WILLIAM Shakespeare writes in Romeo and Juliet that if we call a rose by any other name, it would still smell as sweet. But is that true for words in the realm of language? If we fail to use the right word or write it in wrong spelling, would it still ring the same sweet meaning to a listener or reader? Just think of one example. If you say "wart" and the doctor thinks "nose," would you care to ask him to remove a wart from your face?
Alfred Korzybski reminds us that "the map is not the territory." Words don't always describe what one likes to speak. There is a certain amount of abstraction in our expression because words have a degree of fuzziness to them. Words with same spellings have different meanings. Again, words with different meanings have similar pronunciations.
So, if the word "cushion" is spelled as "kushion" and "lace" is spelled as "lass," and trust me these are real-life examples, what is the big deal? Does it matter how we spell a word so long as readers can tell what it is? Why is it important to emphasise on correct spelling or pronunciation? Why does language need to follow a certain discipline?
The thing is that words, like people, have character. Spelling and pronunciation define its meaning in the same manner behaviours and approaches tell us about an individual. What if you see a person going to the mosque, drinking at the bar, gambling at the casino and regularly attending religious congregations? You wouldn't know what to think of him. You would tend to question his character.
Right now our use of language is in that questionable state. From textbooks to billboards to everyday writings and utterances, words are abused either in spelling or pronunciation. If you listen to FM radios, Bengali words are spoken with English inflexions. If you watch television, English words are uttered with Bengali diction. And then read signboards, printed matters, writing on walls, buses and other places, use of wrong spelling is a common phenomenon.
It's Nikolai Lenin who has cautioned: "Liberty is precious -- so precious that it must be rationed." As it appears, we are taking too much liberty with words, writing and speaking them as we wish. I have seen the word "choice" spelled as "choise" on the marquee of a pastry shop. The word "Midway" written in Bengali on a bus has been written as "Mibway" in English. When asked, the candid response of the bus conductor was that the painter wasn't sure if the belly of "d" distended to the left or right.
These are but few examples from the real world, which is increasingly sprinkled with spelling errors. Suddenly, it appears that there is a spate of communication without any consideration for accuracy. People are speaking and writing according to their whims. There is anarchy in the world of expressions.
Should that be a cause of concern? Of course, it will not determine hell or heaven for us in the next life. It will not even determine hell or heaven in this life. Language is nothing but a medium of expression, and that expression takes place in more than one language.
Some words, which an Englishman writes with "C" are written with "K" by a German. What is written with "V" in German again is read as "F" in English. Volkswagen is a word, which is the case in hand. The world of words is varied in semantics and phonetics.
Yet, why is rest of the world so strict on both of the above? Why other nations are careful so that their children don't grow up muddled in how they speak and what they write? George Orwell has informed us that those who seek power over others must inevitably master the process of corrupting words. To paraphrase Orwell, sloppy language produces sloppy mind.
Thus, words are sound of soul, utterance of conscience, and concentrated expression of how a speaker or writer wants to relate to the world. There was a time in this country when examiners added special marks for good handwriting, and deducted some for spelling mistakes. There was a time when correct pronunciation was a matter of pride. The world attached a lot of importance to the sanctity of words.
In other words, there was a strong drive towards purity of language. It was like a certificate for the speaker or writer, which confirmed if he was of high or low origin, if he was educated or illiterate, rich or poor, sophisticated or boorish. A word was the manifestation of man in his true essence, like the performance of an instrument is manifest in sound quality.
It gave rise to a sense of humour that a person who didn't know was going to smash his teeth if asked to utter a complex word, and break his pen if asked to write it. Thus, the finesse of a person largely depended on his delivery of the word. A good man, a bad man, a gentleman or a rascal, words testified for the efficient and sensitive control of the language across the moral, ethical or aesthetic world.
We are currently living in times when much has changed. More people are literate, more students pass examinations, more foreign graduates return home and more schools, colleges and universities have opened across the land. Yet more mistakes are occurring in spelling and pronunciation. How does it happen?
Mens sana in corpore sano. It's a famous Latin quotation, which is translated as "A sound mind in a sound body." This is where we have lost the connection. Our minds are scattered and bodies are agitated. We have compromised with compromises and our virtues have long dissipated. If the soul is negotiated, nothing sacred is left to be profaned.
Words carry the weight of the world, and we have been making them weightless without even thinking of the attendant horror. How is it different from a disfigured face looking in a fractured mirror?
