SDLAP 105 Journal #1

[Rafy Luqa]

The readings dealt with language in an interesting way. The chapter "How the brain handles languages" was especially interesting to me since I've studied that topic from a psychological point of view. While it is important for us to learn the localization of cognitive functions in the brain, it is also important to think of the brain as a single unit that is important to all cognitive functions. This is important because the complexity of the brain exceeds our understanding and it seems that all different parts of the brain work together to some degree in order for us to comprehend a language. Two examples the writer used are pronuciation of letters vs. words and tongue slips. They certainly indicate that different areas of the brain are functioning together to help us comprehend, pronounce, and produce the correct words.The chapters "How we mean" and "How we analyze meaning" seemed to me very general because they only put special terms to what we already know. However, I learnd from it that I should focus on the colloquial meaning of terms and sentences instead of focusing on a single "meaning" for each word. From personal experience, I never thought of "Iraqi Arabic" literal translations until I was teaching my friends different sentences when I realized that if I translate it literally it would not mean anything! For example, if I try to say I will stop in "Iraqi Arabic" it would be "I will walk stop", which makes no sense. We also say "what's your color?" for "how are you doing?"!I will focus on the meaning of sentences while I learn Hebrew instead of focusing on literal meanings of words since each word can have a variety of meanings. I will also try to learn Hebrew without associating it with what I already know in Arabic or English because that might create mysteries that I am not yet ready for.