Six-year old Sam explores the words wer and wif
Yesterday, Sam’s brother and I spent time together. Because Paul is 12 he does not often come over to ask for help with homework. He had quite a difficult homework assignment yesterday and spent a good part of the morning at my house. I was not that surprised to see six-year-old Sam coming over this morning.
Sam: Hi Uncle Jim. Can we have waffles this morning?
Me: Sure we can. In fact I thought you might be coming over and have everything ready for us to make them. Do you want to help?
Sam; Yes, Uncle Jim.
Sam and I get her stool. I have all the ingredients, the waffle iron, and the kitchen tools we will need. I put her special apron on her and then we get started. She started by breaking the egg into the bowl. She has gotten quite good at that. As her helper, I take the proffered egg shell.
Sam: Uncle Jim, do you like Paul better than me?
Me: No, you are both very special to me. I love you both.
Sam: You spent a lot of time with Paul yesterday.
Me: Yes, when you get to be 12 it will take longer for your homework also.
Do you want me to pour in the flour and other ingredients now Sam?
Sam: Yes, Uncle Jim. Thank you.
Me: You are welcome. You are doing a really good job.
Sam: Will you see if it is stirred up enough Uncle Jim?
Me: I take the wooden spoon and begin to vigorously stir the batter which we have mixed in a large pyrex measuring cup. There. I think it is ready now. Shall I pour the first waffle?
Sam: Yes, please. It is too heavy for me.
Me: I pour the batter and close the lid.
How was school yesterday Sam?
Sam: Okay, but I have homework Uncle Jim.
Me: Really? What is your homework?
Sam: Well, yesterday Tommy said that girls were called woman because they are just a part of man – that God made girls out of the first boy. I got mad. The teacher told all of us to ask our parents and other relatives so we could talk about it on Monday.
Me: That is interesting homework. It happens that just the other day I was “curious” about this question. Do you remember what the word curious means Sam?
Sam; It means I want to know something like what you are going to get me for Christmas.
Me: Good job Sam. That is exactly what it means. I am not, however, going to talk about your Christmas present.
Sam: Sighs. Okay (sigh).
Me: Now to get back to your question. A long time ago the word man did not mean that that someone was a boy or girl. It just meant that they were a person. You know the word person, Sam?
Sam: Yes. We are both persons. Even Paul is a person!
Me? Yes. You, I, Paul, your mom, dad, and your grandparents are all persons.
Sam: (smiling) Oscar (the dog) is not a person.
Me. No. Oscar is a dog but very special!
Sam: So how did you know if a person was a male or a female.
Me: Well, a male/boy person was called a wer and a female person was called a wif! It was not until a 1000 years ago that a male person was called a man and it was not until about a 100 years ago that the word was used mostly to refer to male persons. We still use the word wer. You have heard the word. You remember at Halloween we were reading a story about werewolfs. Werewolf means man wolf. Isn’t that interesting Sam? (I had looked at an internet site: todayIfoundout.com)
Oh look. The steam has stopped. The waffles must be done.
Sam: Oh good. They smell yummy.
Me: Yes they do. Do you want blueberries on yours?
Sam: Yes, please.
Me: How about we spell out wif man on your waffle and wer man on mine – female person and male person or girl person and boy person.
Sam: What happens if I eat your male person waffle? (she giggles).
Me: I have a lot of blueberries. I will just have to put more on mine!!
Do you want syrup Sam?
Sam: And whipped cream?
Me: Yes and whipped cream. (I pour on the syrup and shake the whipped cream can before putting a generous helping on her waffle. I also pour her a glass of milk.)
Sam: These are really good. Should we cook another.
Me: Yes Sam. I will pour the batter on now.
Sam: Where did the word man come from Uncle Jim? Do all words come from somewhere?
Me: Well words have to be born just like people and just like people they change over time. You know at your house there are photographs on the hallway wall of you, Paul, both of your parents, both of their parents, and then photographs of the parents of their parents? They all look different.
Sam: Yes, I forget which one it is, but one of them look like this. (Sam makes a very stern face.)
Me: Yes, they are a little scary.
Sam: They sure are.
Me: So the word man had to be born. When it was born it meant to think. You know that statue in my study of the person holding its head in his hand. It is called the Thinker. This statue happens to be of a male but if it was a female thinking it would still be called a man meaning a person thinking.
Sam: Sometimes when I think my brain hurts!
Me: Yes, it feels that way sometime.
So, we have been talking about our English language. Sometimes in other languages certain words are born different. For example in Japanese …
Sam: Words in Japanses have long eyes?
Me: (hiding a smile). Not exactly “Man and woman in both Japanese and Chinese language - Otoko (男) and Onnna (女) in Japanese, Nan (男) and Njui (女) in Chinese” are very different words and have different pictures or “characters.” (English.stackexchange.com)
In this case, characters does not refer to how we behave but to how we draw the word. Perhaps we can draw these words later. Maybe we could use M & M’s to draw them!
Sam: Oh, let’s do.
Me: Okay, but since we had a lot of sweets for breakfast we will not be able to eat the words until another day!
Sam: I like eating the words.
Me: Yes, that is fun.
Sam: I am still not sure of what the answer to the teacher’s question is.
Me: Well, I think that there are two questions. Tommy is saying and many people believe that God made girls out of a part of boys.
Sam: Yuk!
Me: At any rate, that is a religious belief and many people have different beliefs. You remember that a belief can be different for each of us but not something which we can show another person.
Sam: Does that mean Tommy is right?
Me: No but it means that is what Tommy believes and that is okay.
Sam: What is the second question Uncle Jim.
Me: The second question is whether girls are less important than boys. They are not. You and your mom are just as important as Paul and your dad and they are just as important as you and your mom. Girls are just as smart and just as able to do things as boys are. Boys cannot tell girls what to do and girls cannot tell boys what to do. We have to learn to work together. You know at your house, you are not allowed to boss Paul and Paul is not allow to boss you just as mom and dad do not boss each other.
Sam: Paul tries to boss me.
Me: And sometimes I have heard you try to boss Paul.
Sam: Well..
The words are confusing Uncle Jim. Could new words be born?
Me: Yes, they are confusing because of how they have changed just like we people change. Some people do try using different words. For example, some people say mail person instead of mailman or sales person instead of salesman.
Sam: Do you think we should do that?
Me: Well, sometimes I think it is important to make sure that we know that a girl or boy can be anything that they want or that they are physically and mentally capable of being. Because words change it may be important to use words which makes boys and girls both feel included.
What do you think Sam?
Sam: Yes, I want to be included and I am not a man or a boy.
Me: I and your parents keep reminding you and Paul that you can both do any job or profession you want. There are not boy jobs and girls jobs. Well there are a few. Only girls can be mothers and only boys can be fathers.
Sam: You are silly Uncle Jim.
Me: I know. Shall we clean up now?
Sam: Okay, I guess.
Written November 20, 2015 #2
Yesterday, Sam’s brother and I spent time together. Because Paul is 12 he does not often come over to ask for help with homework. He had quite a difficult homework assignment yesterday and spent a good part of the morning at my house. I was not that surprised to see six-year-old Sam coming over this morning.
Sam: Hi Uncle Jim. Can we have waffles this morning?
Me: Sure we can. In fact I thought you might be coming over and have everything ready for us to make them. Do you want to help?
Sam; Yes, Uncle Jim.
Sam and I get her stool. I have all the ingredients, the waffle iron, and the kitchen tools we will need. I put her special apron on her and then we get started. She started by breaking the egg into the bowl. She has gotten quite good at that. As her helper, I take the proffered egg shell.
Sam: Uncle Jim, do you like Paul better than me?
Me: No, you are both very special to me. I love you both.
Sam: You spent a lot of time with Paul yesterday.
Me: Yes, when you get to be 12 it will take longer for your homework also.
Do you want me to pour in the flour and other ingredients now Sam?
Sam: Yes, Uncle Jim. Thank you.
Me: You are welcome. You are doing a really good job.
Sam: Will you see if it is stirred up enough Uncle Jim?
Me: I take the wooden spoon and begin to vigorously stir the batter which we have mixed in a large pyrex measuring cup. There. I think it is ready now. Shall I pour the first waffle?
Sam: Yes, please. It is too heavy for me.
Me: I pour the batter and close the lid.
How was school yesterday Sam?
Sam: Okay, but I have homework Uncle Jim.
Me: Really? What is your homework?
Sam: Well, yesterday Tommy said that girls were called woman because they are just a part of man – that God made girls out of the first boy. I got mad. The teacher told all of us to ask our parents and other relatives so we could talk about it on Monday.
Me: That is interesting homework. It happens that just the other day I was “curious” about this question. Do you remember what the word curious means Sam?
Sam; It means I want to know something like what you are going to get me for Christmas.
Me: Good job Sam. That is exactly what it means. I am not, however, going to talk about your Christmas present.
Sam: Sighs. Okay (sigh).
Me: Now to get back to your question. A long time ago the word man did not mean that that someone was a boy or girl. It just meant that they were a person. You know the word person, Sam?
Sam: Yes. We are both persons. Even Paul is a person!
Me? Yes. You, I, Paul, your mom, dad, and your grandparents are all persons.
Sam: (smiling) Oscar (the dog) is not a person.
Me. No. Oscar is a dog but very special!
Sam: So how did you know if a person was a male or a female.
Me: Well, a male/boy person was called a wer and a female person was called a wif! It was not until a 1000 years ago that a male person was called a man and it was not until about a 100 years ago that the word was used mostly to refer to male persons. We still use the word wer. You have heard the word. You remember at Halloween we were reading a story about werewolfs. Werewolf means man wolf. Isn’t that interesting Sam? (I had looked at an internet site: todayIfoundout.com)
Oh look. The steam has stopped. The waffles must be done.
Sam: Oh good. They smell yummy.
Me: Yes they do. Do you want blueberries on yours?
Sam: Yes, please.
Me: How about we spell out wif man on your waffle and wer man on mine – female person and male person or girl person and boy person.
Sam: What happens if I eat your male person waffle? (she giggles).
Me: I have a lot of blueberries. I will just have to put more on mine!!
Do you want syrup Sam?
Sam: And whipped cream?
Me: Yes and whipped cream. (I pour on the syrup and shake the whipped cream can before putting a generous helping on her waffle. I also pour her a glass of milk.)
Sam: These are really good. Should we cook another.
Me: Yes Sam. I will pour the batter on now.
Sam: Where did the word man come from Uncle Jim? Do all words come from somewhere?
Me: Well words have to be born just like people and just like people they change over time. You know at your house there are photographs on the hallway wall of you, Paul, both of your parents, both of their parents, and then photographs of the parents of their parents? They all look different.
Sam: Yes, I forget which one it is, but one of them look like this. (Sam makes a very stern face.)
Me: Yes, they are a little scary.
Sam: They sure are.
Me: So the word man had to be born. When it was born it meant to think. You know that statue in my study of the person holding its head in his hand. It is called the Thinker. This statue happens to be of a male but if it was a female thinking it would still be called a man meaning a person thinking.
Sam: Sometimes when I think my brain hurts!
Me: Yes, it feels that way sometime.
So, we have been talking about our English language. Sometimes in other languages certain words are born different. For example in Japanese …
Sam: Words in Japanses have long eyes?
Me: (hiding a smile). Not exactly “Man and woman in both Japanese and Chinese language - Otoko (男) and Onnna (女) in Japanese, Nan (男) and Njui (女) in Chinese” are very different words and have different pictures or “characters.” (English.stackexchange.com)
In this case, characters does not refer to how we behave but to how we draw the word. Perhaps we can draw these words later. Maybe we could use M & M’s to draw them!
Sam: Oh, let’s do.
Me: Okay, but since we had a lot of sweets for breakfast we will not be able to eat the words until another day!
Sam: I like eating the words.
Me: Yes, that is fun.
Sam: I am still not sure of what the answer to the teacher’s question is.
Me: Well, I think that there are two questions. Tommy is saying and many people believe that God made girls out of a part of boys.
Sam: Yuk!
Me: At any rate, that is a religious belief and many people have different beliefs. You remember that a belief can be different for each of us but not something which we can show another person.
Sam: Does that mean Tommy is right?
Me: No but it means that is what Tommy believes and that is okay.
Sam: What is the second question Uncle Jim.
Me: The second question is whether girls are less important than boys. They are not. You and your mom are just as important as Paul and your dad and they are just as important as you and your mom. Girls are just as smart and just as able to do things as boys are. Boys cannot tell girls what to do and girls cannot tell boys what to do. We have to learn to work together. You know at your house, you are not allowed to boss Paul and Paul is not allow to boss you just as mom and dad do not boss each other.
Sam: Paul tries to boss me.
Me: And sometimes I have heard you try to boss Paul.
Sam: Well..
The words are confusing Uncle Jim. Could new words be born?
Me: Yes, they are confusing because of how they have changed just like we people change. Some people do try using different words. For example, some people say mail person instead of mailman or sales person instead of salesman.
Sam: Do you think we should do that?
Me: Well, sometimes I think it is important to make sure that we know that a girl or boy can be anything that they want or that they are physically and mentally capable of being. Because words change it may be important to use words which makes boys and girls both feel included.
What do you think Sam?
Sam: Yes, I want to be included and I am not a man or a boy.
Me: I and your parents keep reminding you and Paul that you can both do any job or profession you want. There are not boy jobs and girls jobs. Well there are a few. Only girls can be mothers and only boys can be fathers.
Sam: You are silly Uncle Jim.
Me: I know. Shall we clean up now?
Sam: Okay, I guess.
Written November 20, 2015 #2
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