HIDDEN SYMB⊕LS in the ALPHABET

WALALATA When I read the Hopi word "walalata," I had an instant, intuitive connection to the meaning. All of my language instincts rushed into play. Each syllable spoke to me, especially the first, "WA," which sounded like water, and looked like a wave. Walalata... "WA," I mused. The peaks of those letters looked like a wave. "Wawa" sounded like water! "Lala" rolled off the tongue, like the playful lapping action of water. "Là", means "there" in French. "Lala" seemed like multiple places. La also reminded me of light. It gave me a sense of a glittering layer of waving water. "Ta" tipped the crests of the waves. "Ta" also reminded me of "esta", a form of the verb "to be" in Spanish. A state of being. Both the texture and the syllables of the word gave me clues to the meaning. As I read further, my hypothesis was confirmed. "Walalata" was about water. It embraced the shimmering play of an undulating surface of water, a collaborative merging of many ripples. What a beautiful, fun, and expressive word! Return to Lost Key Discovered in Water Hidden Symbols in the Alphabet Celeste Claire Horner, 2021