I have before said to myself, “The definition of a word is an average of all its contexts, weighted by usage frequency.” It has been about a year since I first made this proclamation and I have yet to find reason to retract it.
Multiple definitions arise when averages float around various peaks. The evolution of language can be attributed to changes in the use of words. An author creates a new word through his influence by inserting it into a context. It is from observation that one realizes the dictionary is only a field guide to the organisms which are words, constantly adapting themselves to specific contexts and changing in character over time.
A context is a created by a combination of words. Just as in an ecosystem, each individual word works with the others to create the whole, and each word finds itself a niche, a place to fit in. As most of the words used in English today are already well adapted to certain contexts, a writer searches for the best fit. The writer must evaluate the value of its candidates, a task which may either involve scrutinizing the pages of a thesaurus or completing a cursory scan of a few preset options.
It is when a niche is left unfilled that a writer goes in search of a perfect word, but when all in unsatisfactory, a word may be adapted to fit into the context required of it. However, if a word is too far from fit for a context, it breaks the sentence by changing its meaning. A daring author, though, may choose to simply create a new word, fresh in its first context with a perfectly molded definition for its initial niche. All who speak or write, thus, influence a language through their word choices.
And it is such that diction–or word choice–is considered one of the most important components of writing. It is such that in everyday life, people might pause to recall that perfect word. Words work together amongst each other to fit, and meaning is created. Diction is an ongoing vote for both the future of language and the message of a moment’s writing.
This entry was posted on Thursday, August 27th, 2009 at 9:18 pm and is filed under Reflections. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.