Naming is arbitrary. We associate meaning with sounds, but there is no intrinsic relationship between the sound and what it means. I remember the moment I began to discover this symbolic world.
Iconic M: Mama
Why do most languages have something like a word that sounds like mama that means mother? Etymology, the study of the history of language and words, tells us part of the story, but biology tells us the other part. And we really can figure out why some things come to stand for other things, […]
Why Language Matters, Mitt
I absolutely loved the Semiotic, Non-verbal Communication, and Linguistic Anthropology courses I took as an Undergraduate and Graduate Student with Myrdene Anderson and the late, great O. Micheal Watson. This summer, after I found out O. Michael was in hospice due to esophageal cancer, I tried to compose a very short note to send to […]