English & Semantics: Missing a meaning

You just cannot afford letting your write up be riddled with what would be considered spelling or grammatical or semantic errors.

Miss a letter, a word, a sound or even a dot and you run the risk of missing a meaning.

 It is widely understood that when you construct a sentence (in written form) you should always endeavour to cross your i’s and dot your t’s because an “undotted” i could easily become small letter l(el) just as an uncrossed “t” could become something close to an inverted j which of course looks a bit like an (el) without the slight curve (when written by hand), and which looks like a capital letter I (ai) when typed using word.

Your intended “pin” then turns into “pln.” It’s even worse when the words in question involve capital letter I (ai) and small letter l(el). Try typing the two on your computer and spot the difference. The basic difference is in the unpronounceable distance in height of the two letters.

Small letter l (el) is slightly longer than capital letter I (ai). This little difference is just all that is needed to destroy your grammaticality and semantics. Illiterate is the word that has a cluster of the letters we are toying with. You need to look closer to see it’s not all (els) or I(ais). The small letter i helps out a bit. You just cannot afford letting your write up be riddled with what would be considered spelling or grammatical or semantic errors.

Corruption of grammar or meaning

However, a simple corruption or omission of a word in a sentence does not always make your sentence ungrammatical or meaningless. The result could be a corruption of grammar or meaning. The expression “Thank God is Friday” is a person’s social media update. And it is neither ungrammatical nor empty, just that the meaning veers off the right path.

The maker of this statement carelessly produces a statement that means a person whose name is ThankGod also bears the name Friday. Now, I know your mind has supplied the one word that could make that statement of prayer and relief have its proper and intended meaning. What is the word that pops up in your brain? It’s what? Do you mean “it’s?” or “its?” “It’s?” Oh you are right!

The omitted word that’s causing the meaning havoc is “it’s.” So you now have “Thank God it’s Friday” which is an expression of gratitude, relief and laziness. It could mean “Oh finally Friday, the day I’ve been waiting for all week is here. I can now leave school or the office for home or relaxation Centre where I can indulge myself in many things.” It could also be a genuine expression of gratitude to God who has made seeing another Friday – the day that marks the beginning of rest – possible.

 

How much my shoes caused

The expression, “You don’t know how much my shoes caused” is beautifully grammatical and meaningful, only that you may begin to wonder if that’s what the speaker really intended. Yet what brings about the doubt and the difference is not even up to a full word; it’s the “aused” that follows the “c” in the final word of the sentence.

The words “cost” and “caused” are phonemically related but not the same. Pronouncing “caused” is more challenging because of the “zd” ending. Speakers often realize the “zd” as “st” in a fast or connected speech. To pronounce “caused,” properly, you’d have to go about it slowly. Meanwhile, it is easy to pronounce “cost” because the “st” ending is a combination of a sibilant /s/ and a plosive /t/.

The sentence above can cause readers to think of its possible meanings but listeners would just probably wrap it up to be “You don’t know how much my shoes cost.” This could happen because of the “how much” and the incorrect pronunciation of “caused.”

 

“How much” is also relatable to the idea of magnitude not necessarily related to money, hence, “You don’t know how much my shoes caused” could mean that my shoes generated some reactions in everyone who saw it at an outing. My shoes could have terrible colours; they could be too big or too old or ridiculously smelly. My shoes could also be so beautiful that everyone at the party could not but focus on it. My shoes made eyes to riot.

This is simply how much alteration, omission, mispronunciation, and misspelling can bring to your written and spoken words.

Written by Omidire Idowu.

Omidire Idowu Joshua is a skilled linguist, editor, proofreader and creative writer who works for several publication firms and online magazines. You may employ his services by reaching him through noblelifeliver@gmail.com

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