Do you find it ironic that the word lisp has an 's' in it? Or that phonetics is spelled with a phonetic device? Words are very interesting. Did you know that the Hawaiian language only has 12 letters? And that the highest scoring word in scrabble is 'quartzy'? As irrelevant as this probably is to you, there are some very intense studies done in to the dynamics of the English Language, or more appropriately, the Anguish Languish.
Look at this exert from a popular story and read it aloud...
Wants pawn term dare worsted ladle gull hoe lift wetter murder inner ladle cordage honor itch offer lodge, dock, florist. Disk ladle gull orphan worry putty ladle rat cluck wetter ladle rat hut, an fur disk raisin pimple colder Ladle Rat Rotten Hut.
For the full story go here http://www.crockford.com/wrrrld/anguish.html#Ladle%20Rat%20Rotten%20Hut
Did you figure out what the story is? Did you even understand the words? Chances are you didn't. These words, when spoken the correct way, become completely different words. This type of translation comes from a group called SPAL (Society for the Promotion of the Anguish Languish) who are trying to create awareness about the versatility of words and the different ways they can be used. Let me translate the beginning of that story...
Once upon a time there was a little girl who lived with her mother in a little cottage on the edge of a large, dark, forest. This little girl often wore a pretty little red cloak with a little red hood, and for this reason people called her little red riding hood.
Can you make out the the Angiush story now you can see the link? It becomes easier with practice to decipher the stories by the sounds of the words.
The website with information written by Howard L. Chace explores this idea that words can be replaced by other words but derive an original meaning by the way they are sounded.
"The experiments described above, and hundreds of similar ones conducted by SPAL show that an unbelievable number of English words, regardless of their usual meanings, can be substituted quite satisfactorily for others. When all the words in a given passage of English have been so replaced, the passage keeps its original meaning, but all the words have acquired new ones. A word that has received a new meaning has become a wart, and when all the words in the passage have become warts, the passage is no longer English; it's Anguish.”
http://www.crockford.com/wrrrld/anguish.html
Is this just in the way that we, as speakers of the English language, have become lazy in our pronounciation of words, that they now have turned to sound like this so called "anguish" language? It was so surprising when reading that first passage about Little Red Riding Hood, and then going back and reading it again once I realised what it actually said. It makes you be so wary of how you pronounce certain words. It would be cool if someone wrota a book or a story in this language for us to read...do you know any sites or places you can find these? Aside from the one link you gave us?
ReplyDeleteI can't believe the Hawaiian language only has 12 letters in it! Well you learn something new everyday don't you haha! When I read this story I could not make sense of it at all. It really sounds like a big mumble jumble until you read the story of red riding hood. It amazes me how incorrectly we pronounce our words. I have tried saying the first story aloud a few times and I still can barely get it! Rochelle - here are a few sites that have more stories like this:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.crockford.com/wrrrld/anguish.html
http://www.justanyone.com/allanguish.html
Reminded me of the Two Ronnies sketch... Look up FUNEX on YouTube some time and you'll see what I'm talking about!
ReplyDeleteGood stuff there. Can I feel smug about the fact that I didn't have to read the English version before I read the Anguish version? Or is that just a sign that my mind is broken?