Alchemy of Language

Silver

English

Alchemy of Language

            I’m new to my school and it’s only been a few months. No one really knows that much about who I am or about my ethnic background. I always dread having projects or class discussions about language or ethnicity because when people see me they just see another “white Italian” like all the rest of the kids in my class. I looked like everyone and spoke with the normal South Philly accent. I’m really Tunisian, which is in North Africa along the Mediterranean Sea.  It is traditionally an Arabic country but being so close and raided by the neighboring countries we have a European culture. Our langue, which is Tunisian, isn’t one specific language. It is a mixture of French, Italian, and Arabic. I don’t have the traditional African or Arabian complexion so everyone assumes I’m just white. I enjoy being seen as the same as everyone because it makes me feel as though I fit in, so I don’t really express who I really am. I just stay away from the subject without having to encounter the situation. But it’s difficult having foreign parents who are more comfortable speaking their native langue, so when they call I must speak to their way of understanding.

“Hello”

“Miko, Ca Va?”

“Yes mom, inti Ca va?”

“mm. fama pizza fil cucina”

“Ok Mom.”

“Ok chao”

“Bye”

My Mom asked are you ok? I replied yes are you ok? She says yes and tells me there is pizza in the kitchen. I reply ok attempting to avoid any further conversation with my mother and stay away from comments from my friends. Unfortunately there is always that one person who over hears the conversation and begins questioning.

“What was that?!”

“What was what?” I said pretending to not know what is going on.

“On the phone what was that? What are you speaking”

“Not sure what your sayin”

I am then put under the spotlight growing hot and sweaty becoming uncomfortable as if being the unknown species that was just discovered in America.  I then become defensive trying to get out of the conversation.

“You were like ahjibkcnojbdsijb bye”

“oh I though you knew? I’m Tunisian”

“whats that”

“French, Italian and Arabic. Its in North Africa, right across from Italy”

“Ooh, I thought you were Chinese for a second lol”

“Yeaa, I’m part Italian not full blooded tho”

“Ooh”

“Yea”

I bring up the reference that I am “part Italian” to bring a connection to everyone else and to bring everything back to thinking I’m “normal” again. I also bring up how Tunisia is “right across from Italy” to show how we aren’t so different. It works sometimes but others just keep believing that I’m a foreign weirdo. I can connect to James Baldwin’s view on what language is and how it is introduced. He believes it is “…an alchemy that transformed ancient elements into a new language.” My language bonds 3 different types of ethnicities and in my opinion 3 is better than 1. Over time language is constructed and altered in many different ways. My language is one of those changed over time. Every Language is unique and according to who you are you may use that language in a unique way. Tunisia bonds French, Italian, and Arabic. It is not one standard language but it is still the way of communication in that country. Language is one of the unique ways of discovering someone’s identity. There are some languages that have been changed overtime and are difficult to decipher and connect to a certain background. When back tracking the alchemy of language, the identity becomes more clear. Your outer appearance and complexion may not tell your true identity, but language can reveal the actual origin of a person.