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“The beauty of linguistic diversity is that it reveals to us just how ingenious and how flexible the human mind is,” Boroditsky says. … Those air vibrations are traveling to you, they’re hitting your eardrums, and then your brain takes those vibrations from your eardrums and transforms them into thoughts.
The idea that language can shape perception and thought — a hypothesis formally known as “linguistic relativity” — harkens back to the 1930s. This hypothesis asserts that language doesn’t just express ideas, it actively shapes them, determining how we understand the world around us.
It is concluded that (1) language is a powerful tool in shaping thought about abstract domains and (2) one’s native language plays an important role in shaping habitual thought (e.g., how one tends to think about time) but does not entirely determine one’s thinking in the strong Whorfian sense.
The fact that even quirks of grammar, such as grammatical gender, can affect our thinking is profound. … Language is central to our experience of being human, and the languages we speak profoundly shape the way we think, the way we see the world, the way we live our lives.
Languages don’t limit our ability to perceive the world or to think about the world, rather, they focus our attention, and thought on specific aspects of the world. There are so many more examples of how language influences perception, like with regards to gender and describing events.
All this new research shows us that the languages we speak not only reflect or express our thoughts, but also shape the very thoughts we wish to express. The structures that exist in our languages profoundly shape how we construct reality, and help make us as smart and sophisticated as we are.
So, how does language shape the way we see the world? … Thus, according to the Sapir-Whorf-theory, language is more than just a communication tool – it determines our perception of reality and influences our behavior. TIME. It may seem that the idea of “time” for all is the same but it turns out that it’s not that simple …
How does language help create our sense of reality? It gives meaning to events. Words used to label a event makes a difference on how we respond to it.
Psychologists have found that our subconscious mind interprets what it hears very literally. The words that come out of our mouth therefore create the reality we inhabit – for better or worse.
Language does not completely determine our thoughts—our thoughts are far too flexible for that—but habitual uses of language can influence our habit of thought and action. For instance, some linguistic practice seems to be associated even with cultural values and social institution. Pronoun drop is the case in point.
Language helps in determining the identity of an individual. Language may identify an individual with a certain social status, race, nationality, or gender. People who identify themselves with a certain group usually use a common language. In the family setting, people communicate using a certain language.
Learning a language goes beyond vocabulary, grammar and syntax. It also requires adopting a new way of thinking, and as your thought patterns change, so do your behaviors. Through this process of learning and practicing a language, you become more sensitive to culture, time and even your personality.
Language is intrinsic to the expression of culture. As a means of communicating values, beliefs and customs, it has an important social function and fosters feelings of group identity and solidarity. It is the means by which culture and its traditions and shared values may be conveyed and preserved.
The protagonist explains that “the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis is the theory that the language you speak determines how you think”.
7 Language, Culture, and Ideology
Edward Sapir and his pupil Benjamin Lee Whorf developed the hypothesis that language influences thought rather than the reverse. The strong form of the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis claims that people from different cultures think differently because of differences in their languages.
Lera Boroditsky, an assistant psychology professor at Stanford University, wrote the article “How Does Our Language Shape the Way We Think?” to illustrate to her readers that language, whether it is grammar or just the general logic, does indeed affect how we think.
Language is such a power concept because it has the ability to completely shape one’s personal Identity. The usage of words and phrases significantly impacts individuals’ thoughts and character/personal identity. … One of the major elements of language that initiates the development of self-identity would be the dialect.
Language also varies across time. Generation by generation, pronunciations evolve, new words are borrowed or invented, the meaning of old words drifts, and morphology develops or decays. … In isolated subpopulations speaking the same language, most changes will not be shared.
Culture influences the language that is spoken within its constraints as a society, such as how certain words are used in support of the culture. It’s through language that members of a specific culture communicate with each other and create bonds with each other.
Language is a vital part of human connection. Although all species have their ways of communicating, humans are the only ones that have mastered cognitive language communication. Language allows us to share our ideas, thoughts, and feelings with others. It has the power to build societies, but also tear them down.
Our social realities are constructed through language; and therefore, people with different experiences in, and understandings of, the world can define the same things in very different ways. … As a culture, as groups of people, and as individuals, we decide what words we’re going to use to define one thing or another.