Week 6 Lab: Language

Out of the eight videos, I most enjoyed

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1. Are Elvish, Klingon, Dothraki and Na'vi real languages? - John McWhorter

I knew from the get go that I would enjoy this video because of the content covered. I have always been fascinated with how Tolkien created not only a language but a currency system and cultures for the people. I learned that the language he created is categorized as a "conlang," or constructed language. Basically, this entails that a person or persons made it without it actually being spoken in the world. The difference between this and codes like pig Latin and other made up languages is conlangs have grammar, or how you group words together. My favorite part of the video is how Tolkien intentionally made some words conjugate with seemingly no reason, like know and knew. He also created variations based on time and space, like how Latin spread across Europe and came to be Italian, French, and Spanish. Overall this video was super interesting and gave me a lot of ideas. 

2. Where do new words come from? - Marcel Danes

The best part about this video was hands down the visuals. It is a beautiful video with a variety of styles and fonts and imagery used. Although I wasn't that shocked or impressed by the information given, I really enjoyed learning about where different words originated and how words get smushed together. Like meme! That was super cool. Also, words that we have just taken from other languages like naïveté and machismo. That was really interesting as you don't normally consider that this word didn't always exist with you until it was introduced by another group of people. The other aspect of words I liked the most was the fact that words change in meaning. Sometimes in a slang way like wicked sick or in a permanent way like villain. 

3. How to use a semicolon - Emma Bryce

I initially picked this video because I use semicolons often and although I'm pretty sure I know how to use one, I sometimes get corrected. Overall it pretty much confirmed what I knew! The semicolon should be used to group together two sentences that are alike in content. What I did not know, however, was that they can be used to replace a conjunction! Wow! I had never thought of it that way, but now I can't wait to try it out! Ah!!! I had never thought of it that way; now I can't wait to try it out! Awesome. I also loved the imagery used in the video and the Mario-esque style that made semicolon usage much easier to understand.