ARTICLE REFLECTION 2 - THE MEANINGS OF A WORD

     The article " The Meanings of a Word" tells about the effectiveness and superiority of spoken language over the written form. The writer, Gloria Naylor, argues that the words are believed to be harmless; thus, they have the true power. As a person who is interested in language and use of it in daily life, I have been drawn by the topic easily. The other reason why I wanted to write a reflection on this article is that in our linguistics courses, we have learned about sociolinguistics which is related to language and society interaction, and I wanted to learn more and see examples about it. I liked reading the article very much because true stories and examples rendered the article more interesting and fun.The writer, mainly, goes around the word "nigger" and explains its changing meaning according to time, place and person. In the article, the meaning of the word changes mostly according to people who use the word. I agree with the writer that it is possible to observe variating meanings and usages of a single word on different occasions. However, I think that many factors should be taken into consideration while calculating the meaning of the word.

     There 3 important variants which affect the meaning. The first one is the cultural background of the individuals who are involved in the conversation. For example, people who live in rural areas use the word "yosma" in order to refer to the "beautiful and graceful women" whereas in urban areas this word is used to define the "scarlet women" or the "jezebel" in Turkish language. It is obvious that there is a wide gap between the 2 meanings.
     The second factor that affects the meaning is the languages' being similar. In other words, if one language has resemblance to another such as Turkish and Azerbaijani, one word could be used to refer to different objects and characteristics. For instance, the word "pezevenk" is used to define a "pimp" in Turkish while it is used to refer to the people who are "famous and glorious" in Azerbaijani. This divergence in meaning might result in funny and critical events at times. To exemplify, one of the Azeri presidents addressed to Süleyman Demirel as "Çok pezevenk bir insansınız." which means "You are a real pimp." in English. However, the Azeri president, in fact, wanted to say " You are a majestic person." to Demirel.
     The last element which affects the meaning is the context. In our daily lives, we are involved in 2 different types of conversations . These are formal and informal speeches. While we use the dictionary meanings in formal conversations, we use the words depending on how our culture canalizes the conversation in informal speeches. To illustrate, the word "leyla" is used -in Turkish- only as a proper female name in formal occasions whereas it can be used to refer to the drunken people no matter what the gender is in informal occasions. Another example is that if we use the word "stupid" in a friendly atmosphere, it will, most probably, not cause any dispute between the people. However, if we call someone "stupid" in a serious occasion or inappropriate environment, it is highly likely that there will be a quarrel between the two people.
     To sum up, I agree with the writer on the arguement that the words do not have stable meanings, but the reasons of this change could be made more elaborate and distinct. Because the people change, the words, their references and senses are doomed to change.