Words, words, words

I have a passion for linguistics and take great pleasure in broadening my mind acquiring languages. I'm thrilled to see connections between languages (a lot of differences between Italian and Spanish became clear in studying Greek) and take joy in rooting out traces of the Indo-European mother tongue (there's a reason miel and mead are similar).

All this said, I have a favorite word. It's in Spanish, but not natively: ojalá.

In school it was translated as "I hope" but makes no sense in its grammatical structure. No wonder: it's a devolution of Arabic inshallah, "God willing". Eight centuries of Moorish rule rubbed off on the locals.

As a performer I have a superstitious streak and I hesitate to take anything for granted. Ojalá is a wonderful way to sum up that attitude, without overt religious content or colonialist appropriation. Count me in!

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