Language: Singing Land Back Into Being

* Episode title adapted from “Landmarks” by Robert Macfarlane. See ref. 19 below for quote. In episode 9, on ‘language’, we touch on: How language in humans is ever-evolving, with the power to generate new meaning, identities, and relationships, or, to undermine these, and to divide. How nature words are being lost in childhood and adopted by technology and finance. Whether language is a human-only phenomenon and how this may influence how we interact with the natural world. Examples of language and/or communication within and between species, including prairie dogs, trees, octopi, and swans. How language, poetry and stories can help us reimagine ourselves, the natural world, and our connection to it; and how this may help us tackle climate change and promote conservation If you'd like to explore this and other topics further, please join our private Facebook group, 'Unfurling Podcast'. ---- References: ~3: “Language”, Cambridge Dictionary: “a system of communication consisting of sounds, words, and grammar, or the system of communication used by people in a particular country or type of work”, “a system of communication by speaking, writing, or making signs in a way that can be understood, or any of the different systems of communication used in particular regions”, “in computer programming, a language is a system of writing instructions for computers.” ~5: “Language”, Online Etymology Dictionary: “speech, words, oratory; a tribe, people, nation" from Vulgar Latin linguaticum; "tongue," from Latin lingua, see here. ~6: History of the word ‘poet’ ~6: The ’pepeha’ is a Maori way to introduce yourself. Short film here. ~7: Ralph Waldo Emerson, as quoted in “Landmarks”: “Language is fossil poetry…” ~8: “The History of the Countryside” by Oliver Rackham: how ‘landscape is lost’ through the loss of beauty, the loss of freedom, the loss of wildlife and vegetation and the loss of meaning, as shared in “Landmarks”. ~9: Words concerning nature culled in the 2007 “Oxford Junior Dictionary” as shared in “Landmarks”. ~10: “The Lost Words” by Robert Macfarlane & Jackie Morris -- https://www.thelostwords.org/lostwordsbook/ ~14: “Speaking Nature’s Language”, The National Trust -- https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/press-release/speaking-natures-language (Research conducted by Dr Robbie Love, May-June 2019, from British language corpora) ~17: Definition and information about ‘natural resources’ here. ~19: “Landmarks” by Robert Macfarlane: “In both Lewis and Arizona, Language is used not only to navigate but also to charm the land. Words act as compass; place-speech serves literally to en-chant the land - to sing it back into being, and to sing one’s being back into it.” ~20: “'Dreich' is named most popular Scots word by Scottish Book Trust” -- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-50476008 ~23: Excerpt from “Four Quartets” by T.S.Eliot: “For last year's words belong to last year's language, And next year's words await another voice.” ~25: Excerpt from “There is a Word” by Emily Dickinson: “There is a word, Which bears a sword, can pierce an armed man…” ~25: Nonviolent Communication, see here. ~26: “Can Prairie Dogs Talk?”, The New York Times Magazine -- https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/12/magazine/can-prairie-dogs-talk.html ~30: “Exploring How and Why Trees ‘Talk’ to Each Other”, Yale Environment 360, here. ~31: “My Octopus Teacher” on Netflix. ~33: “Geoffrey Matthews Obituary”, The Telegraph -- https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/science-obituaries/9838073/Geoffrey-Matthews.html ~34: Bushmen in Southern Africa -- https://www.survivalinternational.org/tribes/bushmen ~35: “Wild Signs and Star Paths” by Tristen Gooley ~39: “Are We Losing Nature Language?”, The National Trust -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbCCR4kClIc&feature=emb_logo ~40: Audrey Hepburn: “For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.