We have all heard that identical twins have sometimes made up a language of their own which totally separates them as a unit distinct from all others. Apparently there are lots of made-up
languages. I always knew that I was raised bi-lingually but learned only a few years ago that I was 'tri-lingual'. Apparently when my parents and all their parents and peers came to the USA at the turn of the century a hundred or more years ago, there was no communication with their motherland. Media was not instantly international, radio was not common, TV not yet invented, and the Internet not even a vague hope. One might wonder what happens to a group of people for whom there is no word for things like car (which became 'caro' with a rolled r), airport which became 'aeroporo'. In fact, the word for car is autokinito..pronounced afftokeeneeto (literally meaning 'goes by itself') and airport, actually aerodromio, pronounced ah-erro-thromeeo (meaning air road).
Greeks who went to visit Greece in post WWII found that they were difficult to understand in what they thought was a native tongue. My brother, cousin and I had fun compiling a Fractured Greek dictionary, grown to several pages long over the years. There are almost enough words to make an entire new language. That language will die a natural death with the current survivors of that immigrant group.
Another facet to languages is that words can not be easily translated. For example, when I tried to tell a cousin in Athens that I was only window shopping, she looked at me with a very strange glance. I later learned I had told her I only buy window glass. The concept of window shopping is entirely different. When shops have windows, they pay more rent. There is a term for it...shopping 'vitrina'. That means you look at the store that has a window display, check the price and go to a store without a window and but it there at a lesser price.
Words and languages are wonderful. There are so many concepts that can't be translated from one language to another. Yiddish Chutzpah is one of my favorites. It is subtly different than any of the English words that people try to use for it, like nerve, gall, etc. I guess it takes a bit of Chutzpah to write a blog and think that anyone out there really cares to read it.
languages. I always knew that I was raised bi-lingually but learned only a few years ago that I was 'tri-lingual'. Apparently when my parents and all their parents and peers came to the USA at the turn of the century a hundred or more years ago, there was no communication with their motherland. Media was not instantly international, radio was not common, TV not yet invented, and the Internet not even a vague hope. One might wonder what happens to a group of people for whom there is no word for things like car (which became 'caro' with a rolled r), airport which became 'aeroporo'. In fact, the word for car is autokinito..pronounced afftokeeneeto (literally meaning 'goes by itself') and airport, actually aerodromio, pronounced ah-erro-thromeeo (meaning air road).
Greeks who went to visit Greece in post WWII found that they were difficult to understand in what they thought was a native tongue. My brother, cousin and I had fun compiling a Fractured Greek dictionary, grown to several pages long over the years. There are almost enough words to make an entire new language. That language will die a natural death with the current survivors of that immigrant group.
Another facet to languages is that words can not be easily translated. For example, when I tried to tell a cousin in Athens that I was only window shopping, she looked at me with a very strange glance. I later learned I had told her I only buy window glass. The concept of window shopping is entirely different. When shops have windows, they pay more rent. There is a term for it...shopping 'vitrina'. That means you look at the store that has a window display, check the price and go to a store without a window and but it there at a lesser price.
Words and languages are wonderful. There are so many concepts that can't be translated from one language to another. Yiddish Chutzpah is one of my favorites. It is subtly different than any of the English words that people try to use for it, like nerve, gall, etc. I guess it takes a bit of Chutzpah to write a blog and think that anyone out there really cares to read it.
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