The poetry of sound and the sound of poetry: Navajo poetry, phonological iconicity, and linguistic relativity

Abstract

This article takes seriously Edward Sapir's observation about poetry as an example of linguistic relativity. Taking my cue from Dwight Bolinger's "word affinities," this article reports on the ways sounds of poetry evoke and convoke imaginative possibilities through phonological iconicity. In working with Navajos in translating poetry, I have come to appreciate the sound suggestiveness of that poetry and the imaginative possibilities that are bound up in the sounds of Navajo. It seems that just such sound suggestiveness via phonological iconicity and the ways they orient our imaginations are a crucial locus for thinking through linguistic relativities.

“So it's got three meanings dil dil:” Seductive ideophony and the sounds of Navajo poetry

“…In this article, I will be most concerned with the music (or sound) of this poem and how that influences the ways that it is heard. This work builds on the theoretical scaffolding developed in Webster (2014b). As John Leavitt (2011: 202) has noted, “phonetics and phonology represent unavoidable sound-worlds.” It is here, I would argue, that “the specificity of language is most intensely” felt (Leavitt 2011: 202).…”

“…Jim, to his credit, years ago told me that “sounds were very important” in his poetry (see Webster 2006). He also told me that his poetry was “sorta sneaky” (see Webster 2014b). Jim also noted that, “most of my poems are written to stimulate thoughts, and that involves thinking about semantics and etymology” (Webster 2006: 44).…”

“A Line Will Take Us Hours Maybe:”Craft and Inspiration from the Ethnography of Poetry

“…it also does for me is when I switch back to Navajo it says, "why not in Navajo in this area as well" AKW: mhm RLJ: so it allows me to push the Navajo language in those areas and in so doing I think I'm expanding the capacity of the language in many ways for one way come up with new vocabulary to to explain the possibilities in certain areas that didn't exist before and but exist in English and I think it's the same way the other way around English has its own limitations and boundaries and when I switch to English and I come to the realization that I can't push English beyond this and it's it's the reality it's a new reality what Navajo can do so easily and so it allows me to push English into those areas as well and when the two work together it pushes me as a person further than either one of the languages could I then ask Jim about something I've noticed in his poems-and something that Navajos, including Jim, have begun to intimate to me as well-irst in the English poems, but over time in the Navajo poems as well. I call it here alliteration-Jim takes up that term-and homophones-in more technical garb I have called it phonological iconicity, Navajos that I know call it saad aheełt'éego diits'a' 'words that resemble each other by sound' or punning ( Jim too will call it punning) (see Mitchell and Webster, 2011;Webster, 2015aWebster, , 2015bWebster, , 2015c. What I am ater here is whether or not the puns precede the poem or if they come ater the creation of the poem.…”

“…Sound in these poems is quite important. Jim told me that as well in a later interview (see Webster, 2006Webster, , 2015c. Indeed, he challenges the conventional translation of saad into English as 'word, language' and argues instead that saad is "sound that communicates" and "sound that conveys some sense of meaning."…”

“Everything Got Kinda Strange after a While:” Some Reflections on Translating Navajo Poetry that Should not be Translated

“…The volume was published by Jim's alma mater Princeton University through its The Princeton Collections of Western Americana. I have discussed this book elsewhere (Webster , , , n.d.; Mitchell and Webster ), but here I note that the book is written almost entirely in Navajo (including page numbers and introductory materials). Elsewhere, I have translated and discussed two other poems from this collection in detail (see Webster , ; Mitchell and Webster ).…”