Week 10 Story Laboratory: TEDEd Videos, Language
Where do new words come from? (click!)
I absolutely loved this video, and the colors, graphics, animations, and narrator really made this topic thought-provoking for me. This topic particularly interested me because language and words have a certain complexity to them that is truly enthralling to me. This video first introduces some interesting statistics. According to the source, around 1000 words are added to the Oxford dictionary every single year. When hearing this statistic my first reaction was, "Why isn't our dictionary bigger then?" Come to find out, while we add new words to the dictionary, we also lose certain words that disappear when ordinary people do not use the words.
The answer to this? Humanity and the work we do is constantly evolving both socially and intellectually. As people on earth, new technologies, science, and knowledge is constantly being accumulated. Personally, I think research is at the heart of this concept. Writers around the world are constantly on the hunt for the perfect blend of words together-- words that reflect the thoughts and emotions most accurately. The narrator explains that we add these new words in the following ways: other languages, combining existing words, existing words with altered meanings. This exchange with other countries and cultures is mutual. This video also introduces na interesting concept called autological words. These types of words, in their meaning, describe the word itself.
From this video I took away something that I have never deeply thought of before. It is human interaction that shifts, shapes, and moves words in all languages. The words do not change what we say. We control the words. Moving forward, I was left with further questions. How does one word feel more right than others? In my opinion, I think these trends occur when popular people (celebrities, social media influences, etc.) use these words. Who is patient zero in terms of who uses particular words first?
I absolutely loved this video, and the colors, graphics, animations, and narrator really made this topic thought-provoking for me. This topic particularly interested me because language and words have a certain complexity to them that is truly enthralling to me. This video first introduces some interesting statistics. According to the source, around 1000 words are added to the Oxford dictionary every single year. When hearing this statistic my first reaction was, "Why isn't our dictionary bigger then?" Come to find out, while we add new words to the dictionary, we also lose certain words that disappear when ordinary people do not use the words.
The answer to this? Humanity and the work we do is constantly evolving both socially and intellectually. As people on earth, new technologies, science, and knowledge is constantly being accumulated. Personally, I think research is at the heart of this concept. Writers around the world are constantly on the hunt for the perfect blend of words together-- words that reflect the thoughts and emotions most accurately. The narrator explains that we add these new words in the following ways: other languages, combining existing words, existing words with altered meanings. This exchange with other countries and cultures is mutual. This video also introduces na interesting concept called autological words. These types of words, in their meaning, describe the word itself.
From this video I took away something that I have never deeply thought of before. It is human interaction that shifts, shapes, and moves words in all languages. The words do not change what we say. We control the words. Moving forward, I was left with further questions. How does one word feel more right than others? In my opinion, I think these trends occur when popular people (celebrities, social media influences, etc.) use these words. Who is patient zero in terms of who uses particular words first?
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