Do you know that there are cultures that have words that mean nothing? Yes, believe it or not. Here in Cordillera, Philippines indigenous peoples have this word that they usually use in a chant or in a song–ay ay salidumaay, salidumaay diway! When you ask anybody what that means, nobody knows. Its the most popular word in their culture and it means nothing. Even the old people says it means nothing. But they usually say this word in connection with luck, or if they have an important endeavor that they want to be blessed. Or they just say this word just for the heck of it. They most often use it as a refrain in a song or as a group response to a chant. My own interpretation of this is that intuitively, the people know that all language is limited to capture the things that we really want to communicate. Actually the most intimate moments that we share with those we love are meaningful silences. The most intense emotions are filled with heavy silence. And when the heart is full, people would say, “i don’t know what to say.” And when you want to invoke the force of everything unknown in the Cosmos, you say words that don’t mean anything but captures all meanings, “ay ay salidumaay, salidumaay diway.”
