Very resonant with my own experience. Almost always when I inquire into the historical meaning of a word I use in the common way I find that it has a richer, more specified and thought provoking meaning than I had realized. The shrinking of vocabulary turns once hard-edged words into mush. I remember decades ago learning about the "schwa" sound (sp?) which as I understand it is just the universal short vowel sound. It's the reason that some languages are written with only consonants. The conmpression of vocabulary turns rich, highly specific, indeed enlightening words into fungible "schwas" from which we learn so much less than we could.
I accept the challenge!
Wonderful!
Wow. Powerfully and inspiringly written Amy. Thank you for those insights!
Very resonant with my own experience. Almost always when I inquire into the historical meaning of a word I use in the common way I find that it has a richer, more specified and thought provoking meaning than I had realized. The shrinking of vocabulary turns once hard-edged words into mush. I remember decades ago learning about the "schwa" sound (sp?) which as I understand it is just the universal short vowel sound. It's the reason that some languages are written with only consonants. The conmpression of vocabulary turns rich, highly specific, indeed enlightening words into fungible "schwas" from which we learn so much less than we could.