I'm helping my daughter with her spelling words this afternoon, and I'm struck by how tricky the nuances of language are. For example, why do we say "she moved to a charming" town," with "charming" being the replacement word for "picturesque," while the word "mirage," another option, is obviously wrong?
Part of it can be explained grammatically, of course: a "mirage" is a noun, while "charming" is an adjective. But I suppose "mirage" could be used adjectivally in a pinch: it's a little awkward-sounding and probably requires punctuation that self-consciously acknowledges its own awkwardness, but an adept writer could pull it off.
But what about the relatively common expression "shanty town," referring to makeshift or quickly thrown-together housing? Grammatically the words would seem to fulfill exactly the same function.
But meaning-ranges play into it, too. And somehow we innately know which word may be used in a given situation and which may not. What I really like thinking about is the way our common word choices for situations may constrain the different options we have for thinking about how those situations may operate in the world.
1 comment:
I love language, and having learned a few in addition to my own, I just love comparing their nuances and mysteries. It's the basis for my argument that computers (i.e., artificial intelligence) will never replace the capacity of human language, because it's from one's lived experiences, one's word choices are derived.
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