My Understanding of Language

Written By Rahin Jain

What can language be defined as for a person using it in daily life? Can the use of language be justified as a medium of expression for an individual? Does it represent one’s culture? Would the meaning of the words be perceived differently if spoken in a different language? Academically, language as a word is defined as being an effective systematic way of communication using conventionalized signs, sounds and gestures. I can somewhat relate to this being true, however a certain flaw in the fundamental definition can be noticed. I believe that language is a life skill, a skill so important, it makes survival possible. A human tends to forget that language is not an invention, it's a discovery.

I believe that language is a fundamental concept in the universe that applies to everything, every atom, species, human and every other entity. In a normal routine, language is differentiated based on a variety of sets of symbols and sounds. Rightly so, this is the easiest way to make a person understand what “language” is about, which is fundamentally different from the language I describe. The catch being that different “languages” can be perceived differently by people, since people speaking in language A have a very different tone than people speaking in language B. In my first writing project for this class, I discussed the procedure of learning a language is very personal and is tailored perfectly for each individual. Now I wonder, why is that true when the concept of language is universal and is actually applied on a much wider scale.

During my first writing project, the point most readers find intriguing was my method of learning a language. Earlier, I had stated that singing songs in hindi “language” helped me in improving my pronunciations and diction. I will refer to these as the rules of a “language”. Since the universal concept of language is not bound by rules. These rule sets are very different for each “language”. Upon discussion in class, I realized that these rules are constantly broken to create the concepts of “Hinglish”, “Spanglish”, etc. I support this concept as it frees communicators from being limited to a “language” and actually accessing proper language to fully express. Earlier, I had described my experience with language being prone to code-meshing and changing accents and dialects. This has made me face numerous individuals with controversial opinions on my “way of language”, mentioning its not proper. Mentioning those restrictions had me remember a text I read and summarized for this class, “Negotiating Translingual Literacy” by Suresh Canagarajah. In his text he described how his class produced translingual texts without any boundary of limiting “language”. 

At the end of my previous writing project, I mentioned a question, I asked “Which language do I prefer?” stating how I switch between “languages” based on my feelings and the purpose of expression. I believe I have come closer to the answer now, “Koi si nhi”. Apologies for using a different “language” 😅. I imagined that using 3 different “languages” would be artistic and helpful in proving a point. I believe my preference is none since I experience my accent changing, I experience the use of my words changing and I do realize that my use of “language” has changed a lot over the past few months. 

One prominent example of how I felt the changes included the use of specific words like “wanna”, “gonna”, “kinda”, etc. Though these words are believed to be normal for American English speakers, for me it was something I had only heard of in American sitcoms and shows I watched in India. Hearing people use these kinds of words in day to day language made it kinda confusing for me, though it seems normal now. This made me realize how adjusting to such changes only requires a matter of time and open mindedness towards changes.

Previously, I had mentioned my way of perceiving “languages” might not be relatable to a particular discourse community, but it would still be a part of my identity. This is what I believe is the beauty of language. Once I go back to my home country, I would certainly take time to adjust back to their “language” norms. When I call my friends in India, they very evidently point towards my changed way of speaking. A difference in pronunciation of words, use of words and slang I wasn't using earlier and use of more english words in my sentences than set normal by Indian hinglish speakers. And this is why I mentioned the fundamental definition of language being flawed. Language is not a concept to be bound by a particular set of symbols, sounds and meanings. If I go to a store in India and converse with them, it will have to be different from how I would converse with someone in a similar store in America. I believe this to be a result of people belonging to different cultures and social environments. Meaning, my tone would have to be completely different in a different language, since there would be a clear differentiation in how the different languages are used by the speaker. 

Apart from a day to day basis, I believe that Math is genuinely a language. Natural sciences is an implementation of that language as well. The use of formulas is not something just meant for use in exams, it is used to express what processes are being taken in the world. During my high school, I had written an essay where I discussed how natural sciences and mathematics are constantly changing with time. This is a property which is very evidently similar to evolution of perception of language and use of “language”.  I believe that it is just an unfortunate annotation of mentioning these 2 concepts with the same word. When a scholar writes about a topic related to the field of mathematics and science, the readers do not seek linguistic effects. Such texts are meant to “provide self-evident meaning”. As Canagarajah once stated in his text, it is the “writer’s responsibility to encode the meaning of their expression with clarity”. Many of the texts produced by some of the most celebrated scientists and philosophers are not even written in English, it still didn’t restrict the authors to present their findings to a wider audience around the world.