Does Our Language Shape the Way We Think?
Leen Gharaibeh
(University of Jordan –Erasmus Student in Hacettepe University-)
(University of Jordan –Erasmus Student in Hacettepe University-)
From her Article that was based on her research; Lera Borodistky
starts with:
“Humans communicate with one another using a
dazzling array of languages, each differing from the next in innumerable ways.
Do the languages we speak shape the way we see the world, the way we think, and
the way we live our lives? Do people who speak different languages think
differently simply because they speak different languages? Does learning new
languages change the way you think? Do polyglots think differently when
speaking different languages?”
Here are some findings on how language can affect thinking
(Article from the Wall Street Journal):
1.
Russian speakers, who have more words for light
and dark blues, are better able to visually discriminate shades of blue.
2.
Some indigenous tribes say north, south, east and
west, rather than left and right, and as a consequence have great spatial
orientation.
3.
In one study,
Spanish and Japanese speakers couldn't remember the agents of accidental events
as adeptly as English speakers could. Why? Japanese and Spanish language speakers would likely say "the
vase broke" or "the vase was broken" when talking about an
accident.
4.
The Piraha,
whose language eschews number words in favor of terms like few and many, are
not able to keep track of exact quantities.
- Culture and expressions: can you translate the expressions you
use to sound just like how it is?
Safyah Almutairi
commented : in my experience, I think that our
responds are affected by the cultural background of the language we use for
example, when someone tells me some good news about him/her, my respond to it
in Arabic would be "masha'a Allah" meaning "god's will" or
" mabrook" meaning "congratulations". on the other hand, my
response in English is something like " that's great news",
"good for you", "let's throw a party". so, I have adopted
the culture of the English language although i am not a native speaker of
English and my response in Arabic was also controlled by the conservative and
religious background of the Arabic society and its culture. The English respond
might have suggested a social gathering or a party to express happiness where
the Arabic version of the same response suggested praise to god for allowing
this news to happen, that's what the Arabic response implies in meaning.
- I should tell a funny Arabic story, remind me
to!
❝If you
talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk
to him in his own language, that goes to his heart.❞ ‒Nelson
Mandela-
.jpg)
.png)
