POWER of meanings // MEANINGS of power
  • About
  • Introduction
  • Browse the book
    • All the pages alphabetically >
      • A >
        • Animal power
        • Addiction and power
        • Absolute power
        • Anxiety and power
      • B >
        • Bureaucracy and power
        • Buddhism
        • Binary thinking
      • C >
        • Circumstances and Power
        • Choice
        • (Power to) change how you see things
        • Choosing meanings
        • Consumerism
        • Corrupted by power
      • D >
        • Discovering your power
      • E >
        • Empowerment
        • Empathy and power
        • (Power to) enjoy the moment
        • Entropy and power
      • F >
        • Foucault's "power is everywhere"
        • Free will
      • G >
        • Gender and power
      • H >
        • Having power and using power
        • How everybody is powerful
        • How everybody is powerless
        • Human brain and power
      • I >
        • Improving mental abilities
        • (Power to) improve your mood
        • In control
        • Inequality
        • Influencing each other
        • Intentionality and power
      • L >
        • Language has power over us
        • Limited resources
        • Louis XIV and Absolute Power
      • M >
        • Main theories of power
        • Making an effort is a prerequisite of using power
        • "May" power
        • Meanings of power that are not directly related to social power
        • Meanings and power
        • Micropower: Individual power
        • Mindfulness
        • Media and Digital Literacy as Forms of Individual Power
        • (Mis)understanding of power in media texts
        • Money and Power
        • My synesthetic perception of "power"
      • N >
        • (Nature) Power of nature
      • P >
        • Power and knowledge
        • Power as ability
        • Power as a chess game
        • Power as influence
        • Power vs. powerlessness
        • "Power" in language
        • Physical power
        • Power is not a thing
        • Power of speech
        • Power on/off
        • Privilege
      • R >
        • Responsibility, blame and power
      • S >
        • Self-awareness and power
        • Snapshot power
        • Socialization and power
        • (Power of) stories
        • Synonyms of power
      • T >
        • Theory of micro- and macropower
      • U >
        • Using power is rewarding
      • V >
        • Vector power
      • W >
        • What is power?
        • Why understanding power is important
        • Willpower
    • Completed pages
  • Author
    • My creative process

"Power" in Language

PAGE IN PROGRESS
What you see here is a page of my hypertext book POWER of meanings // MEANINGS of power. Initially empty, this page will slowly be filled with thoughts, notes, and quotes. One day, I will use them to write a coherent entry, similar to these completed pages. Thank you for your interest and patience! 
This entry is about how we speak about social power is different languages. 

when I analyze “power” in language, I keep reminding myself that language has power over us

sometimes language can help, give hints to understand power but sometimes it can throw me off. For example, I find myself wanting to use all the time phrases with “can” and “be able to” that may or may not refer to power as aspects of social relations.


Etymology of Macht (German)
https://etymologeek.com/deu/Macht

On this page, I explore "power" from the linguistic point of view. This word has become very special for me, because I have been thinking about it a lot. To begin with, my relationship with languages needs to be clarified. My mother tongue is Russian. I can also communicate in English, Spanish, French and German. My talent and love for languages may be explained by my synesthesia, which, according to WebMD is "a fancy name for when you experience one of your senses through another" (see My synesthetic perception of "power").
​
In French and Spanish the noun meaning power is the same word as the word meaning can. That is pouvoir in French and poder in Spanish. The origin of the English word power can be traced back to Anglo-Norman French poeir, from an alteration of Latin posse "be able".

Spanish: use of subjunctive to express influence: subjunctive triggers of influence - querer, preferir, insistir en, mandar, permitir, prohibir, desear, pedir, recomendar, sugerir, es necesario, es urgente, es importante, es mejor + QUE + SUBJUNCTIVE

Look at Megan Perry's Alfraed Grammaticus when published:
In old English, different words were used for "may", "am able to" and "know how to". Nowadays they are all translated to the modern English as "can"

Can = may, am able to, know how to

If you are interested in getting updates about this project (e.g., when new pages are published), please sign up for the newsletter on my main website.
  • About
  • Introduction
  • Browse the book
    • All the pages alphabetically >
      • A >
        • Animal power
        • Addiction and power
        • Absolute power
        • Anxiety and power
      • B >
        • Bureaucracy and power
        • Buddhism
        • Binary thinking
      • C >
        • Circumstances and Power
        • Choice
        • (Power to) change how you see things
        • Choosing meanings
        • Consumerism
        • Corrupted by power
      • D >
        • Discovering your power
      • E >
        • Empowerment
        • Empathy and power
        • (Power to) enjoy the moment
        • Entropy and power
      • F >
        • Foucault's "power is everywhere"
        • Free will
      • G >
        • Gender and power
      • H >
        • Having power and using power
        • How everybody is powerful
        • How everybody is powerless
        • Human brain and power
      • I >
        • Improving mental abilities
        • (Power to) improve your mood
        • In control
        • Inequality
        • Influencing each other
        • Intentionality and power
      • L >
        • Language has power over us
        • Limited resources
        • Louis XIV and Absolute Power
      • M >
        • Main theories of power
        • Making an effort is a prerequisite of using power
        • "May" power
        • Meanings of power that are not directly related to social power
        • Meanings and power
        • Micropower: Individual power
        • Mindfulness
        • Media and Digital Literacy as Forms of Individual Power
        • (Mis)understanding of power in media texts
        • Money and Power
        • My synesthetic perception of "power"
      • N >
        • (Nature) Power of nature
      • P >
        • Power and knowledge
        • Power as ability
        • Power as a chess game
        • Power as influence
        • Power vs. powerlessness
        • "Power" in language
        • Physical power
        • Power is not a thing
        • Power of speech
        • Power on/off
        • Privilege
      • R >
        • Responsibility, blame and power
      • S >
        • Self-awareness and power
        • Snapshot power
        • Socialization and power
        • (Power of) stories
        • Synonyms of power
      • T >
        • Theory of micro- and macropower
      • U >
        • Using power is rewarding
      • V >
        • Vector power
      • W >
        • What is power?
        • Why understanding power is important
        • Willpower
    • Completed pages
  • Author
    • My creative process