What is “Familect”
According to clinical psychologist Dr. Wendy Mogel familect is a “linguistics term that refers to the creative playful language made up of pet names, inside jokes, slips of the tongue that become part of the family vernacular. Often they are words that come from a shared story. Every household and social group in the world have a familiect. These words never make it into the dictionary. They are often inspired by cute words that come out of a child’s mouth”.
As I was shooting these grandparents (pictured above) wrestling with their grandkids, I heard them refer to this as burrowing. Similar to the digging thing rabbits do, this family defines it as “a form of roughhousing where you butt and burrow your head into the other person’s body (usually torso), resulting in a lot of laughter and eventual collapse.”
I remember the first time I heard this term (familect not burrowing) listening to the Nurture vs Nurture podcast. A lightbulb went off in my head, oh my god, this is the linguistics version of what I aim to do with my photography. Every time I have someone in front of my camera I want to capture the thing that is specific to them. And similarly, as an artist, I can offer something no one else can. As my photography mentor Jenna Shouldice said “don’t show me a family playing frisbee. Show me how the family plays frisbee.”
“Familiect is the linguistics version of what I aim to do with my photography.”
Since Dr. Wendy Mogel is the familect expert, I’ll leave you with these words from her: “In a world ever more public, it's ever more special to keep some things private and personal. For every parent to freely use affectionate pet names for their children, often and easily, but not in front of their friends. And think back to the pet names your parents called you or a grandparent called you. In our family group text, we will often just speak entirely in our familect. And it helps us right now as we are all living in different cities and it helps us feel both our personal family history and united in the moment. So it's a powerful tool.”
Does your family have its own familect? Special words or phrases that people outside your house wouldn’t understand. I’m looking to connect with families who would like to see how their familect translates into photos. Please reach out if something comes to mind because I have something special to offer just you.
Catherine