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DevinHendricks
ProfessorSanders
29November2015
Words
Fictionisoneofthefewexperienceswherelonelinesscanbebothconfrontedand
relieved(DavidWallace).Words:utterancesfromonesmouth,storiesonpaper,vocalsheard
inmusic,howdotheyaffectonesemotions?DavidWallacefeltasthoughwordsonapage,
storiescreatedoutofmerevocabularyterms,couldcombatthefeelingofloneliness.Buthow
arewordsconnectedtothefeelingspeopleattachtothem?Insemioticsonemightresearchsigns
andsignifiers,andstudyhowmeaningiscreated,butnotwhatthemeaning

is.Connotations
anddenotationsdonotsufficeforthefullfeelingandemotionsbehindwords,revealingthat,at
somelevel,theattachmentbetweenwordsandemotionisanintimateandpersonalrelationship.
Forlanguagetobeaspowerfulasitis,theremustbeadeeperconnectionbetweenman
andwordthanameredefinition.Connotationisdefinedastheassociatedorsecondary
meaningofawordorexpressioninadditiontoitsexplicitorprimarymeaning(dictionary.com).
Thisacknowledgesthatawordisnotassimpleasitsmostbasicdefinition,butdoesthisimply
thataword'sconnotationisthesameforeveryone?T.S.Eliotdebatedageneralizationof
meaning:his"wecansee"assumesthatIwilllookatthesimileandsceneashedoes,through
hiswords,whenIprefermyown(T.S.Eliot).Bywantingtolookatsomethingthroughhis
ownchoiceofwordsheissupportingthatpeoplefeeldifferentthingsaboutdifferentwords.
Thiswouldresolvewhypoetryisabletomeandifferentthingstothemanydifferentreaders,to
touchpeopledeeperthanadictionaryevercould.

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Contextplaysabigroleforwordmeaning.Whensomeoneistalkingabouttheircar
featuresandtheysayithasdualclimatecontrol,onewouldtypicallynotpictureafight
betweentwoclimates.Thatthoughtwouldbeoutofcontext.Wheninvestigatingtheconnection
betweenthoughtandwords:context,situation,andcultureshouldbetakenintoconsideration.A
currentconfusionisovertheslanguseofthewordbomb.Oftenpeoplewillusetheword
bombtodescribesomethingthatispositiveorcool.Othertimesbombisusedtoreference
failingatestordoingbadly.Thiswouldnotimplythatpeoplehaveadifferentemotional
relationshiptothewordbomb(whichtheymay)butinsteadthatitisdependentonthesituation
andaudience.
Therelationshipbetweenthoughtandlanguageisintimatelyintertwined.Ren
Descartes,afrenchphilosopher,believedthatthoughtexistsindependentlyoflanguage,and
thatlanguagemerelyexpressesmansideas(Coski2006).Thereforeitisasifone'sthoughts
arewhatispersonalandthelanguageoneusestoexpresssaidthoughtsissharedamongstone's
ownculture.Thiswouldhelpfillthegapastowhyemotionsfeltaboutwordsarenotuniversal,
thewordsareinrelationtopersonalthoughts.Descartesalsosaidthatexceptourownthoughts,
thereisnothingabsolutelyinourpower(Descartes1637).Thisimpliesthathowoneexpresses
saidthoughtsisnotevenabsolutelyinonespower.Thereisalimitedvocabularytochosefrom
toexpressthesethoughtsandfeelingsandhowsomeoneelseinterpretsthosewordsissubjective,
andthereforeoneisatalossofpower.Thewordsonechooses,basedontheemotionsonefeels,
leavesonecompletelyvulnerable.Languageiscompletelydependantonthought,butthought
wouldnotbesoeasilyexpressedwithoutwords,andwordswouldnotbenecessarywithout
thought:atrickyandintimaterelationship.

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Havingaconversationwhereotherscanunderstandtheemotionsoneistryingtoconvey
isoneofthemostintrinsicallyvaluablethingsinlife.DavidFosterWallacebelievedthathewas
notunderstood.Hereferredtohiswritingasbeingnotverygoodandcomparedittothewriting
ofafourteenyearold(Max2009).InhislastNovel,ThePaleKing,hewroteHowoddIcan
haveallthisinsidemeandtoyouitsjustwords(Wallace2011).Thisbook,however,was
publishedafterhistragicdeath.Wallacehunghimselffromtheporchofhiswifeandhishome
inSeptemberof2009.Inashortstoryhedescribeddepressionasemotionalisolation(Wallace
1999).Thisfeelingofisolationduetoaninabilitytocommunicateissomethingfeltbymore
thanjustthosesufferingwithclinicaldepression.
Astudyofhearingimpairedindividualsfoundthatthosewhoarehardofhearingare
morelikelytosufferfromdepression.Thestudyconsistedof18,000adultsandfoundthat5%
ofpeoplewithexcellenthearingweredepressedwhereas11.4%ofthosewithahearing
imparimentexperienceddepression(http://www.hearit.org/hearinglossmayleaddepression).
Themostobviousobservationisthatthelackofcommunicationcausesasenseofisolation
leadingtodepression.JamesFirman,theCEOoftheNationalCouncilonAgeing,statedthat
Peoplewithhearingloss,especiallythosewhodontusehearingaids,finditmoredifficultto
communicatewithotherpeople(Firman2014).Althoughhavingtheabilitytohearwelland
communicateisnotalwaysenoughtoenddepression,incasessuchasWallaces,itisastepin
therightdirection.
Toendonapositivenote,itisabeliefthatthereasonsomepeoplecommunicate,and
coexist,morewellthanothersisduetohavingsharedemotionaltiestolanguage.InD.H.
Lawrences,LadyChatterleysLover,theomniscientnarratorproclaims:Itwasthetalkthat

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matteredsupremely:theimpassionedinterchangeoftalk.Lovewasonlyaminor
accompaniment(Lawrence1959).Thehighpraiseoftheinterchangeofwordsisincomplete
compliancewiththisbelief.Whatislovewithoutagoodargumentorpassionateconversation
hereandthere?Howonedevelopsonesownmeaningstowords,andrelationshipwith
languageisstillamystery,butthroughthisresearchonemayfindthatatleastthereareother
peopleouttherethatalsoholdlanguagedeartoheart.Howonepicksonespersonalvocabulary
iscertainlyconnectedtohowonethinksasawhole,symbiosis.Iguesstheonlyadvicetogive
onthematterwouldbetochooseyourwordswisely.

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WorksCited
Ackerley,Chris."The'complicitwe':aresponsetoEdwardLobb."Connotations24.2(2014):
231+.LiteratureResourceCenter.Web.29Nov.2015.
Coski,Christopher.EmotionandPoetryinCondillac'sTheoryofLanguageandMind.The
FrenchReview80.1(2006):157170.Web.29Nov.2015.
Descartes,Ren.Meditations.NewYork:LiberalArts,1951.Print
Lawrence,D.H.,MarkSchorer,andArchibaldMacLeish.LadyChatterley'sLover.3rded.New
York:Grove,1959.Print.
Max,D.T."TheUnfinishedTheNewYorker."TheNewYorker.CondNast,9Mar.2009.
Web.30Nov.2015.
"HearingLossMayLeadtoDepression."Hearit.org.JAMAOtolaryngology,28Aug.2014.
Web.30Nov.2015.