Friday, October 16, 2009
la la la language?
Can a language that no human understands or has ever understood still be considered a language? Are the methods of communication of animals considered to be languages? And what about chemical messages sent internally throughout living organisms for the function of their life processes? These messages may be very simple but they still convey ideas don't they? Singing is a form of communication which uses language, but what about other forms of music? Is instrumental music a language? It conveys ideas intentionnally from person to person using sounds as symbolism, so it must be. But what about humming? I could hum the tunes to many well known songs such as "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", or " O-Canada", and the ideas of stars and Canada would surely be conveyed as listeners thought of the corresponding lyrics. Obviously without first having a language the hummed tunes would not have these meanings, so humming cannot be it's own language... so what is it?
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I have never really thought of it this way before, but after reading this, I suppose anything can be a language. I mean, though it may not be intentional, we all send messages as we breathe, it means that we are choosing to live and breathing allows us to do that. Though it may not be much, it is still conveying a message.
ReplyDeleteI also believe that yes, instrumental music is a language, as it can convey a mood which in itself is a whole conversation. If it is dramatic sounding, loud and fast, you may feel serious or deep. There can be many interpretations of just one piece of instrumental music.
Nice blog:) Got me thinking!