posted from X's Blackberry", which not so subtly shows a bias as he prefers blackberry since he typed the article from his phone and posted it. Also, the article gave alternatives to the limitations of the blackberry and hinted at the fact that there were more advantages than limitations, while not doing that for the iPhone.

Languages often reflect the culture from which they are derived. When bilingual Japanese people living in America were asked the same questions in English and Japanese, their responses in English reflected their thoughts through the American culture, whereas when they responded in Japanese, their responses seemed more family oriented, reflecting their culture. Language and thought are linked as a language makes you think in a certain way, depending on the culture it comes from, and the words and terms that are commonly used. If I were to answer a question about morals and ethics in English, and about how people would act in different situation, I would focus more on freedom, and feel more sympathetic. In Arabic however, I would probably link morals to religion, and what's considered right or wrong in the society I live in or by religion. I have actually had conversations with siblings in English about cultural boundaries, and how someone could follow a religion without restricting themselves to the boundaries of their culture, but in Arabic my conversations on the same topic seem to take a different direction, by focusing on religion and cultural values. In Arabic, thoughts usually revolve around what other people think while in English the conversations are more open; this could be due to the fact that I can't say everything in Arabic that I can say in English since English is my first language and my Arabic vocabulary is fairly limited in comparison.

My newly invented words:

Flurbishness: Saying the first thing that comes to mind in a situation where the comment may be inappropriate.
Spinduptuality: The ability to read someone’s mind while in a déjà-vu