Re: Eskimo words for snow
The article on Eskimo words for snow appeared in the second issue of Fast
Company. It's at http://www.fastcompany.com/02/snow.html.
It cites interviews with a linguist and native speakers. The article
concludes by noting:
"For the record, C.W. Schultz-Lorentzen's Dictionary of the West
Greenlandic Eskimo Language (1927) gives just two root words for snow:
qanik, meaning "snow in the air" or snowflake, and aput, meaning "snow on
the ground." And, according to our authorities, there are no words in
Inuktitut for "consultant." c Fast Company
Languages are tools to map reality. There are many ways to do that, none
of which is perfect. Even when we have a dictionary, we have to use the
context or the manner in which a message is delivered to understand the
intent of the speaker. In this nearly pure text medium :) subtle feelings
and emotions are left up to cyber-cave symbols ;) (wink?) or verbal
asides to take out, or add emotion. I'd read about "flames" before I
actually saw one on another list. Words, it turns out, can really hurt us.
Mom & Dad were just helping us thicken our skins when they taught us to
reply to taunts with: "Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can
never hurt me."
With language we can create a continuium of meaning around observations of
phenomena. As more manifests, the language expands to accommodate. There
are language police - as in France - which seek to keep a language pure.
That's a cultural decision and we have our own lexicographers which vote
new words and meaning of words in to our dinctionary based language map
(graphers).
As humanity explores reality, each topic of life in exposition adds twists
and adapts the language to its own purpose. An insular jargon can result,
but its real purpose is speedy communication among members (IMHO). To the
extent that jargon terms are useful to the greater population of users,
they crossover - like a country music tune going to the pop charts.
A operational question than comes to mind based on my LO list
participation is that, once we desire to seek change and have a vision of
where we want our organization to so, we need to determine how to
"language it." Here I'm making a noun a verb - not in the dictionary,
therefore a crude way to express the notion of needing to communicate.
"Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow." "Let us learn, lettuce learn,
lettuce fern."
Tom
-- Thomas J. (Tom) Christoffel * e-mail: tjcdsgns@shentel.net My mission: "Regions_Work!" Why? "All markets are regional and the economy is global. Two or more crossing boundaries to solve a problem is regional cooperation." *TJCdesigns * Box 1444 * Front Royal, Virginia (VA) 22630-1444 * "True peace is dynamic. For sustainability, design with re-use in mind."Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>