As an English major, it is common to have a minor that would have something to do with literature or writing. My minor is Linguistics, which could be both of those things or not. When I talk to someone who is familiar with the term, "Linguistics," they try very hard to understand what it is. Linguistics does not mean that I want to be a translator or an interpreter. I wish I understood where this concept came from because the definition and what I do is quite different from a mere translator. For those who do not know what Linguistics is, I will break it down for you. Linguistics, by definition, means the scientific study of a language. The question I get asked the most is if I speak a lot of languages because of this minor. You really do not need to have the knowledge of an other language but when learning linguistics, you will pick up on other languages quickly. Really, linguistics is really the breakdown of language from his meaning, its phonic sound and structure. It is more than just looking at a word and learning where it is from, but tracing down his roots and learning about its change through periods.
Man, that sounds boring, right? Trust me, I have fallen asleep in my fair share of linguistic classes and know that it can become complex in 0.2 seconds. However, it becomes fun and interesting when you begin to gain knowledge of languages and how similar they are to each other. Of course with this knowledge, it would be beneficial to a translator if they are dealing with an accent, dialect or even a very close sister language, and very helpful when picking up puns or overused cliches. The interesting part for me is the fact that I am an English major and a German minor. Not only can I compare languages but I can read old ones too. Because of my German and English, Old English is not much of a problem for me to read, though some words can be a little hard to understand especially with the use of kenning.
Another thing I find interesting about linguistics is that I can break down a simple word and trace it back to other languages and analyze its meanings. A lot of words that we use now have been used in different contexts in older ages. A lot of taboo words used now usually meant more happier things and vice versa. For my Historical Linguistics class that I took last semester, we were to write a research paper. I decided to write mine on the word "douche". In modern times, this words is very taboo and used in a negative context but that did not really happy until the seventies. Until then, it was used as a form of showering, 'douche' coming from the romantic languages French and Spanish 'duchar' which mean to shower. Linguistics may be long, complex and tedious but I have found that it is an interesting skill to have. Not only is it a study of a language but it is also a breakdown of human behavior and shift of languages throughout the years, and that is what I found fascination. What is fascinating is looking up a word and analyzing human behavior behind it.
