The Relationship Between Sound and Sense

A word has three main parts: the written representation of the word, the spoken representation of the word, and the meaning.

First we may ask, 'What is the relationship between the written word and the meaning?' In some languages, the relationship is clear. For example, in a pictographic writing system, the written word is meant to illustrate its meaning. This does not mean that anyone can automatically read the language without any training. With complex thought comes the need to write about abstract concepts. You and I may understand that this <3 is a heart and can be used to mean 'love.' But someone from outside our culture might not read '<3' as 'love.' A native reader of a pictographic language, upon encountering a word he or she has never seen before, may be able to figure out what it means based on the way other symbols work and knowledge of the culture. However, he or she will not know how the word is pronounced.

What about languages that use an alphabet? In these languages symbols represent sounds, rather than meanings. A finite number of symbols can be arranged an infinite number of ways to transcribe the sounds of spoken words. Thus, what ends up on the page is almost entirely divorced from the meaning. Take a look at the word 'cat.' It in no way resembles the cute furry animal. A reader of this type of language, upon encountering a word he or she has never seen before, knows how the word is pronounced, but does not automatically know what it means.

Now let us consider the connection between sound and sense. In some instances the connection is clear. This is the case with onomatopoetic words. If you say 'woof,' what you mean is 'woof.' The sound is the sense. There is evidence of this in the fact that although different languages have slightly different words for animal noises, it is not difficult to figure out what animal is being imitated when you come across a variation you have not heard before. If you can hear a word and deduce its meaning from its sound alone, then there is a strong connection between sound and sense.

But aside from onomatopoeia, is there a connection? Because the spoken word developed from a need to communicate, I believe there must have been a more obvious connection once. Primitive man did not randomly make up sounds and assign them to meanings. There was a reason the words he said meant what they meant. Our present day languages have their roots in this meaning-rich communication and perhaps those underlying connections are still hidden in there somewhere.

Let us step away from the literal for a moment, however. Speech can mean more than the sum of its parts. In a world with Twitter and text messages, talking is not obsolete. Could it be that when we take the time to speak to one another, we are saying something?

I am a storyteller and a librarian. I have allegiances to both the spoken and written word. Speaking could never replace writing. Writing allows for complex and creative thought that is not possible without an external reservoir ('external' being, outside the brain), whether that be a piece of paper or a computer. On the other hand, I do not believe writing can ever truly replace speaking. The reason for this is the connection between sound and sense; both the fact that some words just mean more spoken aloud, and the fact that the act of speaking can be more meaningful than the act of writing.

Through this blog I hope to justify some of the ideas I have put forth in this introduction by writing about my experiences with sound and sense. And, yes, I do recognize the irony of defending the spoken word in a written medium.