Wa-wa - Wow!

A few months ago, I wrote a post about Elianna's linguistic abilities and about how she was approaching the age that Helen Keller was when she lost her sight and hearing. Read that whole post here: https://www.iveyink.com/blog/2020/10/25/words-words-wa-wa

I've been thinking about this a lot recently, partly because Elianna's word usage and attempts have really skyrocketed over the past few weeks. She now regularly says "wa" or "wawa" when she wants her water cup. She even says "wow!" a lot.

But what is really cool, and also ties back to the Helen Keller story, is that she's now attempting some of our hand signals we use for Athena (aside from just waving at her). She tries a thumbs up for "good girl" but makes a finger gun instead. She tries "I love you," but looks like she's flashing gang signs. But she's working on communicating and now, on the eve of 19 months, I am so proud of my little girl and still so glad that a simple childhood fever can be treated rather that stealing her from me.

“I love you” in sign language.

Words, Words, Wa-wa

Over the past few weeks, Elianna - who just turned 15 months old - had been wanting to know what everything is called.  She points at things nearby and across the room, pokes body parts and facial features, and prods every piece of food on her plate until she's told what it is.

While poking at every little carrot nibble on her plate does make for longer meal time, sometimes she also makes a sound.  I'm not 100% sure how much she's trying to duplicate the sounds, given that her linguistic ability is still somewhat limited (to date, she regularly makes m, b, d, sounds and occasionally v, w, l, y, as well as ah, eh, and a sounds).  The other day I gave her some blueberries and she repeated "bah!"  Similarly, she repeated a "m" sound when offered mangoes... but the, she does that when given banana, too.  (I personally think she's trying to say "nana" but hasn't quite mastered the "n" yet.)

One of the few words that she says regularly, and consistently the same way, is "Ah-ah," which is what she calls Athena. 

She HAS started gesturing to herself - smacking her hand proudly against her chest and then grinning from ear to ear when I cover her chest and hand with my own and announce "Elianna!"  She loves hearing her name, and I'm pretty sure she knows it means her.

Sometimes I get annoyed at all the pointing, at how much it derails mealtime - sometimes I think she's trying to distract me*, like I'll forget to give her more chicken (or whatever food she has decided she doesn't want to eat that day).

*Is this karma coming back at me for all the times I tried to get my Russian professor off-topic to get out of a quiz?

But then I remember that she's learning.  Even though she's been told everything on her plate two or three times, been told what the window and the ipod are so many times, keeps gesturing to Athena (also crunching and munching) in the kitchen.  She knows that all these things have names and she likes to hear them.

And I also remember that she can hear me say these things, that she can see things to point to and ask what they are.  I remember that at 19 months old, Helen Keller lost her sight and hearing to an illness.  Only barely able to say a few words, the only one that she remembered years later when Anne Sullivan came to teach her, to break through into her dark world, was "wa-wa" - water.  (And as anyone who saw the movie remembers because depending on when and where you saw it, it was either an inspirational climax or, if you were like me and watched it in middle school with a bunch of hooting boys who thought this was the funniest thing they'd ever seen...)

Elianna is very close to saying "wa-wa."  She has a sippy cup for water, and pokes at it all the time while I patiently tell her for the 14th time "water," (or "milk," or "juice").  And some nights when I sit in the recliner in the dark, rocking her at bedtime while she points to the stuffed animals on the shelves, the shadows thrown by her clock, I think about how lucky I am that I don't have to worry that a fever at 19 months will take away my ability to teach my baby words.

Banned Books Week Day 5: You Can't...

As some of you have gathered from some of the posts I've made here, I really enjoyed making displays for the libraries I've worked for.  Banned Books week was kind of like Christmas - we started planning Banned Books Weeks displays months out.

The first year that I worked at Kennesaw State University, we were doing a "caution tape" them (common for Banned Books Week) with "graffiti" in the student computer lab.  Being relatively new in that position, I hadn't been sure what my role would be in helping with or planning that display, so I sort of followed some of the ideas that had been done the previous year, when we got to actually implementing. 

One of the new things I did do that year was to put together some "you can't" reading lists.  We printed them out on brightly-colored paper and put them on a table at the entrance to the computer lab.  These lists included "You can't write that" (frequently challenged authors), "You can't read that" (frequently challenged classics), and "You can't say that" (books frequently challenged due to language - profanity, racist, and/or sexual language).  "You can't read that" was our most popular list, with almost twice as many copies taken as the other two lists combined.

You can see the lists and some of our "graffiti" below.

#BannedBooksWeek2020

Deaf Dog, Blind Man

I follow several dog-related pages on Facebook. Usually when I post on these pages, I keep the posts and comments short and funny. This morning, a follower on one of these pages posted an unusual request. He is blind and he asked for people to describe their dogs. He was interested in (non-visual) physical descriptions and personality traits. I intended to be detailed, but didn't mean to end up running so long. (Though, with that said, there were a lot of people who also posted very long descriptions - especially given that many times on that page comments are often just pictures.) This is what I wrote to my fellow dog-lover about Athena:

My dog, Athena, is an unusual size and shape. She is really too big to be called a small dog, but is smaller than what most people consider to be medium-sized. She is 32 pounds but is boxy and stocky. She is shorter than many dogs her weight and, unlike many dogs with her build, she can curl up in a tight little ball like a cat. She is also very flexible and agile and, also like a cat, can easily get up onto tables if chairs are not pushed in.

She is very muscular and strong - she will pull you over if you aren't paying attention when you have her on a leash. She has a huge boxy chest but fine, thin, delicate paws. Her toes are long like fingers. We call her our "dragon lady" because of her long thin toes. She also has long quicks in her nails so we have to let them stay relatively long so when don't hurt her when we clip them. As a result you can always her make a shuffle-click noise when she's walking.

She is very soft for a short-haired dog. Her fur is very thin in places, like her face and back. She has no hair on her chest, stomach, or inner legs. Having a baby, I can confirm that Athena's tummy is, in fact, as soft as a baby's bottom. Her ears are also extremely soft. I can't come up with a perfect comparison - saying she's soft like a kitten makes it sound like her ears are furrier than they are, saying they are soft like velvet makes them sound stiffer. Her ears might be the softest things in the world.

She loves baths and is, if possible, even softer after a bath. I love rubbing my face all over her face and ears after she's had a bath. She doesn't have a very dog-like scent even when dirty or excited. She gets frequent baths because of a skin allergy, but based on smell she could probably go a long time without needing one. She is very patient in the bath and will just sit and let you wash and rinse her without issues. If you tell her it's bath time, she will eagerly run upstairs and trot into the bathroom. When bath time is over she runs around the house, very pleased with herself, and rubs herself dry on the carpet.

She loves to lay out on the deck in the sun. She loves to cuddle. She likes to sleep under the blankets - with her fur being so thin, she gets cold easily. Its hard to get her out of the bed in the morning.

She likes going on walks, but pretends that she does't because she doesn't like having her harness put on. She is very strong for her size and loves to chase birds and leaves so you have to keep a good grip on the leash. Her favorite toys are pull ropes and other tug toys, through she also loves to rip stuffed toys apart.

She has three distinct barks - one is a normal, somewhat grunty bark. When she is trying to be tough, she has a very deep bark that belongs to a much larger dog and sounds like you are imminent danger of being eaten. When she is worried she has a high, warbling bark that sounds like a small child was left unattended with a clarinet.

Athena is a noisy sleeper. She snores, snorts, and grunts. She squeaks and squawks when she stretches and yawns. When she shakes her ears, they crack like a whip. She is the noisiest dog I've ever had, which is ironic because she is deaf.

Ladies of Language

So - the registrar, the head of the language department, and the registrar's admin assistant walk into a restaurant...

No, it's not the start of a joke. But it was the start of a very interesting dinner.

Last week, my boss and I went out to dinner with the head of the language department (who is also the head of the honors program). It wasn't really a work dinner, though we did occasionally kick around ideas about how various programs might be improved, or our experiences with similar programs in other places.

We ended up just sitting around and talking for a long time - in fact, my boss had to leave earlier so the other professor and I stayed and chatted for a while longer. It was really nice to be able to hang out with someone else who is "overly educated." I don't mean that as a slight against anyone I regularly spend time with, just that I don't often get the chance to discuss 19th century Russian poetry translation or Central American magic realism in depth.

We also got onto the subject of the novels that I'm writing and, and she sat and listened raptly while I described characters and plot. I think I've told her more about my writing than I've told any other one person in one sitting. At one point she asked what the title of my book was. I told her The Wolf and the Sheath, but also clarified that that was just the working title. I said that I probably wouldn't decide on a final title until after I finish the book, but at the moment I like The Lady, the Wolf, and the Watcher. She said she liked the rhythm of it. (I think that was what actually lead to the discussion of literature in translation.)

Tangentially related to the above, before my boss left, we sort of reprized the discussion my boss and I had a while back about why she doesn't like the term "ladies" to refer to a group of women. (More on that here: https://www.iveyink.com/blog/2018/1/7/ladies-gentlemen ) I clarified for the new member of our group, who hadn't been at our previous discussion, that "I read a lot of fantasy. I write a lot of fantasy. To me, a lady is someone who might strap on a sword and lead a battle." And, a twinkle in her eye, she responded, "That's not a lady - that's an empress."

Speaking With Signs

Jason and I recently watched The Shape of Water.  For those of you who haven't seen it, it is a film about a mute woman who communicates with sign language.  She works as a cleaning lady in a government lab.  There she meets an aquatic creature who she begins to teach sign language to.  (It's an over-simplification, but for terms of this post that's what you need to know.)

The timing made it especially poignant for me: about 6 weeks ago, Jason and I adopted a deaf dog, and we use sign language as a method of communicating with her.  We've watched and enjoyed other films that are sign language-heavy, the new Planet of the Apes films being key among those.  But it was touching for me to watch it in this new context, of being the way I communicate with my fur baby.

Now, we don't "know" sign language - these are signs that she had already been taught by her previous family and while most of them are easy to remember and straightforward, I have no idea if any of them are accurate American Sign Language.

I also had a great aunt who was deaf.  She knew sign language, but we never really used it with her.  She could speak and read lips and, while she used sign language with friends who were deaf, she generally didn't with hearing people.  The only sign I remember learning from her is the one for "I love you" (which is easily confused with "rock on" symbol, so that's fun : )  

Left: "I love you in ASL."  Right: The "rock on!"/metal symbol frequently seen at concerts and parties.

I know that at some point I knew more.  I was in choir at church for most of my childhood, and I know at one point we learned the signs for "Jesus Loves Me" and "Hosanna in the Highest."  I don't remember most of those signs now.  I don't remember why we learned them (they were not at the same time).  Was someone at the church deaf?  Were were doing it in case we had a deaf visitor?  I don't think either is the case, as I think we would have done it more regularly and I only recall those 2 separate instances.

I remember at one of the many high school theatre competitions I went to that there was a signing interpreter for one of the plays.  I found myself more interested in watching her than watching the play.  I have always enjoyed watching sign interpreters - it's the only way of "speaking" (aside from acting) in which facial expression and body language play such a big role in context and meaning.  Watching someone "sing" in sign language is just half a step away from watching them dance.

I've been thinking about this subject to use as a post for most of this week so the timing is interesting, too, as a friend from work posted this video of Maya Angelou's "Phenomenal Woman" signed by various women.  It's worth a watch:
https://www.facebook.com/aimediaAUS/videos/10155926494549220/UzpfSTEwMDAwMzc5MjE4MjIxMDoxMjMxOTMzMDczNjA5NzU0/?comment_id=1232157433587318&notif_id=1523107934785344&notif_t=feedback_reaction_generic

Sh!

I really love language and linguistics.  If were more disciplined about learning languages, I could have been a linguist.  How languages evolve - how vowels shift, how a letter that is written or sounds one way in one language mutates into others in related languages as time goes - on fascinates me.

I've been thinking about this recently because I work in the registrar's office at a small liberal arts university and I was one of the first people outside of the humanities department to find out that we are going to be offering beginning Mandarin next fall.  The professor who told me about this is the head of the language department.  She specializes in Spanish and we often say "gracias" to each other in emails.  I was thinking about how I could start saying thank you in Mandarin.

I've known how to say "thank you" in Mandarin since I was really little; my parents always encouraged us to say thank you in the languages of the Chinese and Mexican restaurants we frequented.  Thank you in Mandarin is pronounced "shay-shay" (as best my European-language-familiar self can transliterate).  I also took ballet from a young age and knew that in French the "sh" sound is written with "ch," so I always pictured the Chinese thank you spelled as "che-che."  I was really thrown for a loop to find that it is usually written as "xie-xie" when using Latin letters.  

Where did the X come from?  It seems really random to me, of all the possible letters to make that "sh" sound, so why X?  (I just went to google it - it's a long complicated explanation.)

Thinking about the "'shay-shay' is really 'xie-xie'" conundrum got me started thinking about all the ways you can write the "sh" sound in various languages.  In some languages it has its own letter or character (Russian, Hebrew*).  In others it's made with a combination of letters - "sh" in  English of course, "ch" in French, "si" or "se" in Irish Gaelic (as in "sidhe"** and Sean), and "sch" in German.

*Oddly enough, the characters look similar enough that I wonder if that's where the Russian character came from:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shin_(letter) 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sha_(Cyrillic)

**Pronounced "shee," but that's another post.

What does this have to do with writing?  If you've been following this blog for a while, you'll know that one of my conundrums is the decision between writing foreign names and words truly to their language (and therefor possibly having to provide a pronunciation guide) or writing them how they sound.  Of course, right now, none of my novels with "foreign" names takes place in the real world: the one with the Welsh and Latin inspired names and the one with the German and Italian inspired names both tale place in fictional worlds.  So I guess I can make up my own language rules : )

It's Not OK

*Be aware that I will be using strong language, in the context of what is accurate, inaccurate, or distracting in certain settings.*

Last weekend, while Jason was playing a video game set in about 50 BC in Egypt, he complained that the swearing felt too modern and was therefor distracting.  Frequently, the characters will use "shit" as an insult or taunt.  This feels particularly egregious, as early in the game, an Egyptian word (I assume), "khet" was used by a character, and the translation of "shit" was shown in the dialog in parentheses after the word.  "Why not keep using khet?"  Jason wondered.  Why bother to introduce that word at all if you're going to use modern English swear words instead?

But this incident got us discussing other words we find distracting in books and movies, and not all of them swearing.  Another term being used in his game was "OK."  That's one that really bothers me in historical pieces.  OK is an American colloquialism that, while we can't pinpoint the exact first use and origin, it's generally agreed it began to be used in the mid 19th century - and even then, not to the broad extent it is today.  So to see someone in 1st century BC Egypt, 18th century England, or other historical settings using "OK" in place of "good," "alright," or any other handful of synonymns is extremely distracting.

And, yes, I know that just the fact that the characters in the Egyptian game are conversing in English is, and and of itself, an anachronism, but we accept the idea that this is a translation of what they might be saying in a historical language.  There is also the idea that certain phrasings, even in "translation" are too modern.  A character in a historical period would be expected to say, "this is excellent news, my friend," rather than "that's totally rad, dude."  (Unless you're watching a Bill and Ted movie.)

There are other words I find distracting, too.  While "fuck" is actually a very old word, the way it is used can be distracting.  Swearing is different in each culture and time period.  Find something more historically accurate than "fuck you."  "The Devil take you," is more appropriate in many European historical settings.  Likewise, calling someone a bitch or a bastard - while those words have also been around for a while, there are all kinds of colorful swearwords for other periods.  The point is, don't be lazy and insert your favorite insults - do a little research and find something that works for the period.

Similarly, slang and colloquialisms can be distracting.  A year or two ago, I read a book that took place during World War II.  The teen-aged characters in this book used the terms "cool" and "sexy."  While I haven't done the research to see when each of those terms came into general use to mean "good," and "appealing" or "alluring," I'm pretty sure that the former emerged in the '50's and the latter emerged even later.  Instead of "cool," they should have been using "swell," "keen," or possibly "neat."  Off the top of my head, I'm actually not sure what a good substitute for "sexy" would be.  But if I were writing a book that too place in the early '40's, I would find out.

In conclusion, gentles all, seek ye out thy most excellent and commendable insults, for thy father was a hamster and thy mother smelt of elderberries.

Ladies & Gentlemen

Back about a month ago, my supervisor called me into her office to discuss an email with me.  She started off by saying it wasn't anything I had done wrong, or anything unprofessional, but it was a pet peeve of hers to use the term "ladies" to address a group.  It ended up turning into a very interesting discussion.

I explained that I had intended it as a respectful, professional opening to a group of all women, pointing out that I have often done the same - using "Hello, gentlemen," or "good morning, gentlemen" - for the opening of emails to a group of men.  I explained that for me "ladies" and "gentlemen" is a term of respect, as opposed to something more informal like "guys" or "y'all."  I said something to the effect of "I guess I'm kind of old-fashioned."  My supervisor kind of laughed at that.  She said that having grown up and gone to college and started work in the 60's and 70's, during a period of time when women's roles were beginning to change drastically, that she had always seen "ladies" as less the older, respectful connotation and more that "lady" implies too delicate to work, while "woman" implies more equality and capability.  She thought it was funny that while I was the younger of the two of us, I was thinking of myself as "old fashioned."

I also talked about how, as both a history buff and a reader of fantasy and historical fiction, in my mind, a lady can still be a powerful figure, just as likely to strap on a sword and lead a battle as to do anything else.

I don't know how important it is to mention that in addition to being of my parents' generation, that my supervisor also spent a good portion of her life living further north, specifically in Minnesota.  It took her a long time to get used to both students and colleagues addressing her as "ma'am;" apparently in other areas of the country "ma'am" means "old," whereas in the South it is used as a terms of respect for a woman who is your senior either by age or position.

As a writer, I find the generational and regional differences in words, even within the same language to be very fascinating.  I have a couple friends who address me as "lady" as a term of endearment.  While they are not from the same place, they are from a similar region of the country.  I had never been addressed by a friend as "lady" until I met the first of these friends in college, but I do wonder if this is more prominent in other areas of the country, just as some women in other areas will address their female friends as "girl" or "girlfriend."

As many of you reading this know, I'm currently in the process of writing 3 novels; two of these involve young women in positions of power where the term "lady" is used as a part of their title.  Given that both of them have a strong historical feel, I'm hoping that using "lady" to indicate nobility and power will not turn off the readers who might be used to using or seeing the term as one to indicate delicacy or weakness.

In closing, I'll leave you with this little tidbit about ladies and gentlemen.  

In the 90's film, Blast from the Past, a man born in a bomb shelter during the Cuban Missile Crisis and raised there in isolation by his stereotypically 1950's parents emerges in "present day" California.  It's a funny film about his faux pas and culture shock, but it also does have an interesting perspective about how values, society, and language are so malleable, even in a period of 30-some-odd years.  The two characters who sort of take him under his wing have the following exchange:

Troy: He thinks I'm a gentleman and you're a lady.

Eve: [disgusted] Well, consider the source! I don't even know what a lady is.

Troy: I know, I mean I thought a "gentleman" was somebody that owned horses. But it turns out, his short and simple definition of a lady or a gentleman is, someone who always tries to make sure the people around him or her are as comfortable as possible.

Eve: Where do you think he got all that information?

Troy: From the oddest place - his parents. I mean, I don't think I got that memo from mine.

And with that, ladies and gentlemen, I bid you good evening.