Chigau, yo

I brought up the "concerning" linguistic issue in class (and derailed the discussion that was happening--people were panicking about the test, and since I rarely panic about tests, it never occurred to me I was causing harm until people got frantic.  I still feel bad about that).  I realized something important.

People have a violent reaction to the word "error."  I know, I can be naive.  I tried to explain my thought processes on how the word usage of "concerning" changed.  I tried to use words that weren't loaded, but I failed.

Error equals wrong, for a lot of people.  For me, it has a subtler meaning, maybe because I've studied science.  An error can produce marvelous things, especially in genetic code.  Twelve generations ago some cells in one of my ancestors had an error--known in science as a mutation--after a certain number of divisions in the zygote and forgot how to make a certain protein.  It's an error, but it produced what we call our genetic heirloom in my family: the white marks that appear in the forelock, insides of elbows, backs of knees and a small patch on the abdomen.  (I only got three of these, a little tummy mark, a tiny spot on the back of my left knee and the white patch you see in my hair.)

Now this is definitely an error, because in the standard operating manual of a human cell, the ability to make or turn on or off a specific protein is standard.  Deviation is an error.  And yet this is not something that turned out to be wrong.  It turned out to be something beautiful (and useless, and bothersome in the sun) and valued.

I wish we had a word for this like they have in Japanese.  The word "chigau" is often used for "that's wrong."  But what it also means is, "that's different."  (Let's not get into the disturbing idea that "different" thus equals "wrong" in Japanese society.  Let's give them the benefit of the doubt, okay?)  When you put forth an idea, asking if the party is happening on Friday at 6, your friend replies, "Chigau, yo.  Haku-ji desu."  He's saying, "No, it's different.  It's at 8."

Lots of language changes from errors.  In linguistics class, we learned that many African American speakers are closer to historically spoken correct English than the rest of us, because the way they say "ask," "aks" (sounds like "axe"), is how the word was said and spelled, until someone or several someones made an error and spelled it the way we spell it now.  Our standard speech as we know it now is based on an error. 

And you'll tell me, then, stop saying it's an error.  Say it's a change.  It is a change.  But it was also an error that made the change.  And there is nothing bad about that.  At all.  The judgment is not coming from me.  I use the word "error," but I hope by now you can see what I mean by it.  The judgment is in the reaction to the word "error."  People hate to be told they're bad, even when they aren't being told they're bad.  There's no judgment in my use of the word "error."  I explained in my blog entry last time that the change creates a valid use of the word; it just sounds wrong to my ears.  My opinion about something is not the final word on something, but I am entitled to it.  "Concerning" in that usage still doesn't sound right to me, and I would never use it that way, but I recognize others' use of the language to be correct.

I am just fascinated with the origin of the change, and what that means for language change in general.  I am beginning to understand that virtually all language change begins as an error and becomes standard usage over time.

Part of me would like to write my theoretical paper on the "concerning" change.  It would help me to understand it, and maybe help me to explain it without hurting people's feelings.