One to Ponder
Aug. 28th, 2010 01:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gwendolyngraceOkay, so here's something to think about.
The other night, Joel and I were talking about living alone and the high (IMO) density of people who talk to themselves when they live alone or spend a lot of time alone. In the Gweniverse, I'm never completely alone, though, because character-muses constantly provide the opposing voice in my internal dialogue. Like Tom Hanks' character in Cast Away anthropomorphizes "Wilson," I think we as humans need someone to bounce off of, even when that someone is a figment of imagination.
So we're talking about this, and I was saying that it's often characters from books, or TV or movies, and I mentioned how driving is a huge opportunity for this process, and how often these days Will Laurence or Temeraire are my co-pilots (Temeraire because he's a very fun conversationalist and Laurence because he occupies that lovely "straight man" capacity), and that when Granby's in the back seat it's even worse.
And Joel, who's just read His Majesty's Dragon, said he didn't know who Granby was - because, as he put it, he'd "never heard the word pronounced." I said that he'd read the book - he should recognize the name.
And then he said that he never internalizes the pronunciation of proper nouns and names while he's reading things.
I find that fascinating and impossible. I asked about maps: Does he "hear" the pronunciation of streets and such when reading the map? No. He "sees" them as glyphs and then looks for the glyph that matches the picture in his memory.
Bzuh?
So... what we want to know is how anomalous that is, or whether I'm the one who's odd in always figuring out how to say people and place-names when I'm reading. I've known for a long, long time that I prefer to "hear" the words spoken in my head as I read - it's one of the reasons I'm a slow reader - but is that "normal" or is it more normal to take in the word without an attempt to "speak" it and then simply recognize it on repetition? Is it a difference in thought? Teaching? Or actual brain process?
Discuss.
The other night, Joel and I were talking about living alone and the high (IMO) density of people who talk to themselves when they live alone or spend a lot of time alone. In the Gweniverse, I'm never completely alone, though, because character-muses constantly provide the opposing voice in my internal dialogue. Like Tom Hanks' character in Cast Away anthropomorphizes "Wilson," I think we as humans need someone to bounce off of, even when that someone is a figment of imagination.
So we're talking about this, and I was saying that it's often characters from books, or TV or movies, and I mentioned how driving is a huge opportunity for this process, and how often these days Will Laurence or Temeraire are my co-pilots (Temeraire because he's a very fun conversationalist and Laurence because he occupies that lovely "straight man" capacity), and that when Granby's in the back seat it's even worse.
And Joel, who's just read His Majesty's Dragon, said he didn't know who Granby was - because, as he put it, he'd "never heard the word pronounced." I said that he'd read the book - he should recognize the name.
And then he said that he never internalizes the pronunciation of proper nouns and names while he's reading things.
I find that fascinating and impossible. I asked about maps: Does he "hear" the pronunciation of streets and such when reading the map? No. He "sees" them as glyphs and then looks for the glyph that matches the picture in his memory.
Bzuh?
So... what we want to know is how anomalous that is, or whether I'm the one who's odd in always figuring out how to say people and place-names when I'm reading. I've known for a long, long time that I prefer to "hear" the words spoken in my head as I read - it's one of the reasons I'm a slow reader - but is that "normal" or is it more normal to take in the word without an attempt to "speak" it and then simply recognize it on repetition? Is it a difference in thought? Teaching? Or actual brain process?
Discuss.
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no subject
Date: 2010-08-29 02:11 am (UTC)I think I tend to at least invent some sound in my head that represents pronunciation. ;) But if, such as a Slavic or invented sci-fi name that simply has too many consonants for me to suss out, I'll simply register the name as a sort of glyph or "shaped letters" in my mind. I see that set of symbols and instead of a sound, I just recognize the letters as the name.
But the other 99% of the time, I "hear" the name, even if I must make up a pronunciation. I retain far more from reading than listening. If I can read AND listen, that's the best.
Numbers, on the other hand, I tend to visualize as shapes ... ;-)
no subject
Date: 2010-08-29 06:19 am (UTC)Yeah, there are some exceptions for me, too. If a name is way too long or complicated I'll simplify it or substitute something easier, like, "thingamajig" instead of whatever it's supposed to be, but it's still a pronunciation, even if it's nothing to do with the real word.
Even numbers, I see the shape but I "hear" the pronunciation of the integer or symbol. Joel and I talked about equations because he deals with higher maths all the time and sees each equation as a whole unit unto itself. I can't do that, either. I have to read it left-to-right and then I can start to take it apart.