Why Are Words So Important?

The working English vocabulary of the average 14-year-old has dropped from 25,000 to 10,000 words within the last 50 years. So reports David W. Orr, Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics at Oberlin College, in his paper "Verbicide" (copyright 1999 by Oberlin College). Why be concerned? Orr goes on to note that "This is not merely a decline in numbers of words, but in the capacity to think."

"Verbicide," incidentally, literally means "the murder of a word." It is defined by Dictionary.com as "the willful distortion or depreciation of the original meaning of a word." Apparently this term was first used by C.S. Lewis.

Orr also points out that the loss of vocabulary is greatest in those areas which have to do with "large issues such as philosophy, religion, public policy, and nature." Indeed, "We are losing the capacity for articulate intelligence about the things that matter most," says Orr.

Orr's fascinating and disturbing article can be read on the Oberlin College website at www.oberlin.edu/news-info/00oct/verbicide.html.

I'd like to point out several important benefits, cultural and spiritual, in having a strong knowledge of words.

Knowing the exact meaning of words and having a large cache of them to draw upon to express oneself creates a fluency of communication and a clear agreement between speaker and listener, writer and reader, as to the meaning of the communication. Words bring us together.

Language is also the underpinning of culture. Words inform our habits and our ways of being. Our "culture" of consumerism is, unfortunately, constantly being reinforced by language.

Maintaining correct language is an excellent source of self-discipline. Fine exercises for anyone include learning a new word every day, and using a dictionary frequently to come to understand usage, meaning, and nuance. Correct, elegant language promotes formality, which is seemingly dying these days at the hands of casualness. And, with the death of formality comes, apparently, a loss of civility and respect as well.

Training in the accurate use of an abundant vocabulary prepares one for higher understanding. Words have layers of meaning. They carry with them all the joys of ideas and of symbolism, metaphor and analogy. The "higher" meaning of many words, the language of spirit, points to a Reality beyond that of the objective. Interestingly, the archaic meanings and the Latin, Greek and Indo-European roots of words often point toward deeper, spiritual meanings.

Words can only point, since even the highest language cannot describe the Indescribable, Ineffable One. Yet careful use of high language can be a constant spiritual discipline. Looking always for the correct word when speaking or writing can remind one of the Truth, of the Standpoint that frees: When I use this word, does it underline for me and my hearers inner meaning and correct Identity? In other words, when I use this word, am I speaking as the I AM would speak? When I use the word "I," am I speaking as ego personality or knowingly as the divine Self, disguised as a human?

At the highest pinnacle of language stands the Logos: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was ((is)) God." Realizing this makes the use of words a sacred, holy experience. What a privilege, what a responsibility, what a wonder!