The Fascinating World of Language
Introduction and make sure to be home by 9
Here’s a question dear reader, what does a parent giving a curfew to their adolescent child, and a practice in 14th Century Europe to protect homes against fires have in common?
Well the answer is in the question…curfew!
You see the word curfew goes back to the French ‘couvre feu’ — literally meaning ‘cover fire’.
In days of old, it was not uncommon for cooking fires to be covered at a certain time to prevent uncontrolled fires which would have undoubtedly occurred from the lowliest of sparks. And the couvre feu was a way for the community to remain safe. So we go from the literal covering of fire to the covering of fiery passions or even the fiery and destructive outcomes of not being home by a certain time.
There is a story here, an etymological tale that takes us from 14th Century Europe to modern times with Covid outbreaks and parental warnings. This is the fascinating world of language and its often surprising changing form and meaning through the ages.
Language is fun!
Whatever languages you speak, whether you’re a monoglot or a polyglot you too can find many wonderful links and stories that go with the words you speak everyday without thinking.
What is your mother tongue?
Try this one, your native language is also sometimes known as your ‘mother tongue’. Is it strange to use the word tongue in this way to denote language? Not if you consider that the word language ultimately finds its origin in the Latin word ‘Lingua’ meaning…you guessed it ‘tongue’. Whereas the Greek for tongue was glotta and we’ve seen that before in words like ‘monoglot’ and ‘polyglot’ where these refer to one or many languages.
Without the East, the West would have nowhere to sit!
Because so much of the Romance languages are derived from Latin, there is a tendency to overlook Eastern influences. In fact, without Arabic influence I would have nowhere to sit. The word ‘sofa’, (you know that comfy thing you’re sitting on as you try to decide whether the writer of this article will one day feature on your favourite true crime podcast) derives from an Arabic word ‘suffah’, meaning a raised part of the floor which was adorned with carpets and cushions so that one could sit comfortably. And this is rather swell, you see if you need to speak to someone about a delicate matter, what better way than to sit upon a comfortable sofa and couch the problem in a way that won’t cause offense.
You speak Latin every day
“It’s alive! It’s alive!” Yes, Latin lives. Latin never actually died, it just sort of hid under a veil of shadow. Yes, just like Keyser Soze, Latin hides in plain sight and limps along as if beaten. Okay, an example — Do you watch Amazon Prime Video? Okay even if you don’t you may have used the word video to mean either one of those bulky weightlifting items you had to put into a video player back in the 80s and 90s or a verb meaning to record something. Well the word video goes back to the Latin verb “videre” meaning to see. Hold on — video and videre aren’t that similar. Well if we conjugate (that’s a fancy word) the verb videre with the first person singular subject and make sure the verb is present tense (all that to say “I see”) we get the Latin word ‘video’ literally meaning “I see”. Although in actual fact the verb videre was patterned in a similar pattern as the word audio, I like this way of remembering.
“Ah but…” you may say “that is only one word”, this is true but let me give you another example to show how prevalent Latin remains.
The well known brand ASICS that produces footwear is actually a Latin acronym. ASICS is ‘Anima Sano In Corpore Sano’ literally meaning ‘a healthy mind in a healthy body’. This is not the only brand which takes its name from Latin, the brand Sony finds its origins in the Latin word ‘sonus’ meaning sound.
There are innumerable examples of where Latin hides in plain sight whenever we speak. And it’s worth picking up a basic understanding to broaden one’s knowledge of just how much Latin we speak without our knowing.
The Joy of Language
So much depends on our ability to communicate ideas, concepts and emotions. And through language we learn to express ourselves, but language is not a static, unchanging thing. In truth, definitions change, and the words we use have a fluidic existence all of their own. And cultures past used words in subtly different ways but with the same purpose of communicating meaning, and by exploring the stories and tales of language we can start to reveal a strange fascinating world which reveals that no matter how different we think we are, language is the great unifier of human existence.
Tips and tricks
Here are some tips and tricks you can use to develop your appreciation of language:
- Pick out 10 items from the room you’re in and look up the etymology of these (chair, Television etc)
- Learn to take note of strange words you haven’t heard before and use in a sentence to broaden your vocabulary
- Play a synonym game — for instance if I say the word fraudster, try and come up with 5–10 synonyms
- Look up various phobias and research the etymology (sesquipedalophobia perhaps)
Have fun and feel free to comment on some word roots you’ve discovered
More links to investigate:
