Chapter 1

Words and communication are used in our everyday lives. By the age of four, children are able to speak and after a few years later, they are able to form complete sentences. This chapter states that language is a system of grammar, as well as a human behavior that can be analyzed according to theories of interaction, play, and games. At first I was confused how language could be a system of human behavior, but now I understand that this statement basically means that the way things are said can portray someone's behavior. This chapter also talks about how language is like a game played with phonemes (a fixed number of pieces). Phonemes are "the basic units of sounds by which morphemes, words, and sentences are represented." In the English language, there are a total of forty-five phoneme pieces. They are broken down into consonants, vowels, stresses, pitches, etc.. This is very interesting to me because I never thought of language like this before and I never knew there were only a certain number of these different phoneme in our language. The author, Peter Farb, states that children are usually able to speak recognizable words around one year of age. That is amazing to think that infants or toddlers, who are not very knowledgeable, can learn how to speak and understand words, while adults have to take years of classes and studying in order to learn a different language. Once children learn the basic words of the English language, they are able to form sentences.

It is crucial to understand language, so that a person is able to communicate. Communication is necessary for a society and culture to grow. The chapter ends after including the historical meaning of words. For example, the words honor, democracy, God, patriotism, and freedom all are connected with every individual's values and beliefs. The word freedom is linked with every American's history and personal beliefs. When I think of freedom, patriotism, and honor, I think of how our ancestors fought to secure this land so that we could live freely. Three other words that are very significant in our country's history are declaration, slavery, and confederacy. Declaration, or the Declaration of Independence, is very meaningful to our country because men risked their lives declaring their independence and signing this document to free themselves from England. Slavery and confederacy are two other important words because slavery was a huge problem in this country. After we fought for freedom, we denied other of their freedom. There was a war in our country between the northerners and the Confederacy due to this issue. The Confederacy is still a significant word today, because whenever someone says they are a Confederate, we know they are from the south. Strong words like these are able to trigger a person's thoughts and emotions. In my life, three words that play an important role are family, faith, and golf. Family and friends (who are considered family) are very important to me and are one of my highest priorities in life. Without people who are there to love and support you in all that you do, you will not be able to succeed. Faith is also very important to me. I am a practicing Catholic and without God by my side, life would be very difficult. Golf is another word that is important to me because golf is a big part of my life. I have been golfing since I could walk and it is a sport that my family plays together. Golf teaches you moral life lessons such as patience, perseverance, honesty, and teamwork. These are some of the reasons why language is such an important part of communication.