Here is an example of a word group that dances its meaning in the mouth moving breath through its chamber. Language is physical. So, let’s

Start: an act of stiffening when surprised.

It can fill a range of situations from jumping into high energy from a point of rest to a fall off a cliff. The action here is a “start” or “startle.”

There is a stiffness to it.

From start we get “a start”, or a beginning. That is, however, only a small slice of the complete action. It is really a whole group of actions in the mouth, starting with a continuous flow of breath, a

sssssssssssss,

and moving to a trip, a sudden release of energy, a

ttttttttttttttttt!

that opens a half-open flow, one not of water but of breath, an

aaaaaaaaaaaaah,

and a run, a central stream or channel concentrating the flow, with the tongue digging deep up front and rising to constrict the flow at the sides, an

rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr,

and then closing down into a sudden trip, a

ttttttttttttttttt!

this time closing the energy, by releasing it to the air outside the mouth, from where it continues on until it…

Stops.

It is the same energy. What was the s-t-a-r-t of the mouth sculpting a dance, is now a s-t-o-p. The breath that is open in start is now guarded, held back in anticipation, and then all let out of the lungs at once at impact. It is a

Stop: the conclusion of a start.

Remember, these are one word for the mouth, differently danced in the language of the body. The mind follows. There are many other words in contemporary English that are other forms of the same energy. For example, there is

Stand: A lighter start that includes no movement. One rises into the air.

In its place are the

nnnnnnnnnnnn

of the foot pressing down to bind the depths of the mouth, the height of the nose and the top of the head in the nasal cavities, together into one bound pressure and the

dddddddddddd

of the toes lightly digging in. This is full body stuff.

A stand of cedar trees.

Compare it to another variation:

Stay: a stand that is held by tension.

Here, the ‘a’ o stand has been pressed to the top of the mouth by the back of the tongue, with an …

ay!

that is open and rising, yet never cut off. It never leaves its source, its s-t. The pressure placed on the “ay” determines the degree of strength behind the command. Related is

Stare: a narrowing of energy to a point,

which then drops off because no one can be so stiff for long.

Especially not a lonely young cow.

And on our oral word goes to

Stick: A forward start that then is pushed back and down the throat.

and

Stuck: A stick that has no movement at all. It’s deep in the throat, or in the mud of a swamp.

These energies of reversal and being bound get transformed into hand motions in

Tuck: A movement in place, without an approach,

and

Tick: A forward lighter movement, in which the tongue imitates the fingers by lifting high, then suddenly dropping down, like sewing the ticking into a quilt.

There are so many words in English, but to the mouth of an English speaker, these are all one word dancing various ways of startling. To modern English, they are various. To our bodies, they are one word. There are many, many more. Here are my notes:

Did you spot “talk” in there? Let’s go there next and dance our way forward to Stalk and Stork and Stirk. Talk to you then!