TO WHAT EXTENT DOES LANGUAGE INFLUENCE THOUGHT? “LANGUAGE, IT IS NATURAL TO SAY, HAS TWO PRINCIPLE FUNCTIONS: THAT OF AN INSTRUMENT OF COMMUNICATION, AND THAT OF A VEHICLE OF THOUGHT. WE ARE THEREFORE IMPELLED TO ASK WHICH OF THE TWO IS PRIMARY. IS IT BECAUSE LANGUAGE IS AN INSTRUMENT OF COMMUNICATION THAT IT CAN ALSO SERVE AS A VEHICLE OF THOUGHT? OR, IS IT CONVERSELY, BECAUSE IT IS A VEHICLE OF THOUGHT, AND CAN THEREFORE EXPRESS THOUGHTS, THAT IT CAN BE USED BY ONE PERSON TO COMMUNICATE HIS THOUGHTS TO OTHERS?” -MICHAEL DUMMETT (VESSEY) The relationship between language and thought is still an emerging topic of discussion. Various opinions arise from philosophical, sociological and linguistic points of view. There are two main …show more content…
J., 2001) . Language is what allows us to have greater control over our thoughts insofar as it enables us to name our ideas and thus discriminate and distinguish more finely between them. Like Locke, Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889 – 1951) believed that language is a tool for communicating ideas. Although their theories might seem similar, Wittgenstein was more interested in the use of language and how it is related to the world rather than the ideas in the mind. In his early work, he tried to reduce German to basic components to show that the components of language have a one to one mapping on to the components of the world. He reduced the world to a collection of facts which match up to simple words in reality. This theory states that language mirrors the aspects of the real world; therefore the function of language is to picture reality. Words only have a meaning when they name objects. Later, Wittgenstein revised his views and realised that language did not mirror reality, it is the reality which depends on our language. Words have meaning when it is recognised by more than two people and not all words relate to objects in the world. For example “and”, “or”, and “when” have a meaning, yet they do not seem to exist as an object in reality (SILBY, 1998) .
It only takes one word to process the word language in a person’s mind, and that is purely the language that he/she speaks. Language is the immediate translator of communication. Author Thompson Olusegun Ewata writes in his book Business Communication for Academic and professional Purposes that “Language is a vehicle that we use in presenting ideas, thoughts, feelings, opinions to the world” (Ewata 2010). In other words, language is how people share with others all of the information they are processing. Science fiction author Philip K. Dick expands on this relationship between language and communication in his novel The Penultimate Truth, by demonstrating the connections and flow of information from the above-ground and below-ground people.
Have you ever wondered how we speak? How about why our communication is considered a language and other animal’s communication is not considered language? A wide range of beliefs exist on what defines language. Thus, by exploring the definition of language and lexicon, evaluating language’s key features, the four levels of language structure and processing, and the role of language in Cognitive Psychology, an understanding of what language is becomes clear. Let us begin by defining language and a term named lexicon.
Most questions of whether and how language shapes thought start with the simple observation that languages differ from one another. And a lot! Just look at the way people talk, they might say. Certainly, speakers of different languages must attend to strikingly different aspects of the world just so they can use their language properly.
Language is an incredibly powerful tool for communication and the words we use control the
Language is a tool that may be used in thinking, but it isn’t the sole basis of
In the words of George Orwell, “If thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.” Language has been spoken for over 350,000 years. It has expanded tremendously, but its power has never changed. The use of language shapes peoples' perceptions and the depth of interactions because it can demean, avoid, portray emphasis, persuade, and conceal from simple phrases such as “I feel like” and “just”.
The main reason that Boroditsky’s argument that language shapes our minds is valid is that the research she did with her teams covers a wide variety of aspects on this topic while still keeping her article cohesive. The first research Boroditsky introduces to her audience is the research on the Kuuk Thaayorre, which is an
Language can fill a story with vivid details and show emotion throughout words. The words we use make our imagination bigger and opens up a new experience. Only words can make us feel connect with other people. How we view words depends on how we think and express ourselves.
Linguistic relativity is the notion that language can affect our thought processes, and is often referred to as the ‘Sapir-Whorf hypothesis’, after the two linguists who brought the idea into the spotlight. Whorf writes how “Language is not merely a reproducing instrument for voicing ideas but rather is itself the shaper of ideas, the program and guide for the individual’s mental activity” (1956:212), and I will explain how it is able to do so. In this essay I will argue that certain ways of mental categorization, spatial cognition and reality interpretation, based on the characteristics of our specific variety of language, influence our perception of the world. I will discuss how languages divide up nature differently, and
Language is a cognitive function that most of us take for granted. It starts from early on, some say at conception, and it develops in complexity as we get older. It is an essential part of communication and without it its development would be greatly hindered. This natural process requires complex structures and reasoning, the bringing together of sounds and words to develop concrete ideas and thoughts. In this paper we will discuss the components of language and how it relates to cognitive processes.
In the article “Lost in Translation”, the author, Lera Boroditsky, maintains as her thesis that the languages we speak not only reflect or express our thoughts, but also shape the very thoughts we wish to express. Boroditsky begins the main section of her essay with the history of the issue of whether or not languages shape the way speakers think. Charlemagne was the first to think that languages do in fact shape the mindset of speaker, but Noam Chomsky rebutted this idea with his thought that languages do not differ much from each other, thus in turn proposing that linguistic differences do not cause a difference in thinking. Now with scientists
No matter where you are in the world, you are taught about language. Whether it’s in your home learning your language or in school trying to learn a foreign language. Although while learning language the notion is never really thought about or brought up that the language and way we speak can influence the way we think and interact. Phycologist and neuroscientist alike have spent years, with multiple different tests to see if there is a connection between the various languages that are spoken and the way people not only think but also how they go about their daily lives. She writes to not only her colleagues and neuroscientists but also to anyone in the general public that is genuinely interested in the connection between
The first thing that I was reminded of by this topic is the man and the woman question. We have always been wondering who came first in the world: man or woman? Scientifically it has not been proved yet that who came first. We cannot just come to a conclusion regarding who came first. The same is valid to knowledge and thought. Knowledge and thought are both inter-linked. I will be dealing each concept separately so that we can come to know the relationship between language and thought.
For all humans, language is the most common means of communication with others and it enables us to share our experiences and stories and to tell about our needs and feelings. For example, Yamamoto states that sociolinguistics see, it is ‘primarily through the use of language that people communicate with each other’ (1979: 146). We all speak one or more languages and as the main way of communication it is an important and vital part of our lives. There is many languages in the world and they differ from one another in many ways. But does the language we speak reflect to the way we see and experience the world around us? This paper will explore the question through the Sapir Whorf hypothesis and arguments for and against it.
Research by Lera Boroditsky (2001) posed many interesting questions regarding linguistic diversity and the resultant interplay between language and thought: whether linguistic diversity stimulates different ways of thinking, whether learning new languages changes the way one thinks, whether bilingual and multilingual people think differently when speaking different languages. Clark (2003) maintains that although language does not indicate a complete map of consciousness or thought, it is at least a “representational map” that varies across languages.