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by Philip Yaffe I used to speak Swahili. I don’t anymore, but at one time I was nearly fluent. This is because in the mid-1960s I spent two years as a Peace Corps volunteer teaching mathematics and physics in Tanzania (East Africa). When I mention this episode of my life, I usually get one of two reactions. 1. Swahili must be a difficult language to learn, because it is so different from English. 2. Swahili must be an easy language to learn, because it must be very simple. Both reactions annoy me because they betray underlying prejudices. The first assumes that something that is fundamentally different from what one already knows must necessarily be hard to master. There is no rational basis for this belief. True, if something is radically different from what you already know, at the beginning learning it will require shifting some mental gears. However, once this is accomplished, there is no reason why you cannot learn something that is radically different as easily as something that is radically similar. The second reaction, that Swahili must be a very easy language to learn, betrays a pair of more pernicious prejudices. First, since Africa is underdeveloped, i.e. technologically and economically behind the curve, African languages must reflect African mentality, i.e. “simple.” Second, complex (advanced) societies require complex languages, i.e. if a language is too simple, it must represent a culture and civilization that is too simple to have much value. Both ideas are wildly wrong. English, the national language of the most technological and economically advanced country on the planet, is demonstrably simpler than Dutch, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, and virtually all other European languages. English of course does have its complexities; however, its fundamental grammar is considerably simpler and more straightforward than that of most other languages. I live in Brussels (Belgium), where I have become fluent in French and have achieved a working knowledge of Dutch, German, Italian, and Spanish, so I know what I am talking about. Moreover, all of my European friends who speak English as a second or third language readily agree that English grammar is markedly simpler than the grammars of their native languages. Secondly, complexity is not ipso facto a sign of advancement and sophistication. For most of us, it is exactly the opposite. We are always looking for simpler, easier ways of doing things and rail at things that are exasperatingly complex. In most domains, unnecessary complexity is a sign of a disorder, not sophistication. Mathematicians, for example, like to talk about “elegant simplicity,” i.e. methods that go straight to the correct answer rather than first wandering all over the place before finding the correct answer. All great thinkers have focused their attention on finding commonality between things that appear to be radically different in order to simplify understanding and using them. As observed by Leonardo da Vinci, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” In a similar vein, Albert Einstein said, “Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.” So to return to the starting point of this article, is Swahili easy or difficult to learn? In fact, it is both. Since Swahili is almost totally alien to English (it is much closer to Arabic), its vocabulary is almost totally new. If you are learning Dutch, German, French, Italian, Spanish, etc., you will find many words that are exactly the same as in English, or close enough that you can guess what they mean. With Swahili, this is usually not possible. On the other hand, Swahili spelling is totally phonetic. If you can say a word, you can spell it. If you can read it, you can say it. If the word existed in this form, in Swahili “phonetic” would be spelled “fonetic,” just the way it sounds. A veritable blessing! Moreover, basic Swahili grammar has a feature that almost surpasses belief. Its verbs are completely regular. If you can conjugate one verb in Swahili, you can conjugate them all. You don’t have to spend hours and hours learning an interminable list of exceptions. For example, rather than saying “I eat,” “I ate,” “I have eaten,” you say “I eat,” “I eated,” I have eated”; “I drink,” “I drank,” “I have drunk,” but rather “I drink,” “I drinked,” “I have drinked,” and so on. Some people are certain to protest that this is too simple, and therefore somehow not truly “civilized.” This is one of the most frequent arguments I hear against reforming English’s chaotic spelling system. French spelling is even worse — and the defense of it even stronger. If anyone one can explain how starting a rule, then violating it with endless exceptions is in any way civilized, I invite you to contact me. But please, please, be certain that your comments are as clear, concise, and straightforward as possible. Like da Vinci, I firmly believe that simplicity and sophistication go hand in hand. An argument that is unnecessarily complex is unlikely to be convincing. ------------------------ Philip Yaffe, a former reporter/feature writer with The Wall Street Journal, is the author of the following books available from Amazon and other online vendors: • The Gettysburg Approach to Writing & Speaking like a Professional • The Gettysburg Collection: A comprehensive companion to The Gettysburg Approach to Writing & Speaking like a Professional • Actual English: English grammar as native speakers really use it • Gentle French: English grammar as native speakers really use it • What’d You Say? / Que Dites-Vous? Fun with homophones, proverbs, expressions, false friends, and other linguistic oddities in English and French • The Little Book of BIG Mistakes Things we “know” that just aren’t so. Contact: phil.yaffe@yahoo.com,phil.yaffe@gmail.com
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East Africa, Swahili, Peace Corps, Einstein, Gettysburg, da Vinci, Tanzania, phonetic, culture, Dutch, English, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian,
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