The Beauty of English Language
Years and years of spelling have taught me a lot, but one of the most evident lessons I learned was that there is no language quite like English. This is for mundane reasons, like the fact that English borrows words from lots of other languages and never gives them back, but also for a greater reason – English captures meaning in many words that no other language can quite replicate.
Take the word touch, for instance. There is so much meaning captured in that one word. It’s like if you have a favorite word that holds special meaning for you because you have some wonderful memories associated with it. A mother will remember touching her baby for the very first time, ever.
Something kind that a stranger has done for you when you’re having a bad day will touch you deeply, and you’ll remember it long after. If you’re religious, you might feel touched by God at Church/Temple; maybe you’ve felt touched by God at some beautiful location in nature. A hug when you’re sad, a squeeze when you’re happy, a tearful embrace at graduation,
a stressed out hand-clasp before The Test or The Interview, a celebratory group hug when the Big Game’s been won; all this is touch. It’s special to us because we connect touch with memory. Even though the pandemic has distanced us and kept us apart for so many months now, we can connect with technology and count down the days until we can meet in person again.
What other word puts all that into perspective?!?
Take another word now – happy. The poignant joy of good news, the glad abandon of a skiing trip or jumping in a puddle or playing outside, the exuberance one feels at the beginning of a vacation or a fun day trip; this is happy. Happy weather for some people is sunshine and for some others, snow. The smell of cookies or coffee might make you happy.
What other word gives you so much to think about!?!
One more word – relax. I’m not going to give you a list of possible memories here; I’m going to ask you to imagine that yourself.
There isn’t any other word that captures all the meaning of the word relax. Look in the dictionary; I can find 12 distinct meanings under “relax”.
One could argue that this is the case with any word in any language, but if you take a moment to compare, you’ll see that there is a difference. Some words can take the place of others without any change; in the case of these three, though, it is clear to see that other words can’t capture the same meaning.
The feelings that we associate with words are what make language beautiful and unique, because that is just what words do; they bridge the gap between every person and other people.
