RE: Etymology and the Magic of Words
Perhaps there is some misunderstanding, but I'm pretty sure we're oppositional as I assert that knowing the origin of a word, the original meaning, does not necessarily mean you know what the word "really" means. Further, there is nothing that a word "really" means beyond what you and everyone else collectively understands it to be. A logical conclusion of this is that an old meaning of a word, perhaps it's actual root, could potentially be lost to the sands of time without diminishing it's usage today (though there would be a historical loss of course).
Imagine just deciding to change the meaning of words as you wish how that would work out? If everyone agreed to it, ok.
This does happen. But you're right, you need tacit agreement of the actual speakers of the language.
I've always found it funny that there exists several institutions who take the authority of deciding what is and isn't a word and what it's meaning is. The most outrageous example is always the Académie française. They are bold enough to call their members, "The Immortals". 😱 😂 This signifies to me the audacity of the enterprise of controlling the natural flow of language. It can be done, but only under the most grandiose of projects.
More languages, and indeed much of spoken French, is not governed in any way but by the shared meaning and cultural context of the users (I say users here to extend speakers to writers, etc.). As this context changes, the language changes too. You can easily find words which have completely changed meaning, even reversed meaning over time.
That said I do not wish to be a total relativist here. It's not completely arbitrary because part of the context of language (perhaps the largest part) is what we learn and what told things mean. Perhaps the most interesting thing here though is that meaning is not strictly explicit and much is implied by actual usage, not only "book learning" or whatever formal, rigid education we undergo.
Anyway I'm going on a bit here 😅 But you get my point.
On Earth-Sea, you should read it if you have the time, the trilogy is really fantastically written by a great master of not only fantasy but scifi too. As is often the case, the book is much much much better than the movie 😜
Thanks for taking the time to respond.
LOL, the immortals. Well, "fake news" popped up, and "post-truth" went into the dictionary... so the hype and popularity can get new words added, or add meaning or change meaning to old words. But indeed, there are only a few keeper of definition like merriam-webster, oxford, etc.
I have found etymology to uncover more meaning and oppositional meaning in some cases, but also saw how it could be reflected in reality in that dual way.
It definitely starts implied or pointed to (ostensible) so that we at least know what the hell a sound means in relation to reality hehe. Dada is not mama hehe. Then abstraction and further development help. I learned most of my vocabulary by reading books though, not structured formal education which I hardly learned anything about what I now know. To get a better vocabulary, sometimes the environment of society isn't providing it, so we need to develop more on our own, and books help. I know you meant the crap in school though, and I agree hehe.
Indeed, etymology is interesting and reading is the best way to expand ones vocabulary. It's a floccinaucinihilipilification though if people don't know what you're talking about, you just come across as inaniloquent 😜