X, Y, and Z-axis of a language:
A new perspective on the process of language learning
While learning a new language, one comes across various constraints. Learning a language involves not just knowing the grammar, learning to speak, write, read, but also knowing the culture, vocabulary, and pronunciation. Although learning a language is not a piece of cake but the process could be simplified. The aforementioned constraints can be seen as three axes of the 3D world of languages- X, Y, and Z axes.
The X-axis is the culture of the land wherein the language originated. Now, by culture, I mean geography, traditions, food, etc. Let us take an example wherein geographical conditions molded the language. In English, we say “warm” welcome and not “cool”. This is because the UK lies in the European continent and has long cold weather. Warmth is more desirable than a cold atmosphere. This reflects in the language. Also, there are various sayings, proverbs depending on the food, flora, fauna, history, and mythology. Let’s go through some examples: “Icing on the cake” is sokerina pohjalla (literally, sugar at the bottom) in Finnish.. “Once in a blue moon”(meaning, very rare) in Italian: a ogni moerte di Papa (literally, on every death of a Pope). This clearly states the importance of the Pope in Italy. Thus clarifying how stupid will direct English translation look.
The Y-axis is the technical part of the language which encompasses grammar, words, sentence structure, etc. A literal translation of words and making sense out of it would not be fair enough. Every language has its way of presentation or as Germans say, sprachgefühl (borrowed into English from German): an intuitive sense of what is linguistically appropriate. And this is very crucial. Incorrect use of articles(indicating genders), as in German, sounds weird to natives similar to how South Indians saying “Mera Amma’’ sounds to Hindi speakers. Not sticking to sentence structures and spellings can land us in trouble as even a single letter can change the whole meaning. For example, Kirche(Church) and Kirsche(Cherry) in German. You don’t want to go to cherry and not eat church, right?
Z-axis is the phonetics. Pronunciation, pitch, tone, and sound of language are incorporated in this axis. Various emotions and mental states are expressed through these tools. If one doesn’t use these tools effectively, it may sound disrespectful or rude, although the speaker didn’t do it purposefully or even change the meaning. In Japanese or Chinese, even word meanings change with pronunciation; the tone plays a very important role. Two words may mean something different because of one vowel’s length such as in German raten ‘to advise’ and Ratten ‘rats’, or in English beat vs. bit. Also, some different sounds don’t exist in your mother tongue. Like Marathi- ळ is not present in Hindi. And Hindi speakers can find it difficult to grasp it. Both लाळ(saliva) and लाल(red) will be read as “Lal’’ by a Hindi Speaker.
With the balance of these three axes, one can master any language and maneuver effortlessly in the 3D world of languages, enjoying fantastic stories and novels, knowing different people and their culture with more intimacy. The primary dimensions mentioned here could even help you to explore other hidden dimensions once you dive in.
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