外语

I like language. Language intrigues me. I like learning about language, I like learning different languages and I like to use language as much as I can (Yes, that's a different way of saying I like to talk).

I was a late bloomer, I didn't start talking for about twelve months after the average age for a baby's first words. But as soon as the first "Bye" came out of my mouth I haven't looked back. What I just don't understand is where language came from. How did it originate? Who decided what meant what? Why are languages so different? And why do these funny lines you're reading mean things? Words are a funny thing. Repeat the same word over and over again and it will loose all meaning. It will just sound like a sound; a meaningless sound. Who decided on the alphabet? Was there a group of men who sat down together and decided on this and then everyone just had to accept? Or did it evolve over time?

I have so many questions, and so few answers.

That's why I like Chinese. Chinese makes sense to me. I've studied Chinese for 5 years now, I even stayed in China for a while. I'm fairly proficient in the language, and I am by no means fluent, but I could survive in the country. Chinese doesn't have an alphabet. It doesn't use letters, it uses characters, it uses pictures. One picture to represent one syllable or sound. That just makes sense to me. How a character was derived was by similarities between what the character represented. Granted, this doesn't apply to every character, but it's a great rule of thumb.

This is the character for horse: 马。 To me, that looks like a horse. It is a simple representation of what a horse looks like. Doesn't that seem more logical than having the random letters h, o, r, s and e assembled together?

This is just something I think about. A lot. A bit too much. I just really like the idea of language and that's why I like learning languages. I topped my Chinese class in every year at high school and now I decided to learn French at university. They are so different, but that's what I love about them.

Thank you.

谢谢.

Merci.