1. Elements of language
Any language that we come in contact with follows certain rules. This applies to Spanish, English or any computer language. Naturally the fewer rules there are, the easier the language. As the number of rules increase, so does the difficulty. Unfortunately there may be no choice but to have a preponderance of rules, such as the language of a computer system. However, I shall get into that later.
For now, let us talk about the language of English, although you will soon realize that what applies here will be the same for any language we consider. We have to start with certain basic symbols, specifically the letters of the alphabet that apply to this language. In our case they’re the letters a through z. But we also need to mention the capital letters, A through Z as well as certain punctuation, such as the comma, period, question mark and a few other symbols. I think you get the idea. Our character set will be around 75 different symbols. As we progress we shall be introduced to more and more of them.
These elements or basic symbols will be put together to form words. Thus the letters “t”, “h” and “e” form the word, “the.” Some letters put together may not form a valid word, such as “q”, “j”, “x” and “h,” no matter what order we put them in. You might reply that you went to school with a guy from Russia whose name was exactly those letters in that same order, but that doesn’t count. Some combinations will give us words while others may not. There could come a day when the four letters we mentioned form a valid word, since new words come into existence from time to time in the English language.
A few examples of words that feature symbols other than our usual letters of the alphabet are “son-in-law” and “o’clock,” and just recently one of my favorites, “24/7.” Thus we need the hyphen, apostrophe and the slash, since some words use these characters. We will run into situations where other symbols will be used, which will be discussed when needed.
You might ask how it is determined whether a combination of letters is a valid word. This is decided by predefined rules of the language. By referring to an English dictionary, you can see whether you have a word. If you care to read an appropriate book, check out The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester. It’s a tale of murder, insanity as well as the making of the Oxford Dictionary.
As you can imagine, there are various editions of the dictionary as well as those produced by different companies. This will mean that one dictionary might indicate that one combination of letters is a word while another may not have it listed. This difference along with the additions and deletions of words to the dictionary with each passing day adds to the complexity of the language, which we will not be burdened with.
To temporarily bypass this dilemma, we shall use one dictionary only and thus there will be a final say on whether or not a certain combination of symbols is a word. When taking a group of words together, we next form what is referred to as a sentence. Not all combinations of letters form valid words, and similarly not all combinations of words form valid sentences. Again the determination is based on certain rules, which can be found in various books on the subject.
As you can tell there are many rules. That may be why English is such a difficult language. The rules don’t end here, as now sentences will be put together to form paragraphs. Not all combinations of sentences will form meaningful or valid paragraphs and once more we need to follow guidelines, which have been set up in defining the language. But assuming we have some valid paragraphs, these put together will make up what is referred to as a chapter. Obviously there are more rules in determining this composition, just as before.
Now taking a group of related and meaningful chapters, the combination will result in a novel or work of nonfiction. We now have what is referred to as a book and I shouldn’t have to remind you of the necessity of following certain rules in order to achieve a meaningful book. The last grouping will give us our library, that is, putting a set of books together gives us this structure. Assuming all our books pass the test of “validity,” at this point we have no special rules as to what can go into our library.
Some might say that I missed a few groupings such as putting words together to form a phrase. What about bunching three novels together for a trilogy or a set of works together to get a volume? Why not put all the psychology books in one department and young adult fiction in another? You would have a very valid point but I am just trying to outline the main tenets of a language. As I said earlier, all languages will follow a similar set of rules, whether they are a foreign language or a computer language.
Just because there are rules for forming valid words and sentences and the like doesn’t mean that everyone conforms to them. I have worked with many people who make up words. I’m sure you have too. These individuals use so-called “words” and “sentences” as though they were as common as all those that are valid. This does make for frustration and confusion and lack of understanding. However, it does gives me plenty of material for my books. If you’ve read any of them, you’re aware that I have a great deal of fun making up words. Someone has to do it. My 2005 book, for seeing eye dogs only and its two sequels deal with missing intelligence as well as oxymorons, acronyms, pleonasms, words and near words. There’s another combination that I just heard about recently, but it’s not included here because I can’t spell it.
Corporate America has its own set of words and phrases, but good luck finding documentation anywhere. This makes it extremely difficult to figure out exactly what they mean. If you are part of the business world as I had been for over twenty-five years, mostly as a consultant, you may find it difficult in determining what people are talking about. If you are outside the environment and you try to understand what is being said, it’s even worse. Perhaps that’s why big business has so many problems.
If a language has no rules, you will never be able to use it or understand it. Too many rules mean that there will be rebellion and once again you may as well have no rules. Obviously there have to be some rules but there is a limit. You can’t have too few precepts nor too many. That middle ground will result in a successful language that meets the needs of a group of people. This applies to everyday communication as well as the languages of computers.