Ashley Murphy, Blog 3

There are thousands of languages and dialects in the modern world and perhaps a hundred or more that will never be spoken again. A common language can unite a people while those who speak different tongues may have trouble finding common ground if groups cannot communicate. I speak English and some Spanish, and will travel to Spain in the fall and hope to improve those skills. However, no matter what language is spoken, I think that words can never convey how someone actually feels.

There may be substitutes or synonyms to describe how I'm feeling on a daily basis, but is there truly ever a word, or even a set of words, to convey how I really feel? To tell someone how angry I might be about something, or disappointed. I can tell someone I love them, yet that does not describe how I care deeply for them. I have a Korean friend that was telling me about a word in her native tongue that described the feeling of "skin-ship" you have with someone; like a relationship but through a physical manner like holding hands. There is no English equivalent for the word though. There are numerous words in English that other languages do not use and vice versa. Even though every nation may not share a common language, we share feelings and sentiments, which don't need words to be described.

Anderson notes that the advent of print-capitalism allowed local and global news to be shared. Since creoles shared a common language and ideology, there was already a basis for a connection to be made. When stories were reported about different parts of the world, it cultivated the notion of "us" and "them". The existence of other nations was not ignored as Americans were creating their own sense of identity.