The Thrill is Gone: Arabic, Italian, and Blissful Ignorance Posted by Malachi Rempen on May 12, 2014 in Archived Posts
Certain languages have a charm or magic about them which only exists so long as you have no idea what they’re talking about.
I personally find Arabic to be the most aesthetically pleasing written script. There are a number of beautiful Asian alphabets, including ornate Hindi, swirling Burmese, and precise Chinese. But to me, written Arabic exudes an ancient grandeur that surpasses all others. I’ve spent hours in museums ogling mind-bogglingly lavish Qur’an pages like this one. The calligraphy seems to seep out from the decorative patterns on the border, stretching out across the lines like inky raindrops running down a window pane. But anyone can be impressed by ancient texts – while living in Morocco I was just as easily awed by cereal boxes, maps, and, as you can see from the comic above, stop signs.
Of course, I can’t read a word of Arabic.
And I think this is key. Anyone with even a passable knowledge of written Arabic will be scoffing heartily at this point. “Puh! Baw! Scoff! How patronizing! Typical Western ethnocentrism, finding beauty in ‘oriental’ cultural objects through ignorance. If you love it so much, why not go tattoo misspelled words on yourself? It’s not like it matters!” Fair enough. I agree that it’s my lack of knowledge which fuels my appreciation (side note: did you know Chinese students have been getting nonsensical English words tattooed on them, because English letters are “just more special“?). But I’m not being patronizing, I speak from experience. I don’t want to learn how to read Arabic, because I know what will happen if I do. It’s already happened to me before with Italian.
I personally find Italian to be the most aesthetically pleasing spoken language. Or I did, four years ago, before I met the Italian girl who would become my wife (all right, I might be biased). Yes, French has a certain je ne sais quoi, and Korean bubbles with enthusiasm, but hearing an Italian on a tirade sounds like the rhythmic, cyclic pitter-patter of rain drumming on the roof (forgive me, it’s a rainy day. I’m full of rain metaphors). I recall one time when we were first dating, back when I didn’t speak a word of Italian, I had my then-girlfriend read aloud from the publisher’s copyright page of her university textbook. You could have read tax law to me, and it would have sung me to sleep.
Until I learned how to actually speak Italian, that is.
And therein lies the rub, my friends. Now that my Italian is conversational, while I can still appreciate a good Italian tirade, I no longer hear one long, lovely string of unbroken music. I hear words! I hear verbs and adjectives and conjugations and prepositions. My brain works double time to convert those rhythmic raindrops into communicative messages. The language is no longer a passive experience washing over me, it’s now a practical tool, it’s an implement, used to accomplish a specific task, and unfortunately that has blunted the beauty. It’s like when you love a certain song, and then you listen, really listen to the words for the first time, and you realize how stupid they are. Suddenly the song loses its magic.
This is why part of me doesn’t want to learn how to read Arabic. I would love to learn to speak Arabic – I think if you can speak English, French, Spanish, Arabic, and Mandarin, you could travel just about anywhere in the world and get by. But if I learned how to read the Arabic written language, the magic would vanish. Spidering webs of ink would become mere words, instructions or lists or directions.
A stop sign would be just a stop sign. Isn’t that sad?
“Of course not,” you say, “don’t be silly.” And you’re right. We’re here to learn languages, after all! Our appreciation for their beauty got us into it, and one day, we too will speak Italian with the bouncing flourishes of a native speaker! We too will write Arabic with the delicate swirls of a native hand! We will join the players up on stage, not satisfied to simply sit clapping in the audience! Some day, our skills will be so great that we will encourage some other person to pick up a language book and crack the code, no matter how pretty it may look or sound. Go now, do what every artist has always done upon being inspired by a master’s work: go out and inspire someone else!
And how about you? What languages do you find the prettiest? How can we regain some of that magic? Are stop signs sad, or am I off my rocker?
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About the Author: Malachi Rempen
Malachi Rempen is an American filmmaker, author, photographer, and cartoonist. Born in Switzerland, raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, he fled Los Angeles after film school and expatted it in France, Morocco, Italy, and now Berlin, Germany, where he lives with his Italian wife and German cat. "Itchy Feet" is his weekly cartoon chronicle of travel, language learning, and life as an expat.
Comments:
Melanie Murrish:
I too could listen to Italian being spoken all day, and it doesn’t matter if it’s at the speed of a rocket or slow and laborious (doesn’t happen very often!). So now I’m thinking maybe I shouldn’t learn it. :/
Malachi Rempen:
@Melanie Murrish Oh, great! So I’ve been a real positive influence! ^_^
Seriously though, when YOU get to the point where you can speak that lovely tongue, it’s all worth it.
Melanie Murrish:
@Malachi Rempen LOL!
Maegen Fariss:
@Melanie Murrish learn German instead 😀 that way it’ll go from monstrous dark sounds to words! 😉
Foo:
@Maegen Fariss I second this. After finishing my German course in uni, I found a new appreciation for the written language and the sound of it doesn’t sound as harsh as I originally perceived it to be.
Gijsbert:
Every Mongolian story sounds like it is wisdom from the dawn of man. If it is written in it old alphabet, it will have the same effect. All that I can do with that language is bragain with a taxidriver about his price…
Hanna:
German and swedish (which i understand, but still love the sound of), and basically any language i dont know, just bevause it fascinates me that people speak them so fluently! 😀
juu:
I Can totally relate. I’ve got an advanced level of mandarin now, and this beautiful written language is not total art anymore because it now makes sense. I’ve started learning languages in middle school and have had this same feeling you’re describing ever since.
Jerry Nelson:
I still have fond memories of my grandfather speaking with his Småländsk accent, such a beautiful sing-song sound! Even after learning to speak Swedish, I still find a southern accent beautiful; by the way, I cannot even come close to replicating the accent.
Loren Williams:
Arabic script is beautiful, whether or not you can read it. Centuries of classic Arabic calligraphy attest to this.
Diego Amicabile:
When you get good at the language, I think you will find it beautiful again.
You will then also be able to appreciate the literature, the music and the culture.
Katie:
I started learning Arabic a few years ago– the script is still beautiful and mesmerizing. Part of this is because written Arabic is so often used in art and has so many different calligraphic/stylized forms that I have never seen in any other language. Sometimes, although I am rather familiar with the alphabet, I can’t even make words/order out of the images.
Examples of the calligraphy:
http://ministryoftype.co.uk/images/files/arabic-calligraphy-zoo-anthro.png
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4G2llSLjEwM/T2iVD8RNm1I/AAAAAAAAAPs/VAH4F2KvAD8/s1600/calligraphy+cat.jpg
http://arabiangazette.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/lion-arabic-calligraphy.jpg
Examples of American-familiar brands with very stylized Arabic letters:
http://thesamerainbowsend.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/heres-your-sign-7.jpg
http://thesamerainbowsend.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/heres-your-sign-9.jpg
http://thesamerainbowsend.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/heres-your-sign-11.jpg
Malachi Rempen:
@Katie Amazing. So can you read the cat / lion ones?
Apolide:
“The media are ruining English”; “Some languages are harder than others”; “Children can’t speak or write properly anymore.” Such pieces of “cultural wisdom” are often expressed in newspapers and on radio and television. Rarely is there a response from experts in the fields of language and language development. In this book Laurie Bauer and Peter Trudgill have invited nineteen respected linguists from all over the world to address these “language myths”–showing that they vary from the misconceived to the downright wrong. With essays ranging from “Women Talk Too Much” and “In the Appalachians They Speak Like Shakespeare” to “Italian Is Beautiful, German Is Ugly” and “They Speak Really Bad English Down South and in New York City,” Language Myths is a collection that is wide-ranging, entertaining, and authoritative.”
Language Myths. Laurie Bauer. Penguin Books. 1999.
Kristine Peterson (Language translator):
Hey Malachi,
Il tuo post è interessante.
I’m Aerican and I think Italian sounds marvelous. I’ve been learning Italian and I can understand your point because it’s no longer a mish mash of sounds. Italian is still a lovely language I feel.
Mike Jones:
Have you visited any of the local Esperanto clubs during your travels?
Malachi Rempen:
@Mike Jones I haven’t! I figure I’m disqualified since I don’t speak Esperanto…
Sebastian Moore:
I always found Finnish a beautiful language. I understand what you mean about Italian though. Since learning Italian and living in Italy for a period of time myself as an exchange student, the beauty of the language that seems to come from passively listening to it, is gone. Don’t get me wrong, I still find it lovely to have a conversation in, but nevertheless its beauty on at least one level is gone.
Malachi Rempen:
@Sebastian Moore Luckily there are lots of beautiful languages out there..!
Eugene:
I used to like so many English songs because of the energy and rhythm, but since I got what they’re about I was mostly disapointed. E.g. some of songs are suprizingly full of really bad language. Hopefully, there are so many songs on the internet in languages I will never learn. Even if I would want to learn one more language, I really doubt it would be Grenlandic, so the beauty will not be spoiled for me 🙂