Semana de 30/8

               This week has been a bit more comfortable than last week, all settled in and cozy in my routes and schedule. Actually had some time to think on runes a bit. I’ve been studying the Elder Futhark runes for a couple months now, interested from both a linguistic perspective as well as a philosophical one. Turns out that a lot of what the runes are is an advanced network of things that are complex to think about, and have strange and unique interactions with one another, causing completely different trains of thought than something someone would find on their own.  Tapping into this knowledge base has been invigorating so far, and I’m excited to keep up with it and see where it takes me. Language-wise, I’ve learned a lot. A bunch of it is universal, and can be seen in both English and Spanish. For example, the letter J is pronounced “jera” and means year. Those two words have too much in common to not be the same. We can see the same thing, a “y” sound becoming a “j” sound, in Spanish with “ll”. Some people pronounce the sound harder and sharper, others smooth it out to a simple y. I also thought on the two “to be” verbs that we discussed in class, wondering how that concept came around, and where the words evolved from.
               The one connection I saw was to the letter “I” in the runic alphabet, which represents ice, and is pronounced “Isaz.” Now, to me, that sounds a lot closer to “estar” than “ser,” and is the only rune having to deal with self-representation and the inner being. However, ice is a state of matter, it changes. In ancient times, even if it was cold in Scandinavia where the runes were used, the ice melted and refroze, shifted, forever changing, just as the adjectives of estar are never necessarily going to stay forever. The only rune I can relate to “ser” is “sowilo,” the “S” rune that represents the sun. But even there a connection can be drawn, something that at least helps me remember and separate the two. The sun has a permanence, it isn’t changing. Yes it can come and go, and that permits some irregularities to ser (like being from somewhere but no longer being there), but in the end the adjectives come back up in the morning. Rise with the sun.

               Una cosa que encuentro aquí en español es el uso variado del “th.” He aprendido de castellanos en el pasado, entonces mi mente usualmente pronuncia la “z” con este sonido. Pero, cuando pensamos sobre los movimientos diferentes para producir este sonido, no son muy diferentes entre el acento castellano, latinoamericano, o el idioma inglés. Z, TH, S, solamente están separados por movimientos pequeñísimos de la lengua. En un arca más grande, podemos incluir la letra “D.” Uno de mis ejemplos favoritos es la palabra “Dios.” En español, a veces personas usan la letra “D” suave, parcialmente dejando espacio entre el techo de la boca y la lengua. Con más espacio ahí, haces el sonido de “th.” En inglés, tenemos un prefijo que usamos para representar dios. “Theo.” Theo, Dio, son muy similares, ¿no? Y con más investigación, podemos encontrar la raíz de los dos; Zeus. Ahora, no es tan difícil ver de dónde viene el acento castellano.  

               Pero, no solamente he enfocado en el serio y profundo. Encontré un tweet de la Profesora que muestra los varios métodos de decir “Bro” en países latinoamericanos. Cuando hablo en conversación plano, no quiero sonar como Cervantes. Quiero ser humano moderno. Y “bro” es una palabra que uso demasiado para no tenerlo correcto en español. Necesito estudiar el mapa un poquito para encontrar mi lugar en el mundo hispano.

               No encontré cosas educacionales en el Pinterest esta semana, pero me gustan las fotos cómicas que están ahí. La fluidez de hablar está bien, pero no sabes una lengua si no puedes contar chistes.