Skip to content
  • Common Currency
  • Campaigns
    • PENWrites
    • Writers at Risk
    • Writers in Residence
    • Free speech in the UK
  • News
  • Events
  • Translation
    • PEN Translates
    • PEN Transmissions
    • International Translation Day
    • The World Bookshelf
      • Books
      • Authors
      • Translators
    • PEN Presents
      • Issues
      • Books
      • Apply to PEN Presents
  • Prizes
    • PEN Pinter Prize
    • PEN Ackerley Prize
    • PEN Hessell-Tiltman Prize
  • Donate
  • Join
Home > News > “I inhabit a language rather than a country” – Emile Cioran

“I inhabit a language rather than a country” – Emile Cioran

Femi Martin, who is judging our Made-Up Words competition with the Arvon Foundation this year, inspires polyglots everywhere to make up words (and win a place on an Arvon course as a result).

A newborn baby’s cry is perhaps our clearest indication that human beings communicate before we possess any linguistic ability. Although we enter this world with something to say, it is a couple of years before we learn how to give form to meaning through words, and how to use our mouths to relay this meaning. Everyone inherits a language at birth, but we do not all inherit the same language; there are indeed more than 6000 spoken in the world at this time, all ascribing meaning to different words in different ways.

All languages contain areas of scarcity where others are abundant; ask any polyglot and they’ll confirm that some words are simply untranslatable. Even those of us who have spent our lives communicating solely through our mother tongue will at times find it impossible to express ourselves. The declaration, ‘I’m speechless’ or, ‘I don’t know what to say’ or, ‘I can’t explain it’ are all ways of saying: ‘I do not have the words’. English, with its 500,000+ units of language, still does not have it – meaning – covered. That is where you come in!

I am looking for poems and flash fiction that give light to an area of meaning that remains dark in this ever-evolving language that we speak. Perhaps there is a colour, emotion, situation, or sound that is waiting for you to sum it up neatly. Perhaps you’ve recently found yourself using fifty words to describe something, wishing there was a single word up to the task. Whether your work is funny, dramatic, or full of whimsy; set in the past, present, or future; written in first, second, or third person; I mostly want to be affected by your made-up word. I want your word to inspire us to hide it under our tongues, reveal it in our future conversations, and wonder how we ever survived without it.

 

Made-Up Words is part of europolyglot, an English PEN festival of events, workshops, night classes and roundtables that celebrates multilingualism in the UK, in partnership with the European Commission Representation in the United Kingdom.

Friday 4th
January 2013

Share

Join our mailing list

Sign up to receive the latest English PEN news and events.

SIGN UP
  • About
  • Privacy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Partners
  • Outreach
  • Jobs
  • Contact us

With thanks to our Core Funders

©1921 - 2023

English PEN is a company limited by guarantee number 5747142 (England & Wales) and a registered charity, number 1125610.

We use cookies to help us improve your experience on our website. By closing this notification or interacting with the website you agree to our use of cookies. ACCEPT Find out more
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT