Language is music. Our communication art. The more tools available to us, the better we compose. Vocabularies, tones, dialects, are all instruments that colour our orchestral movements. Additional languages expand our sentences to symphonies. Of all genres, conversation is the most ethereal and transformative.
Even before birth, sound shapes us. Exposure to conversation, and music in utero stimulates brain development1. Parents are encouraged to engage and speak often with the womb. There is tremendous danger in isolation, and lack of communication for new borns2. Nurture and noise are essential in childhood development. Music and language with increasing complexity keeps learning minds reaching. Children that grow up in multilingual homes are shown to have cognitive advantages over those that don't3.
Noam Chomsky's political work often overshadows the brilliance of his linguistic theories. In his revolutionary book Syntactic Structures4 he began his argument that language is "humanly ingrained," and we are all neurologically wired to create and understand grammar. While there are different grammatical structures, they are more similar in concept than they are apart. He would continue to develop many groundbreaking theories, that we are born with a metaphorical “Language Acquisition Device5,” which helps us decode meaning, and compose complex sentences. That all humans are linguistically connected with a Universal Grammar. We are presupposed to create, and engineer language, in a step by step equation he refers to as Generative Grammar.6
Words and music live in overlapping parts of the brain. They dance across the same neurons, waltz through the limbic system, shimmer over the Broca's areas, and beyond.7 As we grow, the more languages we speak (including music, and mathematics) the better we are at learning.8 The structures work like maps. These guideposts make it easier to work in abstract mental spaces, turn ideas, and open up to other less immediate perspectives. When we know different dialects our brains work harder choosing the appropriate way to speak. Pausing and dissecting even simple words, or mundane concepts. The extra effort keeps our neurons healthy, and efficient9. In an instant we are applying a myriad of ideas, and meanings, cycling through robust vocabularies, and considering varied grammatical structures. This process keeps us in a robust state of critical thinking. The more we can say, the more poetry we find in everyday life.
In David Sedaris' hilarious, and brilliant book "Me Talk Pretty One Day,"10 he highlights both the romantic and mundane aspects of learning languages. He shares how he used to fetishize French, posterizing that through the exotic idiom were unknown poetries, transcendent thoughts, and undiscovered romantic truths about life. Disillusion leads to disappointment as David discovers that behind the curtain of a phonetically pleasant tongue are the same pedestrian words and unremarkable conversations as everywhere else on the planet. Spoons, traffic, schedules, the weather. A common, and understandable journey for those that explore other idioms.
The "disheartening" truth he hits is also one of the most glorious aspects of language, that generally, we are all "saying" the same things. We only "speak" the words in different ways. That no matter the land, people are simply people. There are no speakers that are somehow wiser because of the dialect they utter.11 The French know of no deeper love and profound romance than Bolivians. English speakers are no more clever than Thais. Germans are no more advanced in sciences than the Japanese. Limitations of knowledge are brought upon by the speaker, not of the idiom spoken.
That doesn't diminish the poetry, and unique awe within each individual language. While no vernacular is "better," or "smarter" than another12 there are some special hidden truths we find in other dialects. Some of the unique flourishes are due to certain geographical, culinary, or cultural differences that occur because of the physical location of the people. Languages closer to the equator13 may have a singular word for snow (if they have one at all), while those closer to the poles have hundreds14. The equatorial based cultures tend to have more words describing spices and flavours from indigenous floral than those more northern could conceive of, unless they tasted them, and so forth. Some cultures might catch a detail missed by others, or sum up ideas that require sentences to describe in different tongues with a single word. The French have l'esprit de l'escalier15, this phrase captures the sensation when we think of the perfect comeback after walking away from an argument16. There's a17 phrase in Brazil that "Only Brazilians feel Sauded." The word describes a mixed feeling of deep longing, nostalgia, sorrow, and joyful gratitude for a person, or time that is gone and will never return.18 While indeed, no other language has a word that hits that specific nuance, when it's explained it's known to all like remembering. These words trigger epiphany like the experiences of forgotten, now rediscovered memories. Not a learned or evolved experience, but a breath of fresh air.19
The more ideas or concepts you're exposed to the more you understand, and can give name to nuance. It's the same with music. The more instruments you play the more your mind can translate, and as a result you'll hear a greater depth in songs. The more sports you participate in, or deeper your knowledge of a particular game, the more you'll see, and appreciate in the play- and so forth for any activity.
One of the most inspiring new global normalities is countries having multiple official national languages20. The truce between French and English in the evolution, and building of Canada is particularly inspired21. Deciding on peace, inclusion, and cooperation over bloodshed is a future we should all strive for.22 Situating the capital over shared territory, mandating balanced use of language in all legal proceedings are many of the right steps forward. Today 18% of Canadians are Bilingual. Rough estimates have 50% of native French speakers as bilingual vs 9% of anglos.23 These figures should be a disappointment to all citizens, especially considering the cognitive health benefits of being bilingual. While for most of the country this reflects the realities of geography,24 as well as past limitations of technology and education25, that doesn't excuse those neighbouring provinces to Quebec. While the intention is great, the lack of emphasis in public schooling (especially in the qualifications and education of educators) is disappointing. A missed opportunity for each citizen.
Of course the "peace" that the two languages brought does not shed any light on the indigenous languages that were completely trampled over, and in many cases erased.26 Harmony in Ottawa cast a long shadow over the monstrous cruelties committed across the country. The way our brothers and sisters were forced to speak foreign tongues is criminal and worthy of great shame.27 Words like heartbreaking, and tragedy fall short in describing the atrocities in the eradication of these communities. Worse, versions of the events in Canada, have happened globally, throughout history, across cultures. Despite some steps in reconciliation28 made in Canada, there is still much work to be done, there, as well as across the planet as we unearth the shadows of our collective indignities.
While there is a wonderful utopian sentiment of the world coming together in communication, the loss of beautiful cultures, indigenous and otherwise, is something to mourn. In our march towards a prosperous and harmonious future we must not forget our past. The amount of effort our ancestors made to get us where we are now is something that we often take for granted. Our roads, the evolution of clothing, the precarious learning of what is edible or poisonous, the simple ability to speak to each other are all entries on a long list of astounding accomplishments. How to describe the cold, abstract ideas like fear, illness, jokes, complexities, gossip, colours, sharing stories, giving instruction- language should be on par with the monolithic structures and ancient temples we consider wondrous, perhaps even higher. Not only because the ideas exist only in the ether around us, but because somehow everyone agreed on the meanings of particular sounds. Collective consensus, in any sense, is an impressive endeavour. The fact that you are understanding the combination of these symbols (if you're reading them) or syllables (if you're listening), and can tell the difference between those two concepts is nothing short of miraculous. Developing a language is a beautiful and laborious task.
The rise of dead languages is as tragic as it is, in some ways, reassuring. While all things must change, it is imperative we keep a record of our tremendous past works. There is hope that with the aid of artificial intelligence that we'll be able to preserve and keep precise records, translations (including inflections, dialectic tones, accents, and nuances), stories, histories, and accelerated learning programs to aid us in digesting it all. Beyond footnotes we need museums, and at minimum, as much care as the Svalbard Seed Bank29 to protect these priceless treasures for generations to come. We must make efforts with remaining citizens to document as much as possible, in all available mediums. From there we can encourage our artists to expand and explore these palettes, keeping our histories alive.
An extraordinary example of this idea is the 2006 epic Apocalypto.30 A film set in 1570, the dialogue completely in Mayan, and the entire cast made of unknown indigenous actors. This movie broke boundaries. With a 120 million box office it showcased that audiences were hungry for originality, and not detoured by a different culture, language, nor intimidated by subtitles. With a mere seven million native Mayan speakers, Apocalypto may stand as the highest grossing film with the smallest spoken language.31 In an era where diversity and inclusion is finally becoming a normality in our conversation, these filmmakers pushed the needle further. Rather than challenging audiences with equitable recasting32, they proved that by showcasing different cultures we open ourselves up to original stories. These tales broaden, and change the scope of our communal perception, adding to our collective humanity.
Our world homogenizing is both a sad end, and a beautiful outcome full of promise. While the past should be understood and honoured, it's as important to let it go as it is preserve it. To evolve, flow forward, and not be weighed down by obligations we may feel to our ancestors.
It's a beautiful thing to watch a citizen of one nation converse with another in a tongue not native to either.33 Today this is becoming a common scene. A total of 1.51 billion people speak English, making it the most widely spoken language in the world. Impressively, the majority of speakers ( 1.31 billion, 86%) have adopted English as a second language. Which is just under the number of speakers of the second most spoken language in the world (Mandarin, at 1.41 billion. Of which, 199 million speakers use it as a second language. That's 0.0001%).34
There's many reasons for global adoption. You can argue that it comes from a dark colonial past, or America's domination over global media over the last century, and there's truth in that, but if you look at the stats of other languages from Western Colonial empires, French and Spanish for example, there is a colossal difference in the statistics. There's great utility in how specific and diverse English is. While there is room for debate, regarding conjugation, and what constitutes a different ‘word,’ English has one of the richest and most robust vocabularies in the world.35 As a result, legal documents can be extremely specific, giving little room for interpretation. That, and the historical stability, and constancy of the British legal system has made the language one of the most trusted to conduct business in. Contacts that are centuries old are still honoured, and literature still read. Even in the field of translations English has most potential to capture metaphor and meaning because of the sheer size of the vocabulary.
Regardless of the language, global communication is an exciting step. Especially given the recent ground we’ve covered in realtime translation, and language learning apps. The more we adopt each other's words and sentiments the more we understand life and one another. The more we know, the kinder that we can be. A future that brings everyone closer together, including their pasts, is one full of hope.
One thing that the Spiritual and Atheists agree upon is that all of existence was created with a sound. Be it a big bang, the creational vibrations of Om, the word of (pick your) Abrahamic God- the creation, contemplations, and communication of all these concepts are from our words. The more we unfurl our languages the more the walls between us fall. Behind our dialects and histories is the same humanity. It's time to celebrate our minute differences, incorporate new customs and ideas into more wholehearted, and meaningful lives. Today we have the privilege of bringing those previously hidden, almost forgotten, ideas to our collective and broadening our understanding. Phrases and words like wabi-sabi, the Japanese concept of appreciating the beauty in imperfection, and inevitable decay, have trickled into global vocabularies, and captured where we are collectively today. Imperfect, yet beautiful. Allow your ears to open, hear the songs spoken around you, and dance through your lifetime.
Thanks for reading!
-Mr. Write
Ullal-Gupta, S., Vanden Bosch Der Nederlanden, C., Tichko, P., Lahav, A., & Hannon, E. (2013). Linking prenatal experience to the emerging musical mind. Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience, 7. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnsys.2013.00048.
Freud A, Burlingham D. Infants without families, reports of the Hampstead nurseries
1939–1945. New York: International Universities Press; 1944.
Sanchez MM, Hearn EF, Do D, Rilling JK, Herndon JG. Differential rearing affects corpus callosum size and cognitive function of rhesus monkeys. Brain Res. 1998;812:38–Isolation on brains https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-022-01835-w
Xiong, Y., Hong, H., Liu, C. et al. Social isolation and the brain: effects and mechanisms. Mol Psychiatry 28, 191–201 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-022-01835-w
Interaction with parents and children improve language development
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10047316/
Rivero M, Vilaseca R, Cantero MJ, Valls-Vidal C, Leiva D. Relations between Positive Parenting Behavior during Play and Child Language Development at Early Ages. Children (Basel). 2023Benefits of, and how parents speak to their children
N. Ferjan Ramírez, S.R. Lytle, P.K. Kuhl, Parent coaching increases conversational turns and advances infant language development, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.
117 (7) 3484-3491,
Tervaniemi M, Putkinen V, Nie P, Wang C, Du B, Lu J, Li S, Cowley BU, Tammi T, Tao S. Improved Auditory Function Caused by Music Versus Foreign Language Training at School Age: Is There a Difference? Cereb Cortex. 2021 Nov 23;32(1):63-75. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhab194. PMID: 34265850; PMCID: PMC8634570.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8634570/https://www.pnas.org/doi/pdf/10.1073/pnas.1817536116
Lordier L, Meskaldji DE, Grouiller F, Pittet MP, Vollenweider A, Vasung L, Borradori-Tolsa C, Lazeyras F, Grandjean D, Van De Ville D, Hüppi PS. Music in premature infants enhances high-level cognitive brain networks. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2019 Jun 11;116(24):12103-12108. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1817536116. Epub 2019 May 28. PMID: 31138687; PMCID: PMC6575179.https://egarp.lt/index.php/EGJLLE/article/view/14
Sadiqzade, Z. (2024). The Impact of Music on Language Learning: A Harmonious Path to Mastery. EuroGlobal Journal of Linguistics and Language Education. https://doi.org/10.69760/zma1bn56.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12584488/
Shonkoff JP. From neurons to neighborhoods: old and new challenges for developmental and behavioral pediatrics. J Dev Behav Pediatr. 2003 Feb;24(1):70-6. doi: 10.1097/00004703-200302000-00014. PMID: 12584488.
However, multilingual people have some general cognitive advantages over a monolingual people, including keeping brain ailments at bay
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10927057/#S3 Menon AJ, Malo PK, Jain S, Gandhi S, Sundarakumar JS, Rai P, Issac TG. Association between multilingualism and cognitive performance among older adults in rural southern India. J Neurosci Rural Pract. 2024 Jan-Mar;15(1)
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3820916/#abstract1
Kroll JF, Bialystok E. Understanding the Consequences of Bilingualism for Language Processing and Cognition. J Cogn Psychol (Hove)
Aside those that amalgamate and evolve embracing the gems from other languages, theres tremendous wisdom in adoption.
For example Haitian Creole
Translates to the spirit of the the stairs
Potentially while going down a staircase
In my opinion, very ignorant
The entire genre of Bossanova is based on the "emotion.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudade#Music
Heres a list of some of the world’s most beautiful, untranslatable words
https://www.theintrepidguide.com/untranslatable-words-ultimate-list/
Belgium, Switzerland, South Africa, and over fifty others. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_multilingual_countries_and_regions
That said, the realities are less satisfactory.
It should be noted, in this example we are glossing over the atrocities committed against the indigenous, the repercussions still unreconciled today.
Its 3823 km Quebec to BC
Lack of teachers is the major detriment. As consequence teaching certificatse don’t require fluency in both languages, a travesty. The future remains hopeful, the increase in learning based technologies has created a bellcurve in learning. From tapes, to CDs, translations on DVD audio and subtitles, to computer programs, now immersive apps, we are well on our way.
A vault where we keep samples of every seed in existence safely tucked away. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svalbard_Global_Seed_Vault#:~:text=The%20Svalbard%20Global%20Seed%20Vault,the%20remote%20Arctic%20Svalbard%20archipelago
There are an estimated 6 million native speakers, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayan_languages#:~:text=Mayan%20languages%20are%20spoken%20by,Belize%2C%20El%20Salvador%20and%20Honduras.
Which in many cases is brilliant, while in others can feel forced and historically inaccurate.
At this point the essay begins to take an unintentional, entirely circumstantial Anglo favoured lens. i'd love to note a particular fond memory of mine. i was stuck at train station outside of Berlin and had a great encounter with a Russian man. We tried multiple languages, French, Russian, English, Italian, as we attempted to figure out how to communicate before we found our footing in Spanish. Together worked out how to get back into the city- as well as had a friendly conversation, the details of which i still remember. He was on his way home after spending a joyful month outside Valencia with his daughter and his first grandchild. i in turn shared about my trip hitchhiking across Asia, through Russia to Germany. It fills my heart when strangers make efforts to learn languages outside their mother tongue to communicate with one another. i’m proud to be part of the global community that doesn’t expect the world to learn their language.
