Spelling law and disorder

In this world of accelerating Future Shock, there is almost nothing that your great grandparents would understand. At home and at work, almost everything has changed.  However, there remains one bastion of conservatism, the rules of spelling. This one area seems to change little but, in fact, has been subject to various grades of the whims of authority or anarchy, depending on the language. A very brief survey of four languages will show the tectonic plates underlying the solid rock of spelling rules.

Russian has the advantage of being the native language of only one country, albeit a rather large one, with a historical tendency to have authoritarian governments. The Russian written language went through its last major reform slightly more than 100 years ago, in 1917. The Bolsheviks, upon taking power, implemented major changes in the dictionary. The gist of the changes was to eliminate unpronounced letters and symbols. Through its control of printing, these recommendations were enforced, leading to the more logical spelling and shorter books. In more modern times, there has been some incoherent policy regarding official use of е [ye] and ё [yo]. So, due to the monopolistic power of the Soviet government on Russian, spelling was rationalized and maintained.

The French language also has an academy, which takes itself very seriously, of course. However, unlike with Russian, France is a democracy and French is spoken in other countries, notably Belgium and Canada. (Africa, as usual, has no weight on this issue). The French academy recently issued some minor changes in spelling, mainly regarding accents, double l’s and dashes. See https://www.francaisavecpierre.com/reforme-de-lorthographe-du-francais/. I am sure that these changes interest the teachers of French language as well as the readers of Canard Enchainė (btw – I fit both categories), but they have no real effect on the consistency or rationality of French spelling. By contrast, any attempt to introduce the Belgium use of septante and nonante to replace the mathematically challenging soixante-dix and quatre-vingts-dix as the terms for seventy and ninety would be rejected offhand by the learned members of the academy. The French language will continue its creative and non-user-friendly spelling system.

Hebrew is an ancient language spoken as a native tongue in one country. An official language academy even exists: https://hebrew-academy.org.il/. That said, when you have two Jews, you have three opinions. Even in the Bible in the same section, the same words are spelled in different ways. Formally speaking, there are two written forms of a word: the short form without vowel symbols (what most people read) and the long form with the vowel sounds marked, used for learning and reading the Bible. Unfortunately, the Israel school systems does not very actively or effectively teach spelling and pronunciation, which sometimes creates confusion for these readers. For example, the wordבקר can be pronounced [boker] meaning morning or [bakar] meaning cattle. While context should be sufficient to distinguish the correct sounds, many people, with the acquiescence of the Hebrew academy, add a ו [vuv], the symbol for the [o] sound, in an attempt to clarify. Likewise, people also add a י [yud], the symbol for the [ee] sound, to words to emphasize that sound.  As one speaker at a conference in Beit Berel said, Hebrew speakers must and have been able to apply intelligence when reading. She was strongly against stupefying the language. So, chaos and debate have always ruled the Hebrew language and will apparently continue to do.

Then there is English. Reflecting his personal pronunciation, Samuel Johnson published the first truly practical dictionary in 1755.  Learners have been suffering ever since. To be fair, the claim that English spelling is not phonetic is not accurate.  It is phonetic for places that have guttural gh’s and kn’s. Alas, that specific linguistic group represents a very small percentage of people in the UK, not to mention the world. The reason why this strange system cannot be reformed as was Russian is that no country or academy controls the English language.  Since the British cannot impose their spelling on the US and vice versa, English has taken the typical Anglo-Saxon attitude of agreeing to disagree but with a hint of disapproval. Thus, the Oxford dictionary places the American spelling in small letters after the entry while the Webster’s write the UK spelling in small letters after the American English entry. Given the number of parties with an interest in English, I am rather convinced that this state of organized chaos will exist in another three generations. Thus, for the foreseeable future, we are stuck with memorizing, spelling quizzes, dictionaries and spellcheck.

Thus, even spelling, that dry and iconoclastic form of communication, is subject to the influence of politics and culture. How your children will spell words is truly a matter of law and disorder.

Vraisemblant theatre

Since the age of movies and television, theatre has found itself at a disadvantage. Regardless of the expense and effort, it simply cannot compete with those media in terms of realism or special effects. This inability has let to extensive use of minimal, symbolic sets, which would seem to make theatre less effective than other forms, including books. Not only that, attending a play is an immediate experience that requires commitment to arrive at a specific time and does not allow the convenience of taking a break at your convenience. In fact, the starkness and strictness of theatre would seem to make it an increasingly less effective medium for presenting a drama, especially in the light of the short attention span of modern audiences.

The truth is the often the opposite. By definition stripped of peripherals, the drama is portrayed in its cleanest, most intense form. No amazing visual affects distract the audience from the plot. Moreover, the viewers, trapped in their seat, cannot easily walk away from the emotions and situations. They are forced to ride the waves of the story all the way to its happy, bittersweet or even tragic end. There is no shutting the book, pressing the pause button or switching to another channel. The theatre-goer must go through to the end.  Granted, in particular bad cases, people leave either during the break or even during the performance itself.  However, this behavior is still significantly less prevalent than in other forms of performance media. Thus, the seeming weaknesses of theatres, its simplicity and immediateness, make it the most powerful way of presenting a drama.

As an example, my wife and I just saw the Hebrew version of the Kite Runner, based on a book by Khaled Hosseini, as presented by the Gesher Theatre in Israel. The story is intense and painful, even violent.  If I had previously read the book, I may even have chosen not to see the drama as I was very tired that night. Not only that, the plot, both morally and emotionally, was very disturbing. The play challenged basic ideas about right and wrong and showed how complex they are to apply in real life, especially in a tribal society and even more so during war. The symbolic scenery, representing the various venues of the play, not only did not distract from this story but even enhanced it as it showed the grayness and starkness of the external world of the drama.  If I had started to watch this on television or read the book, I have no doubt I would have switched channels or put the book aside for another time. Instead, I was obliged to experience the story without escape or interruption. The result was a total vicarious pleasure, i.e., I had the privilege of glimpsing and, to a certain degree, gaining an understanding of Afghan society as it was portrayed. Both my wife and I left wowed, even emotionally drained. That is what good theatre can do.

If I prefer theatre to movies, it is for these reasons. The strength of a play is in its story and characters, not the special effects or the physical action scenes. Moreover, I may not always enjoy the experience but I am forced to go through it. Alas, not all theatre is powerful nor do all audiences seek such intensity. However, at its best, seeing a play at the theatre is as close to the real story as we can get. It is, as the French would say, vraisemblance, true likeness.

Going against the grain and linguistic sexism

Words reflect and create expectations beyond their immediate meaning. In the case of certain professions, they bring into mind a picture of a man or woman often based on historical patterns. This prejudice requires the minority gender to define itself against the established term.

One way is to add the gender definer to the profession.  In reality, there are many male nurses, male prostitutes and male secretaries. They are obliged to add the descriptive word to provide an accurate image of themselves.  Otherwise, without a picture, the reader would assume a woman. Likewise, the terms driver, pilot and judge have their feminine version, i.e. woman driver, female pilot and, in French, Madame le juge. Despite the number of women in these professions, the image remains male.

In some cases, languages change the term to break the stereotype. Policemen and police women are collectively referred to as law enforcement officers, a completely gender-neutral term. Firewomen are included in the term firefighters. All meetings have a chairperson to reflect the number of women in management.  Finally, to deal with a very complicated situation, the terms father and mother in school registration forms are slowly being replaced by Parent 1 and Parent 2 to allow for single sex couples with children.

Some languages, especially Arabic and Hebrew, cannot always gracefully solve the issue. At the elementary school level in Israel, the fast majority of the teachers, 95 per cent, are female. Yet, if there is one male teacher at a staff meeting, should they be addressed as morot, the feminine plural form, or morim, the masculine plural form? The rules of grammar suggest the latter while common sense would imply the former.  The only elegant but wordy solution is to say morim and morot, yes with the masculine form first as placing the feminine form first sounds a little odd in Hebrew.

So, those pioneers that desire to break the gender barriers to certain profession not only have to cope with prejudice and lack of confidence but also with linguistic stigmas.  They must verbally define themselves in opposition to societal expectation.

Weeding out

In language, the difference between certain words may relate to perception.  Doing some garden work a few days ago, I briefly considered the word weed and what it actually meant. It soon became clear that there was no physical difference between a weed and any other plant aside from my personal desire to have it in my garden, which is far from representing the whole truth of the matter.

Take for example the common dandelion. I confess that I instantly remove them and do not want them spoiling my "real" flowers. However, on second thought, are they so different from buttercups or any other yellow flower?  Children of all ages, including some rather adult ones, relish blowing on their cottony buds. Animals happily graze on them in the spring.  Even humans make a delicious wine with them. Are they any less than the haughty rose? I strongly suspect that I am merely being a snob.

Speaking of plants with an undeserved bad reputation, poison ivy is considered a highly unwelcome resident.  However, it has its respectable place in the pantheon of plants, if such a thing exists. Besides being very colorful and shiny in its finest state in the summer, it aligns many the paths of woodlands and national parks in California. Thus, it protects the soil from erosion and protects other plants and animals by discouraging humans from over exploring the region. That people don’t respect it and get red in the face and everywhere else is not its fault. It is as much a part of the beauty of woodland beauty as any elegant tree.

In Israel, at least we give respect to the prickly sabra cactus. Granted, it strongly discourages intimacy with its thin, sharp thorns that easily break at any attempt to disturb its peace or steal its fruit.  However, what self-respecting mother does not try to protect its young? Not only that, in a country of few trees, it is planted around fruit groves and protects them from thieves. Israel both eats its fruit and makes a liquor from it. In reflection of its dual nature, i.e. tough outside and soft inside, the term for  native-born Israelis is a sabras.

By contrast, all that glitters is not gold. The mint plant, the queen of Middle Eastern tea, is a true disaster in a garden.  Once planted in the ground, it is impossible to remove as its roots spread quickly and deeply. With constant attention, it is possible to control but awaits any opportunity to spread its roots and take over the garden. It clearly should be grown in planters away from bare soil or bought from the local green grocer.

Likewise, the blackberry is ubiquitous in the Pacific Northwest. It turns walks and bicycle trips in the countryside into fruit orgies. Pancakes with sun warmed blackberries are the perfect way to start the morning.  However, you don’t want to have bushes in your garden. They are thick and lined with sharp thorns that make those of the rose seem wimpy. As for getting rid of them after you made the mistake, they are as indestructible as mint but add razor sharp defense weapons.  They are not for the faint hearted.

Finally, grapevines seem so pastoral and innocent. They are beautiful and harmless in themselves, producing grapes, which everybody loves. So, as far as the eye can see, they are attractive plants.  However, their grapes contain sugar, which ferments at a certain time. Most bees are not aggressive in a normal situation.  However, as my parents learned the hard way, drunk bees behave like drunk human beings.  They become belligerent and a nuisance. The guilty party is not the bees but the grapes.  I strongly suggest leaving the grapes to the vineyards and protecting the sobriety of your local insects.  Everybody gains this way.

Thoughts and deeds are two separate realms.  I will continue to get rid of the dandelions and prefer roses. I refrain from planting a sabra cactus or allowing poison ivy to grow.  However, I will strive not to call them weeds and remember that everything has its place in the world, even if it not in my garden.