What language means to business

Photo by Pavel Danilyuk

Ever felt like you’re not getting an idea through because it’s beyond the limits of your vocabulary? Or that an idea is not grasped by your audience because it’s not presented with the right words? Clients with internal content teams often approach us with this problem. We create language catalogues that help them stay authentic and efficient in their communications; this is particularly useful for companies that have transient teams. Let’s unpack why language matters so much when sharing ideas.

It’s hard to even imagine interacting and making sense of the world without words. It almost seems that words are the very architecture of ideas. Is it possible to form or communicate ideas without words? You can definitely feel and experience without words. But, experiencing is not the same as deriving an idea. Experiencing music is not the same as processing it and deriving an idea from it.

Oscar Wilde called language “the parent, and not the child, of thought”, suggesting that thinking is shaped by our words.

But, we know artists and musicians who think in image or sound. The mathematical genius Daniel Tammet processes numbers by thinking in landscapes. Other interesting evidence is in how hearing-impaired people, who are cut off from both spoken and signed language, form ideas without the help of words.

Mundurucú, a remote Brazilian tribe, has only words for numbers up to five. When studying their capacity to understand the concept of a number higher than five, it became evident that for many Mundurucú, the idea of greater than five was a difficult one to grasp. Although some showed signs of understanding the idea of ‘something bigger than this’, they were quick to categorize it as ‘a lot’, rather than attempting to define it more specifically.

We can certainly process an idea without words; using comparison, physical memories and associations with shapes, and colors, perhaps even symbols, sound, and movement. However, some ideas can only be conceived in the presence of the word.

Mundurucú’s limitedness in grasping simple numerical concepts shows that although ideas can be actively processed without words, they may not be fully understood in such cases. Certain ideas or concepts— most certainly numerical ones, as the study with Mundurucú suggests— cannot be grasped fully without the clarity and definition that a word would lend. That is to say, there are certain kinds of thinking that are possible only with words.

So, what does this mean for businesses? Words help us quickly define and zoom in and out of ideas. Access to a vocabulary that accurately portrays the origins and cultural associations of the business, and considers relatability with the audience means efficiency in communicating. It also means consistency in vocabulary, creating the ‘brand voice’ or the persona that audiences emotionally connect with.

When we work with businesses that have internal communication teams—often transient as employees move in and out of the company—we create brand language catalogues. A brand language catalogue helps ideas to be communicated without being limited to the individual vocabulary or linguistic expressions of the employee handling the content creation at the time. They’re story-building tools that help businesses stay efficient and consistent.

We also create visual language catalogues to create sharable boards that portray the look and feel of a business using imagery. But, this insight story is only about written and spoken language.

Let’s decode the function of a language catalogue using this example that we created for Podi Scene documentary film promotions. When we create language catalogues we first have a quick conversation with the client and do a little research on their platforms to find out the typical correspondence that they have with the audience. Depending on the research insights and the client's brief on the requirement, we identify what types of language samples would be most useful to their company. In the case of Podi Scene, we prioritized descriptions for aesthetics, moods, qualities and experiences because it is a brand that often expresses appreciation. We also paid close attention to language for handling complaints because it was important for Podi Scene to maintain good relationships with people from diverse viewpoints and backgrounds as they interacted with the film and the ideas it highlighted.

A brand language catalogue is essentially a collection of written and spoken language that allows you quick access to categorized sections like greetings and sample responses to compliments or complaints. It’s like having a toolbox at hand’s reach for building narrated or written content while staying on-brand with language.

If you want to learn more about how we can help your business coin the language that’s right for it, get in touch.

We’ve been here before

When a culture has a word in its language, it’s a sign of an idea that was visited before. 

Non-binary ideas on gender are often criticized as new and strange concepts. But, a short study on words that are over two hundred years old reveals how non-binary ideas on gender have been visited by cultures around the world for much, much, longer than most religious rhetorics and traditional narratives portray them to be. These words and their derivational word families often describe a wide spectrum of gender expressions, demonstrating how nonbinary ideas on sexuality have been a natural aspect of society. Human cultures have acknowledged the complexity of gender identity for centuries—our languages hold evidence.

Pandaka 

(Deriv. asittakapandaka, ussuyapandaka, opakkamikapandaka, lunapandaka, pakkhapandaka, napumsakapandaka) 

Used in ancient Sri Lanka to describe nonbinary genders, pandaka is a cognate from Pali. The origin of the term pandaka is thought to be derived from anda, which variously means `egg' or `testicle' in Pali, with the basic concept appearing to be that of a non-procreative sexuality. Subsequently, the derivatives of the term incorporate diverse expressions of genders and their sexual preferences, including exclusive fetishes, intersex individuals and those with a libido linked to lunar phases.

Ubhatobyanjanaka

(Deriv. ubhatō)

Found primarily in Buddhist Pali texts in Sri Lanka, Thailand, and India, the root of this term is ubhato meaning `two-fold', while byanjana denotes a sign or mark of gender or reproductive characteristic. Hence, in literal terms, the word means 'a person with the signs of both sexes/genders'. Bunmi Methangkun—late head of the traditionalist Abhidhamma Foundation in Bangkok, observes that the category of ubhatobyanjanaka persons described in the canon is understood as including both biological and ‘psychological’ intersex persons. 

Pakkha

(Var. kalapakkha, junhapakkha)

Used in India and sparingly in Sri Lanka, this term and its derivatives exclusively identify sexual expression responsive to the lunar cycle. Those becoming aroused during the waning moon (kalapakkha) and the waxing moon (junhapakkha) were recorded by the Buddhist scholar-monk Buddhaghōsa saying that a pakkha "becomes temporarily impotent for fourteen 'black days' of the month”.

Napumsaka

Used widely across South Asia to identify intersex people, this term communicates the idea of ‘half’. This is probably the reason for the popularity of the term, as the preposition of ‘half’ could be used to describe many gender expressions with both masculine and feminine characteristics.

Calalai

Used among the Bugis ethnic group in Indonesia, Calalai infers ‘to be a man’ and refers to biological women who represent themselves in masculine ways.

Calabai

Used in Indonesia, Calabai infers ‘to be a woman’ and describes people who have male biological sexual characteristics but occupy a role traditionally occupied by women. 

Bissu

Used in Indonesia, Bissu is a word used to describe the totality of masculinity and femininity. The etymology of the term is unclear but it probably derives from the Sanskrit word bhiksu, meaning monk. It refers to the spiritual role of this gender expression as they perform rites and are thought to bridge the worldly and the divine.

Hijra

Still used throughout the Indian subcontinent, the etymology of the word ‘Hijra’ can be traced to its Arabic root ‘Hijr’ which means departure or exodus from one’s tribe. It’s usually used to describe transgender persons and in a way, ties poetically with how all trans persons are in perpetual exile from the world and their own biological body.

Mukhannath 

(Deriv. khanith)

Found in classical Arabic and Islamic literature, this term is used to describe non-binary people, typically referred to as effeminate men or those with ambiguous sexual organs. Its etymology points to the meaning ‘variant’ and gave rise to the vernacular Arabic term ‘khanith’ used in some parts of the Arabian peninsula. 

Mudhakkarah

Used in classical Islamic texts, Mudhakkarah describes women who were masculine in appearance or mannerisms and preferred to function in roles typically carried out by men. 

Two-spirit 

(Incl. niizh, nádleehí, winkté, hemaneh)

In 1989, during a gathering in Winnipeg, Manitoba, LGBTQ people from North America adopted the term ‘Two Spirit’ to collectively identify themselves within their tribes. This term is used by tribes in Canada and the USA and serves as a unifying concept for the diverse gender identities acknowledged across various tribes. The term ‘Two Spirit’ was introduced as a universal term in English to foster broader understanding, although its meaning may not always translate to the complete or exact meaning of Native languages. 

✺ The attitude towards non-binary genders changed with influences like colonialism and religious states embracing orthodox values of a single belief system.  Within such contexts, some of these words have gained associations with criticism and negativity, and even given rise to colloquialized versions used as derogatory terms. However, all these terms have initially been used simply to identify, acknowledge, and distinguish diverse identities that were naturally present in society. Understanding the etymology and original meanings of these words allows us to use this language to create understanding rather than hostility.