Does our language affect the way we think?
Some say it does.
image: alltop.com
Languages are fascinating. When we speak a language different from our own, we all struggle sometimes to find the exact words for what we want to say. Sometimes the word we are looking for just doesn't exist and we then need to describe what we want to say.
Some languages have beautiful words for one particular thing, which sometimes precisely describes what you want to say, sometimes even the sound of the word seems to match it.
There are examples of languages that have no words for left or right, instead they use East, West, North and South, for example like the Sambali language in the Philippines. Language systems that use the words 'left' and 'right' are called egocentric system of coordinates, clearly as these are directions from your specific point of view; the other system is called the geographical system. Other languages do not distinguish colours, count numbers, or have a different structure. In spanish for example, if it is an accident you say "the glass broke itself", while in English you would say "i broke the glass".
How does this now affect the way you think or view the world?
In the last example of the broken glass, in the English language, you would remember the person who had the accident, in Spanish this is less likely the case. So this means it would affect your memory of what happened. Also in the English language, time is always closely related to money in using metaphors; in this sense it would affect your concept of time as being precious, in some other languages this is not the case. If you grow up with a language that defines male and female things, this would affect your thinking.
A language where you talk about "north-west" instead of "left-right" doesn't put yourself in the centre of the world. Instead, it would give you a certain 'internal' compass from a very early age, and this will certainly improve your spatial awareness and navigation skills.
It's a fascinating subject, and there is a lot more to write about it......!
(more to come....)
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