The Naming of Parts

I'm thinking about the relationship between the size of a person's vocabulary and the extent to which that person has access to ideas. I'm guessing that even very complex ideas can be expressed with very restricted vocabularies, although it would necessarily require longer sentences to do this. Also, extended vocabularies allow for concepts not only to be names but also for this naming to act as a kind of 'object', making it easier to think those ideas in the future (kind of like offloading cognitive work onto the linguistic environment, if that makes any sense). Maybe the down side to extended vocabularies is that they divide the world into untenably small chunks so the ease of expression comes at the cost of increased fragmentation.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• language
• linguistics
• expression
• words
• readers
• digest
• part
• whole
• relations
• extended
• restricted
• vocabulary
• communication

[AhvousdiraijeMaman]

Is there nothing to be said of the poet who not only uses words in a common way to transmit a concept, but also hide a hidden meaning or a multitude of meanings in a compressed form, assuming the reader is familiar with the various symbolic meanings of the language?

[conferencereport]

I would say that the poetic use of language, as you point out, is probably the most significant aspect of it. I love the word 'familiar' in your last sentence, like meaning follows words around like a witch's cat.

[soulfetcher]

Maybe the multiplying of words is necessary. As nuances emerge we add qualifications to the word - but if qualifications get too messy, a new related word is substituted. Every word is subject to adjectival qualitifations for instance so could in principal a new word could bud off it. Like a growing plant - the old words drop of due to lack of use, while new words grow from qualified existing ones.

[conferencereport]

Yes, I particularly like the metaphor of a growing plant you use. Would you say the content and the potential that new words embody originates in the 'root' words that they spring from? Is there (metaphorically and mythically) a single originating source word that is 'the ground of all naming'?

Thanks for the generative comment Soulfetcher.

[reggaejuggler]

It's obviously not a huge coincidence, given the amount of those who speak English, but I was amused to find that 'recalcitrance' is my favourite word too. It has been for years, but I don't know what it means and I refuse to look it up in case it loses its beauty for me. Is this odd behaviour? (A serious comment/question - honestly)!

[Shith33d]

MEN

[fullfrontalfrank]

In the beginning was the word, and the word was Marklar.

[AhvousdiraijeMaman]

Very astute of you!

When I think upon words I often will visualize them as swiss watchmaker would plan and place his components, matching the small gears with the larger ones, the cadence, the tension in the spring. Each is simply a gear or part that much is true, but as a whole and when properly tuned, the thing seems to take on a life of its own.

Thinking Greek for a moment, have you peradventure explored the concept of the daimon to any degree?

[Cashify]

And if academic works weren't written in what amounts to "code" to the average reader, it would be huge step forward for society. Two heads are better than one.

[Cashify]

The more we increase our vocabulary the smaller the group we can communicate to becomes. Most people simply won't understand what we are saying. It is lonely at the top of articulation mountaiin.

Perhaps we can justify this by saying the one or two people in the world who understand what we just said are a quality over quantity type of audience....but...some of the smartist people on the planet speak in a common tongue, understandable to the masses. Maybe getting the job done is fine.

[TheAgilePhilosopher]

This might appear strange, but the «Vocabulary», no matter how advanced it is, actually becomes the obstacle.

The first thing we attempt to do during our journey , is to create a concept which we believe is the Truth.

The second stage is to throw away again all the words.

And the third one is to give «Life» and «meaning» to them by actually using them in the right context, and then at some point it will become possible to discover something, which lies beyond them.

[TWITfromURANUS]

Yes. Good points.

I'm all for expanding my vocab, but there is a lot to be said for making the most of simple tools &/or mediums..