I have a kind of love affair with words. Obviously. I'm a writer, aren't I? My husband teases me sometimes when I use a word he doesn't know, or just one that isn't commonly used in conversation. I love learning new words, and along with that, I love learning languages. Here are my favorite words in all the languages I know (or have attempted to learn):
ENGLISH
Spelunking: the exploration of caves
This word just feels cool on the tongue. Plus, I have gone spelunking several times, and there is something amazing, creepy, and just plain adventurous about being buried in a mountain/underground.
Spelunking with the hubs and some friends.
FRENCH
Lavabo: sink
I took French all through high school, and had nearly enough classes in college for a French minor. Sadly, my French skills have dwindled quite a bit in the four years since I last took a class, but I still love the way ANYTHING sounds gorgeous in French. This words is one of the earliest in my vocabulary, and is still a favorite.
Not in France. (San Francisco-- a tale I shall have to tell sometime)
FANTE
Ketseketse: small-small/very small
I took lessons in this Ghanaian language from an amazing teacher. Even though many people in Ghana speak English, it helped so much to know Fante, especially in teaching. The kids also loved it when I read Fante-- it's very simple to pronounce all the words, but most of the time I had no idea what I was saying. I love this word because it's just fun to say (kitsee-kitsee, said very fast), and people laughed when I used it to explain how much Fante I could speak.
3 ketseketse students who fell asleep on me mid-lesson. I promise, this wasn't staged.
JAPANESE
Utsukushii: beautiful
My husband first said this word to me when we were dating (he lived in Japan for 2 years and speaks Japanese fluently). I managed to tease the meaning out of him before I attempted learning Japanese myself. It makes me smile every time.
Me and the hubs. Love.
I took two semester of Swahili in college, but I'm going to bow out of that one. I don't remember a single word except for "Jambo," hello.
So, my friends, what about you? What is your favorite word in any (or many!) language(s)?
