Languages are something that most people don't think to deeply about. I certainly didn't think about why the words I use to communicate are what they are. But recently, I have started noticing some intriguing similarities between the words within languages and I think these similarities can give some sociological insight of the past.
The first similarity was illustrated in an American studies course I am taking. We looked at the word "esposa" which means wife in spanish. It turns out that if you ad an "s" to this word (esposas), the meaning then becomes handcuffs.
The second similarity I noticed while studying Chinese. The Chinese character for female is 女 which is pronounced "nǚ". Interestingly enough, the chinese character for slave is 奴 which is pronounced "nú". As you can see, the only difference between the two is a slight change of tone when pronouncing the word and the addition of this radical: 又.
Why are these words so closely related? Well, I think it's because when these words were first being formed women's voices were being silenced. After all, no woman would want to go around calling herself and other women "slaves" or "handcuffs". So, It seems to me that it was the men who decided to use an existing word to express how the viewed woman or their wives.
This made me wonder if these views still existed today in modern day American society. I think that men in modern day America don't view women as "slaves" as much as they used to. The idea of the stay at home mom who takes care of the kids and does all the cleaning does seem somewhat slave-like, but this trend is well over. In fact, according to the Population Reference Bureau, in 2002, only 7 percent of all U.S. households consisted of married couples with children which only the husband worked.
Although American men don't necessarily view women as slaves, they may view wive's as handcuffs considering that 74% of men said they would have an affair if they knew they would never get caught when asked in study by the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy. Clearly, many American men would like to stray from their wives, but can't because they are, in a sense, chained to their wives (or at least they may view the situation in that way).
Looking closely at the world's languages can give insight to the dynamics of the societies who spoke said language when it was first being formed were like, and it's interesting to see if modern day America has a similar dynamic as these societies.
Why are these words so closely related? Well, I think it's because when these words were first being formed women's voices were being silenced. After all, no woman would want to go around calling herself and other women "slaves" or "handcuffs". So, It seems to me that it was the men who decided to use an existing word to express how the viewed woman or their wives.
This made me wonder if these views still existed today in modern day American society. I think that men in modern day America don't view women as "slaves" as much as they used to. The idea of the stay at home mom who takes care of the kids and does all the cleaning does seem somewhat slave-like, but this trend is well over. In fact, according to the Population Reference Bureau, in 2002, only 7 percent of all U.S. households consisted of married couples with children which only the husband worked.
Although American men don't necessarily view women as slaves, they may view wive's as handcuffs considering that 74% of men said they would have an affair if they knew they would never get caught when asked in study by the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy. Clearly, many American men would like to stray from their wives, but can't because they are, in a sense, chained to their wives (or at least they may view the situation in that way).
Looking closely at the world's languages can give insight to the dynamics of the societies who spoke said language when it was first being formed were like, and it's interesting to see if modern day America has a similar dynamic as these societies.
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