The Language Disconnect
Of all the weaponry at the disposal of humans, natural or synthetic, language is the most potent one. History is rife with tales and fables of how humanity has been impacted by the allure of languages. From the biblical endeavor to grasp God’s residence and the ensuing confusion at the tower of Babel, to the colonial eras of dominance and assimilation by powers that be, language has had its fair share of mentions in the records of the world. I have always been fascinated by language. Its influence over cultures, emotions, mannerisms and behaviors is truly an item of spectacle. As a citizen of the universe, I have often committed to elucidating the wonders that dialect evoke. Admittedly, I have witnessed a magic often ignored yet, often presents itself in full pomp and color, demanding to be noticed. I have thought with wonder and profound fascination how languages mirror personalities, lifestyles and cultures of different populaces. Within my sojourn in this astonishment, I have noted with dismay how languages do not form part of the wonders of the universe. I therefore undertook a solemn journey to move from within the confines of my dialectical comfort to explore the various comparable wonders that may be in existence. I subjected myself to the rigors of learning a new language. Swahili was my maiden of choice. I have courted her with admiration, learning the tenets that constitute her and even followed her to her motherland in Mombasa, Kenya. My experiences in that coastal city in Africa were illuminating in numerous ways. I now comprehend the dynamics of a foreign language, and my experiences mirror to some extent that described by Amy Tan in Mother Tongue. I have thus concluded that language is the cradle of all arts.
Language is a work of art in itself. It conveys messages in artistic, sometimes melodic and even poetic ways. These domains of art are inherently held dear by the beholders of the language. Also, different languages, I have come to elucidate, convey variant forms of art that may or may not be relatable to speakers of other languages. As I interacted with the Swahili folks, this could not be any more apparent. I had committed to communicating with the locals in their own language throughout my stay in Mombasa. For more seamless communication, I had a guide who was proficient in both languages and only helped me when I was completely stuck in communication.
One of the first lessons and indeed, the most important one I learnt was that Swahili language communicated ideas in an almost exclusively poetic manner. The first time I noticed this was when conversing with one of the locals. He was a middle aged man. In our communication, I noticed him using a term I had come across in my learning, albeit in a dissimilar contextual manner. Long after he was gone I turned to my guide for clarification. The word was nimekupeza. Its meaning, I was told, was “I have missed you” in the English language. However, its direct translation is “I have craved you.” It is as poetic as it comes, communicating an art that is beyond the conventional “missing.” Conversely, the direct translation of “missing” to Swahili was potea, which in turn translates to “lost” in English. The word not only fails to capture the artistic normalcy that the locals were used to, but also represented a message that was foreign and unconceivable to them. Through this and many other interactions, I came to realize that Swahili, unlike English which only uses poetic arrangement in poetry, was fundamentally a poem. So much is lost in direct translation between the two languages. Direct translation of English terminology to Swahili did not convey messages with similar intensity. As a result, there was a massive disconnect with the locals.
In Mother Tongue, Amy reckons how she is able to comprehend her mother’s language despite most other people not being able to. She gives an example of a recollection the mother had about Du… From the story, it is easy to establish English as the conveyor of the message. Almost all words are established English words. From my experience with Swahili, I can extrapolate that the people listening to her do not understand the messages she passed across as she translated her native Chinese language directly to English. The art modality inherent to her first language is non-identical to that which the English language carries. As such, there is a great disconnect not in the physical language (since all the words used are authentically English), but in the art used. Just as the Swahili language communicates in astonishing poetry, the artistic devices used in Mother Tongue are alien in normal, everyday-context to the English-speaking folks. Amy describes how the mother tongue communicates with “intent, imagery and rhythm” that she could easily elucidate. She also explains that the language was her comprehension and translation of her mother’s attempt at translating the Chinese language to English. Evidently, then, the Chinese language communicates with some figures of speech and artistic fluidity that is non-existent in the normal everyday-communication English context. When people speak in languages different from their mother tongues, most of their thought processes remain in their first languages yet, they pass the messages in different languages (Filipović 181). Since these languages communicate in varied art modalities, the ensuing incomprehension or limited consensus is probably due to an art disconnect.
Words, when arranged differently, create different forms of art. For instance, a formal English language has defined norms and choice of words (Szynalski). This is what Amy terms as “burdened.” The words, when arranged in differently, can form a poem. With more focus, lyrical languages are formed which, with appropriate intonations and rhythms, forms music. The order of arrangement of words thus clearly has an influence in determining forms of art. Similarly, the Swahili word for “I love you” is Nakupenda. First, the brevity in the language is astonishing and could be a subject for later discussions. However, when the Swahili word is directly translated to English, it becomes “I, you, Love.” Communicating this in English as it is would require hand gestures and other body movements for a native English speaker to adequately comprehend, almost akin to a staged play. However, the wordings and the gestures are carried along with a simple twist in the order of the words in Swahili. Because different languages have varied word orders, the messages passed across belong to varied art modalities. The recipients’ appreciation of the arts thus influences their understanding of the translated language. For instance, while Amy completely understood the imagery that her mother used in communication, she reckons that other people only understood her fifty percent, others eighty per cent while others never understood her completely, as if she was speaking Chinese (which normalizes the usage of such imagery)
The language used in communication has an emotional component to it. In Mombasa, I noticed how all communications were passionate. First, the rate of their speech was remarkably slowed down. While in my attempt to communicate in Swahili had me speaking in the same quickness I use when speaking in English, my guide, who was proficient in both languages had a distinctly dissimilar haste. There were more pauses between speeches, I noticed. Also, the physical distance between different speakers was greatly reduced, even when the two were complete strangers. It is a distance that would make anyone from my country unaccustomed to the practice mildly uncomfortable. However, for some reason, the distance was almost never the same with me. It was increased to a large extent. I perceived it to be due to the emotional disconnect brought by my limited proficiency in their language. Similarly, Amy reports how the mother tongue she used with her husband was a language of intimacy, one which they had become accustomed to especially when discussing family matters. Indeed, language has been found to be a tool of emotional conveyance (Caldwell-Harris). Similar words like “missing you” can evoke different emotional responses when translated to other words. As such, I posit that that the language disconnect when using second languages may not only be caused by an artistic, but also an emotional disconnect
Works Cited
Caldwell-Harris, Catherine L. “Emotionality Differences between a Native and Foreign Language: Theoretical Implications.” Frontiers in Psychology, vol. 5, 2014. Crossref, doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01055
Filipović, Luna. “Speaking in a Second Language but Thinking in the First Language: Language-Specific Effects on Memory for Causation Events in English and Spanish.” International Journal of Bilingualism, vol. 22, no. 2, 2016, pp. 180–98. Crossref, doi:10.1177/1367006916661636.
Szynalski, Tomasz P. “Formal and Informal English | Antimoon.” Antimoon, 25 Mar. 2017,
Tan, Amy. “Mother Tongue.” Arizona, www.u.arizona.edu/%7Esab4949/mother.html . Accessed 12 June 2020.