SECTION III Essay

Here in Ignis, children learn the language from parents. In our culture, interaction between family members is incredibly important for us; but if for any reason parents are unable to do so, other family members will step in. Family—and really any adult—talk to them constantly since they want to make babies know they are very important to them, and do not want them to feel excluded. They also sing to them constantly. While adults might know some words or phrases from other languages thanks to trade, children usually do not since they are not taught any other language at school or at home. It is not a requirement in our society to learn more languages, so it tends to be a personal decision to learn them; that is why children are not taught them at school.

Before children can actually speak, they tend to make sounds that resemble the words used by people around them. They babble and coo a lot since people are usually talking and addressing them, so they answer in their own way; but it usually after two years old when they start using actual words. As for acquiring literacy, it varies per child. As mentioned earlier, stages and development vary by individual. Children acquire literacy after starting to go to school, and to be able to attend it, they must be able to talk, which is after being able to form simple, but full, sentences so they can be between 4 to 6 years old.

Still in the subject of language, there have not been a lot of dramatic changes in it. The main vocabulary changes are from trade, since a lot of the traded items do not exist in our island, which is why they did not have a name so we just borrowed the terms used by the other languages. Another change is the shortening of words, especially those used while on the job since our language tends to have relatively long words, and since people are usually in a hurry, they have been simply shortened over time. Another one has to do with pronunciation; there used to be a clicking at the end of reflexive verbs, but it has been slowly phased out, and nowadays only some older people still use it.

Moving on to culture, it emphasizes in honesty so, as mentioned before, we must say what we feel and the others have to listen; even to those in the government. We can talk for long periods of time about why we are happy, or sad, or angry; we have a large vocabulary related to our emotions, so we are able to express what is what we feel. While we are having a conversation, or when we are listening to someone, we have some norms that guide us in how to act while it is happening. Those include not looking at elders in the eye unless it has been explicitly told it is fine to do so by that particular person. Another one would be the fact the when we speak with another person, we stand very close to each other; we do not want to be so far apart we have to yell. Also, family members must kiss at the cheeks when greeting, or else it is assumed you are angry with them. Plus, crossing your arms while someone is talking to you is considered to be incredibly rude, so it must be avoided.

In our culture, we do make use of certain articles to communicate something about who we are to others. One of these is a yellow bracelet we wear once we are done with school to let others know we are an active part of society now. Another one is that after we get married, we wear pendants we exchanged during the wedding for life, so that it is known we are married.

Next, neologisms usually have to do with technology since people are always trying to find easier ways of doing their jobs. For example, gatherers used to have a basket on their head, and another at their hip. Over time, they figured out that halfway in between was better and created one that hangs on their back and simply merged the names of the previous two baskets. A similar thing happens with hunting tools since they keep changing over time. Meanwhile, slang is for the young, and they use it when they speak to each other. It is not used when talking to older people. One example of slang is using “smokes” when talking about something that is nice, and they use it because it is considered exciting when the volcano is spewing smoke. Another example is “drop” which is used the opposite way, when the kids mean that something is not very interesting or good; it comes from the word raindrop, which we hate and avoid at all costs. 
Another important characteristic in our culture, is how we greet each other. We can use as a greeting “have you thanked the volcano today?” because if a person has had a good day, they have probably thanked the volcano already; but if they have not had a good day, they probably have not thanked it, which is not a good thing. In a way, it can be used to remind people to do it, and give thanks for even a very small good thing during the day. Another greeting, although informal and used between family and close friends, is “have you fed your bird?” We use that as a greeting since birds are a big part of every individual here on the island, and we also want to know how their birds are, so this way we get an update about them.

Here in our island, what we do for leisure tends to be picking flowers, and making decorations for the home or maybe to sell. Another common activity is making a picnic on a place with a great view of the volcano, where family and friends get together to eat and talk while feeling close to the volcano. Moving on to important semantic domains of our language, we have our kinship terms, which include mother, father, younger brother, younger sister, older brother, older sister, aunt (which also includes any female family friend), uncle (also includes any male family friend), grandparent (which also includes any older family friend); the reason we have so many aunts, uncles, and grandparents, is because a lot of people are involved in the raising of a child, so they become their family. A second domain is food, and it includes loquat, pomegranate, squash, tomatoes, cassava, frogs, goats, and beetles to name a few; those are all things we eat frequently here. A third semantic domain is accessories, and that one includes bracelets, earrings, bags, rings, and pendants; all of those are used for decorating our bodies, but they can also have meaning, such as the bracelet received after school, or the pendants after marriage. A fourth one is home, which includes caves, tents, huts, and small stone houses; all of these are places where we live with our families, and they have to be large enough to fit all family members since we are very close to each other and enjoy our company. Finally, a fifth domain is leaders, and that one consists of teachers, elders, and the directors of our neighborhoods; this domain is formed by those who are the most respected by our society, and the ones who guide us in our lives.

The only differences in our language that reflect its intersectionalities are the words and songs that women use to announce they are pregnant to their circle of friends and family, since no one but her knows what she is going through, so she is the only one who knows what is the most beautiful way to announce these great news. There are also the words used by the elders when they perform certain ceremonies; they are the most knowledgeable of us, so only they are capable of the prayers and chants in our religious rituals.

As for the way that our language reflects values and norms, some examples would be the fact that we change our register when speaking to the elders; we use nicer and more polite words, and definitely no use of slang. Another example is that, since talking to children is so important, we have a lot of baby-words that we do not actually use with each other, only when talking to the babies. Also, we reference our volcano in a lot of phrases, since it is such a big part of us; even just greeting people, we make a reference to our volcano. Since we have foragers, gatherers, hunters, and cookers, we have an extensive amount of words related to food strategies. The only thing is that it is usually the one who does the job who knows those words. So the gatherer has a large amount of words that relate to fruits, leaves, plants, and vegetables; while the hunter is capable of differentiating animals, and be able to realize which ones are females, and which ones are males, and use their respective names—even though the regular population just uses a general term for them.

Plus, we Ignis like to use metaphors. They include “you are as nice as a bird” which is a really nice compliment; birds are our loving companions, and we really respect them, so to be compared to them is really an honor. A second one would be “you are about to smoke” which relates to the volcano in a way, and it is used when it is obvious that a person has a lot to say, but is holding it in for some reason; and as mentioned before, we are a culture that values honesty, so it is used to remind people to say what they want and need to say. A third metaphor is “life is like a lava stream” since first of all, it is the volcano who has given us our life, but also because it is constantly moving, able to accomplish and go wherever it wants to until it meets its end, and there is no way to keep it going after it is over. A fourth one is “at night we blossom” and it means that at night we see beautiful images while we sleep. We really appreciate flowers, after all we find them extremely beautiful and useful, and we are really pay attention to their schedule throughout the year so we always know when they come out; it is a nice way of talking about the fact that we also produce beautiful things, even if it is an individual experience only limited to ourselves. And a final metaphor would be, “a life as healthy as a bird” since birds are so close to us, and so important, we must take great care of them, or we risk having an unhealthy life.

  

This project has really made it obvious the fact that it is close to impossible to try to learn a language without learning the culture, or try to learn about the culture without learning the language. For example, when I first started learning English I had a difficult time trying to understand certain sayings because I would try to translate them literally into Spanish, and it simply did not work out, so this project has really been useful in explaining to me that it was not just “English being complicated” but that it happens all over the world, with all cultures and languages. In fact, now I know and have ingrained into my brain that even just a concept or word—such as an animal or a plant—may have different connotations depending on how a culture values it; so even if the actual word is translated, the feelings of the culture will not be understood until one looks for the context in that particular culture. One needs to not only translate the word, but also the meaning within the culture.