i am always thrilled by languages, either written or spoken. a single word, a full sentence or a paragraph has a meaning of its own yet complement each other in a way, i feel, a human being connects to his family to his community.
to think about it, i had a brief encounter with Hebrew years ago, upon meeting an Israel traveller in Hanoi. i don't remember anything except for shalom - which means both peace and hello and goodbye. i love the way Hebrew resonates, how the "kh" skillfully ends certain words and the meditative effect this language has on me.
"Aleph" is letter A. a-le-ph. that is how much attention you would pay on a single foremost character in Hebrew alphabet. and if you happen to hear a conversation, or better yet, a song - it is in fact as this tittle suggests - endless song of happiness:
but at the same time my eyes lie in Arabic words, its tail and oozing curves and chisels so carefully swifted over paper. lie in Arabic not just words but typography, art and deep heritage i earn to absorb. its rhythmic lines i have tried to trace but failed and i will continue to try and fail as many time it takes to comprehend even a small fraction.
and one cannot think of Arabic without its link to Islamic art. graphic design and arabic and typography toy altogether just like strawberry and whipped cream and melted chocolate to me.. yum.
about Malay and Bahasa Indonesia, i have no interest prior to my stay in Singapore. contrary to a Singapore version of Mandarin i hear everyday, Malay seems more relaxing and close to the ears. the Malay ladies i have met are calm and caring in manner (or at least they always give me the impression so) and to top up, i have two Malay crush. there are minor details you won't count as prove or reason but they do show signs: some similarity between Malay and my mother tongue, to be able to pronounce Malay with little trouble, repeating MRT announcement in my head when it comes to Malay part... (four languages are always on: English, Chinese, Malay, Tamil). all lead up to my decision of learning Malay rather than Mandarin while I am still here. (i do make an effort to learn how to order food in Chinese though)
Bahasa Indonesia and Malay shares a lot in common that i would learn one and somewhat be able to communicate with those who speak the others. it is just a matter of choice - to live in Singapore or Bali? haha, just kidding. but yes, if you know Malay chances are you can speak to a whole lotta people in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia.
it is fun to see links between the languages of my affection: Malay and Arabic shares the same Islamic values at their cores. Arabic and Hebrew origins in Middle-Eastern therefore seems like sister languages - i would say like how Korean and Japanese and Chinese are to Westerners. I love how Spanish people pronounce "ch" in "mucho" which is close to the way the Jews say "Sh" in "Shalom". Vietnamese is infused with French words and pronunciation and I am listening to a song about Paris sung in Hebrew.
languages is but a bowl of fresh red luscious strawberries to me.
oh but of course, mother tongue is an exception. it is water. Tiếng Việt là nước.
And I have decided to take a Malay course in a few months' time. Sounds reasonable?
with a highly biased exception of Chinese and its dialects, i find joy in almost any other language, simply by hearing the rather scattered conversation played in my ears. of course every language is beautiful, yet there are certain ones that flow better in you; just like how one would prefer strawberries to oranges while some might be allergic to them. while my all-time favourite strawberries are French and Spanish, i have a growing favor for two taste-dilemmas: Hebrew/Arabic and Bahasa Melayu/Indonesia.
to think about it, i had a brief encounter with Hebrew years ago, upon meeting an Israel traveller in Hanoi. i don't remember anything except for shalom - which means both peace and hello and goodbye. i love the way Hebrew resonates, how the "kh" skillfully ends certain words and the meditative effect this language has on me.
"Aleph" is letter A. a-le-ph. that is how much attention you would pay on a single foremost character in Hebrew alphabet. and if you happen to hear a conversation, or better yet, a song - it is in fact as this tittle suggests - endless song of happiness:
but at the same time my eyes lie in Arabic words, its tail and oozing curves and chisels so carefully swifted over paper. lie in Arabic not just words but typography, art and deep heritage i earn to absorb. its rhythmic lines i have tried to trace but failed and i will continue to try and fail as many time it takes to comprehend even a small fraction.
and one cannot think of Arabic without its link to Islamic art. graphic design and arabic and typography toy altogether just like strawberry and whipped cream and melted chocolate to me.. yum.
about Malay and Bahasa Indonesia, i have no interest prior to my stay in Singapore. contrary to a Singapore version of Mandarin i hear everyday, Malay seems more relaxing and close to the ears. the Malay ladies i have met are calm and caring in manner (or at least they always give me the impression so) and to top up, i have two Malay crush. there are minor details you won't count as prove or reason but they do show signs: some similarity between Malay and my mother tongue, to be able to pronounce Malay with little trouble, repeating MRT announcement in my head when it comes to Malay part... (four languages are always on: English, Chinese, Malay, Tamil). all lead up to my decision of learning Malay rather than Mandarin while I am still here. (i do make an effort to learn how to order food in Chinese though)
Bahasa Indonesia and Malay shares a lot in common that i would learn one and somewhat be able to communicate with those who speak the others. it is just a matter of choice - to live in Singapore or Bali? haha, just kidding. but yes, if you know Malay chances are you can speak to a whole lotta people in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, Indonesia.
it is fun to see links between the languages of my affection: Malay and Arabic shares the same Islamic values at their cores. Arabic and Hebrew origins in Middle-Eastern therefore seems like sister languages - i would say like how Korean and Japanese and Chinese are to Westerners. I love how Spanish people pronounce "ch" in "mucho" which is close to the way the Jews say "Sh" in "Shalom". Vietnamese is infused with French words and pronunciation and I am listening to a song about Paris sung in Hebrew.
languages is but a bowl of fresh red luscious strawberries to me.
oh but of course, mother tongue is an exception. it is water. Tiếng Việt là nước.
And I have decided to take a Malay course in a few months' time. Sounds reasonable?
You know, The Alchemist's author Paulo Coelho has a book titled "Aleph" (one of his newest works I think) :D.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a very special word. It's no random that Natalie Portman's son named Aleph.
ReplyDeleteWill look out for the book! I've only read one of his books so far :p