2008 Woodie Awards
A lesson of language
Melinda Christensen
Issue date: 4/23/08 Section: Life
Ofelia Zepeda, Poet Laureate, Regents Professor and MacArthur Fellow, shares one of her favorite stories.
With a slight smile, Zepeda recounted her most enlightening experience working with native speakers. While working to devise a system of grammar for Tohono O'odham, Zepeda realized that an obstacle existed. Within the language there was an absence of terminology to describe parts of language. Gathered in a classroom with some of the most impressive native speakers, Zepeda worked to create terminology within Tohono O'odham to discuss aspects of the language.
Zepeda recalled two Tohono O'odham women, in particular, who were tasked with choosing the O'odham word that was to mean syllabification. "It was funny the process that they went through. They would choose a word then throw it out, choose a word and then throw it out," Zepeda explained.
"One of the words they came up with was to cut a word, [meaning] to cut [a word] into syllables, one of them said 'no you can't do that to a word, you can't cut a word' so they threw that out," Zepeda recalled. Then, she said, one of the women suggested an O'odham word meaning to tear, to tear a word into syllables. "And the other one said, 'no that does not sound right, you cannot tear a word like a cloth or paper," Zepeda continued, "the last word they came up with, which both of them agreed on, was this little word [pronounced mat a oh] which means to take apart systematically."
While the term is not frequently used, Zepeda has not forgotten that day. "But I always remember that word and the process that they went through," Zepeda said. Even though it was an artificial setting and an informal assignment, these two women took the task very seriously. They really dedicated themselves. They took the time to find a conclusion and their justification for why they chose this word and why they ruled the others out, Zepeda said. "And even though it is just a word, it is important."
"And you know, that is the way things are supposed to be done. And it is a slow process. It is a give and take process. And sometimes we don't have time for that process, but I always appreciate it when time is given to go through that kind of process," Zepeda said.
With a slight smile, Zepeda recounted her most enlightening experience working with native speakers. While working to devise a system of grammar for Tohono O'odham, Zepeda realized that an obstacle existed. Within the language there was an absence of terminology to describe parts of language. Gathered in a classroom with some of the most impressive native speakers, Zepeda worked to create terminology within Tohono O'odham to discuss aspects of the language.
Zepeda recalled two Tohono O'odham women, in particular, who were tasked with choosing the O'odham word that was to mean syllabification. "It was funny the process that they went through. They would choose a word then throw it out, choose a word and then throw it out," Zepeda explained.
"One of the words they came up with was to cut a word, [meaning] to cut [a word] into syllables, one of them said 'no you can't do that to a word, you can't cut a word' so they threw that out," Zepeda recalled. Then, she said, one of the women suggested an O'odham word meaning to tear, to tear a word into syllables. "And the other one said, 'no that does not sound right, you cannot tear a word like a cloth or paper," Zepeda continued, "the last word they came up with, which both of them agreed on, was this little word [pronounced mat a oh] which means to take apart systematically."
While the term is not frequently used, Zepeda has not forgotten that day. "But I always remember that word and the process that they went through," Zepeda said. Even though it was an artificial setting and an informal assignment, these two women took the task very seriously. They really dedicated themselves. They took the time to find a conclusion and their justification for why they chose this word and why they ruled the others out, Zepeda said. "And even though it is just a word, it is important."
"And you know, that is the way things are supposed to be done. And it is a slow process. It is a give and take process. And sometimes we don't have time for that process, but I always appreciate it when time is given to go through that kind of process," Zepeda said.
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