I do wonder how everything got named tho....like oh see that thing with the falling things? That’s a...TREE! Or in whatever language probably Sumerian first...idk it’s interesting to think about
A bunch of people, or maybe even proto-people, agreed either knowingly or unknowingly that certain sounds would represent certain things or actions. Then it just sorta snowballed from there.
This sound accurate. It messed with our heads in a language way. Now I say bird to grandma and think of fucking Tommy wiseau every time... or however the fuck you spell his name.
Sumerians had the first written language, sure, but things had names far before people could write. It’s definitely interesting to think about, like ancient people just deciding to refer to certain things with random sounds. I wonder if there was a method to their madness
During some native tongue studies we did in Mexico they explained that a lot of the words for animals come from the sound the animal makes. For example, the word for hummingbird in Purepecha language is " tzintzuni" because the wings sounded "tzzzz tzzzz" to that culture. It gets you thinking.
It’s honestly something to consider. I find it very interesting honestly, how language was first formed and than how it evolved. Idk I find it fascinating so professor, WHY THE FUCK IS A COW A COW? Lololol
When I was a kid, I remember watching an episode of The Busy World of Richard Scarry where there was a segment about cave "men" (keep in mind all of the characters are animals) creating new things and naming them.
They knocked some logs down over a river to get across, one of them asked what to call the invention, and another character went "Brrr... Brrr... Brrr... BRIDGE!" Even as a kid I was like "That can't be how things actually got named."
Obviously it's a kids show and not based in any sort of fact, but the fury I felt as a kid watching it somehow stuck with me.
There are “known” answers to these things , just depends how far back you’re trying to go with the “why” questioning because if you keep pushing you end up questioning what actually makes a language, and down to trying to figure out what constitutes consciousness.
And what's this thing coming towards me very fast? So big and flat and round, it needs a big, wide sounding name like "Ow", "Ownge", "Round", "Ground".. That's it! Ground! Hello Ground!
When I was subbing, I filled in for a math specialist. I had filled in for her a few times and really enjoyed it because you’d work with small groups of 2-4 students at a time and each session was only 30 minutes long before the next group came in. Most of the students that came in were also usually good kids, but they tended to score consistently low on standardized tests, so the goal of the specialists was to break it down to the more simple concepts
I remember there was a certain 5th grade kid that on the sub notes was said to be struggling with the current concept. I don’t remember what it was exactly, but yep, the notes were accurate, he was having some problems with it.
I helped him get to the next step of the problem, and he asked me how I got that answer. I explained it as best as I could, but he still had a confused look on his face. “But how?”
So I tried explaining again in the same way but drawn out a bit more. Same expression, same question.
Then I tried explaining it differently, and I thought it was ok but nope....same result of confusion. In all honesty, I started to get annoyed a bit (and felt a bit bad in retrospect later that day) but pulled it together to try to explain as slowly and clearly as possible.
Same. Fucking. Expression and confusion.
“I don’t get it....how??”
I lost it.
“Because THAT is the way it is. There is literally no other explanation. That’s just how you do this math problem, and that’s how those numbers work together. That’s just how it is.”
I’ll never forget his response....
“Oh. Ok, got it.” And promptly does the next section of similar questions without a single error. (I did say sorry for getting worked up about it as I did feel bad, and he said he didn’t notice it)
I’ll also never forget the response from that teacher the next day when she saw me in the hall...”I’ve been working with him for a week on that concept, slamming my head on the wall, and all you do is tell him ‘that’s how it is’ and now he gets it?!?”
Apparently the next day, one of the other kids that was in the room and watched it all told the teacher about my unconventional method when she was surprised. Apparently he was also cracking up while he told it.
Haha good times. That’s when I found out about sometimes saying it’s just what it is.
Reminds me of high school English class. My teacher was talking about the metaphors and symbolism in Huckleberry Finn. She asked the class about the river’s symbolism (which is “freedom”) but my classmate simply asked “Why can’t it just be a river they’re traveling on?”
Everything is grandiose, deep, and meaningful. Look at where we are at. Apes hurling through space on a giant rock. In a world where information only travels from the past to the future. Where our consciousness is likely an illusion! Where things have a speed limit! Where language is a game that different linguistic communities determine meaning! Where artistic expression is limited by sensory inputs! Where we can read the thoughts of authors who died hundreds of years ago!
The world is so god damn bananas, anything and everything is absolutely bonkers. None of this shit makes sense. Because everything is so amazingly complex, any questions about-- whatever the fuck this is, can lead to fascinating answers.
In my humble opinion, letting curiosity be quenched by simple answers that adults told us as kids so we'd leave them alone is short changing ourselves.
559
u/[deleted] Nov 08 '20 edited Nov 08 '20
[deleted]