Marking

One of the ways to describe what happens in a language is to notice markers in language.  In English, the nouns are marked.  Nouns don't occur in English without marking it as singular or plural, general, specific, unmeasured, or abstract.  So, if I want to use the name of something, I have choices to make.  The first choice is to mark the word as plural or singular, which is done in a millionth of a second.  The next choice is to mark the name with specificity or not (a/an or the) followed by the choice of abstract or concrete, measured or unmeasured, both in about a hundred thousandth of a second.

We decided to move tables today.                             
We decided to move a table today.                           
We decided to move the table today. 

 I want coffee this morning.
 I want a coffee this morning.
I want the coffee I had yesterday.

Sometimes marking happens as a word in front of a noun.  Sometimes marking happens as a last letter in the word, a suffix.  Sometimes words are marked by word order.  For example, nouns appear both before and after a verb.  The one before causes the action when using active voice.  The one after receives the action. Thus, word order distinguishes between a subject noun and an object noun.

Volcanoes pour lava onto the ground below them.

Other types of words are marked as well so that English can be well understood by millions of listeners, but this part of the naming process of English is used as an example.

I know that my life has markers in its different compartments, too. I was brought up in a very strict and religious home.  That compartment of my life remains to this day because it has always been one of the possible categories for me in life.  However, I have chosen to mark it in different ways as I have traveled through my experiences.  The marking is one of the ways I communicate who I am to others.  Education is another compartment which I have marked.  Treatment of others, work ethic, view of rule-keeping - I have marked each of these categories for myself in different ways.

Love is no different.  I have marked this category in ways for others to understand as well.  One of the ways was by having children for posterity. But the most significant way was to designate one person as the one for whom my heart beats, life's one true love.  One of these was marked early in my life, one late, but marked nonetheless.  And the markings were made so that I could communicate who I am and what I mean so that anyone who sees me knows what the markings mean.  I didn't create the marking system, but I learned how to use it well and deliberately.