Have you ever suffered from semantic satiation?

9/22/2019

Just now, I was working on an email that includes a lesson about when to use "awhile" and when to use "a while." And after... well, a while, that "while" and "awhile" business started to look mighty weird. Almost like they weren't words at all but just a meaningless collection of letters.

If you've ever experienced such a phenomenon, then you've felt semantic satiation. Instead of paraphrasing the Wikipedia article, I will simply point you there, should you want to learn more about it.

If you find this sort of thing entertaining, do check out the related entry about the following, which is a truly legitimate sentence:

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

Photo by Lewie Embling on Unsplash

If you didn't know the sensation of semantic satiation before, I'll bet you do now. :)

8 Comments

Stjepan link

9/30/2019 08:01:16 am

Dear Sara,
I think you stumbled upon something much greater than semantics here.
The same applies to cognitive and affective processes, which are typically inseparable, but are the terms used to describe the operation of the human mind.
In short, imagine the repetition of an event with its cognitive and affective context. After a number of repetitions the entire experience will "feel" more dull (by this I don't mean boring, I explicitly mean "blunt").
My take on this is, despite any existing explanation, the fact that there was no absolute meaning to begin with.
It's quite funny how in these cracks that open up when our mind stops "thinking about thinking" (meta-cognition) that some very fundamental details about our existence reveal themselves - that we are not our minds and that our minds are not our CEOs but instead more like janitors - and quite lazy at that.
I like to say that when the mind is thinking about thinking - it is trying to rationally explain its own irrationality to itself. Yet what remains is that it only cares to preserve its notion of being consistent with its self-image and concerns itself much less with facts - much less than we'd like to admit to ourselves.
At least this is my experience.
What do you think?
Best wishes
Stjepan

Sara Rosinsky link

10/2/2019 09:39:52 am

I think I'll need to think about... thinking. (And that you're a thinker.) 😊

Denton Hopper

5/11/2020 06:17:51 pm

Would you perhaps like to look at the important differentiation between such "combinations" as "healthy and healthful", "take and bring", etc.
Also, how about looking at the root meanings of words like pandemic, epidemic, decimate, etc. which now seemingly have the same and interchangeable meaning. Are we becoming lazy in our use of words. It has been said the the Greeks had a word for everything.

Thanks,

Denny

Stjepan Kresimir Kracun link

5/11/2020 07:06:02 pm

Dear Denny,
The Greeks still have a word for everything because I'd say that at least 50% of all the words of all of the European languages are of Greek or Latin origin. Sara can tell you more about that.
I'd say that it's probably more like 80% but I'm leaving some space open for originality that I may not be aware of.

I wouldn't say that people are becoming lazy with the use of their words - because for me that would mean that they would have the same word for many things.

I would rather say that people are becoming superficial with use of their words (and with many other things) - because they use, assimilate and equate many different words of different meanings into categories into which they do not belong - and all because they do not actually know what those words mean.

I like the fact that you mentioned Greeks - because I have found that it is often the etymology of words that shows us the differences between them - which may sometimes be minor nuances - but sometimes quite profound!

Sara has a very nice weekly email with all kinds of very insightful words and their origins, uses and respective differences.

Best wishes,
Stjepan

Sara Rosinsky link

5/14/2020 06:59:26 am

Thanks for your suggestion. I get a kick out of etymology and may decide to share the stories behind those words. I'll add them to my list. :)

As for laziness, I don't really feel that way about it. I love seeing how language evolves as people use it. We don't have to study every single word to its roots before we opt to use it; we hear it and absorb its common use and then reach for it when the occasion arises. I find it pretty thrilling to find out that "crestfallen" comes from cockfighting or that when you're enthusiastic, you're technically possessed by a god. It amazes me to think about how words have passed from mouth to ear to brain and out again for millennia, changing along the way.

Thanks for writing!

Stjepan link

5/14/2020 07:07:46 am

Dear Sara,
Fascinating! 😉
Best wishes,
Stjepan

Stjepan Kresimir Kracun link

5/11/2020 10:51:22 pm

Dear Denny,
Another thing that I'd like to add and that I think has been the sign of the times in the past decade or a little more than that is the invention of either ridiculous euphemisms or really awkward word substitutions in an effort to police what people say and how they say it.
I know that at least half of the world will disagree with me - but I do not believe that changing the language will change behavior and what's more that a changed language equals a changed behavior or even a changed attitude.
Everybody can learn how to talk the talk...
This was just one final thing I wanted to add.
Best regards,
Stjepan

Sara Rosinsky link

5/14/2020 07:00:43 am

Good to "see" you, Stjepan! Thanks for sharing your thoughts!

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Have you ever suffered from semantic satiation?

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