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Language and the way we think
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Table of Contents:
Introduction 2
1. Historical background 2
2. Language and the way we think 3
2.1. Categorization 3
2.2. Conceptualization 4
3. Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis 4
4. Linguistic picture of the world 5
5. Personal reflections on the topic 6
Conclusion 6
References 7
2. Language and the way we think
The language we speak and the way we think are closely connected, because language is the principal means that help people to formulate and convey their thoughts. Language is the reflection of the reality that surrounds us and at the same time it builds this reality, however his reality is not the same for different peoples. In his book Culture, Language, Personality Sapir writes:
“The fact of the matter is that the 'real world' is to a large extent unconsciously built up on the language habits of the group. No two languages are ever sufficiently similar to be considered as representing the same social reality. The worlds in which different societies live are distinct worlds, not merely the same world with different labels attached”. (Sapir 1949: 69)
These words demonstrate that language has an influence on the way its speakers think. As Federico Fellini said, “a different language is a different view of life”. (Samovar et al.
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2.2. Conceptualization
Another way of organizing information about the world that surrounds us is conceptualization. Valentina Maslova defines concepts as operational informative units of memory, mental lexicon, conceptual system, of the whole picture of the world reflected in the human psyche. (Maslova 2004: 31) There are universal concepts, that exist in every culture, but still differ from each other in some way. At the same time there are concepts that are typical of exclusively one culture. On the one hand, language captures and reflects concepts: “the conceptualizations that are expressed in the language have an experiential basis, that is, they link up with the way in which human beings experience reality, both culturally and physiologically”. (Geeraerts, Cuyckens 2010: 12) On the other hand, the concepts that exist in our language influence our perception of the world and attitude to it. It is always a reversible process.
3. Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
The idea that differences in structures of different languages determine how their speakers perceive and conceptualize the world is called the principle of linguistic relativity, also known as Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis. The principle was articulated by Benjamin Lee Whorf, who appreciated the work of Sapir.
Whorf’s main interest as a linguist was the Indian languages, especially the Hopi language, in which he recognized a fundamentally different categorization of the world compared to Indo-European languages. Because of this different categorization he supposed that the perception of objects is not based on our cognitive abilities, but on our language. Thus, the cognitive abilities are relative to natural language categories. The perception of the structure of the world changes from language type to language type without the world perception being restricted.
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4. Linguistic picture of the world
Language, concepts and culture are closely interrelated and must be analyzed together. According to Maslova, in the course of life people transform their experiences into certain concepts that connect with each other and form a conceptual system that is constantly changing and developing. This system is called a conceptual picture of the world, which is the result of information processing about the world. Accordingly, picture of the world can be described as a result of all human mental activity. (Maslova 2004: 48-50) Martin Heidegger also underlines the important role of people in shaping a picture of the world:
“Weltbild, wesentlich verstanden, meint daher nicht ein Bild von der Welt, sondern die Welt als Bild begriffen. Das Seiende im Ganzen wird jetzt so genommen, dass es erst und nur seiend ist, sofern es durch den vorstellend-herstellenden Menschen gestellt ist”.
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References
1. D’Andrade, Roy G.: The development of cognitive anthropology. Seventh printing (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003)
2. Cuyckens, Hubert, Geeraerts, Dirk: Introducing Cognitive Linguistics. In: The Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Linguistics. Ed. by Dirk Geeraerts and Hubert Cuyckens (Oxford University Press, 2010)
3. Heidegger, Martin: Sein und Zeit (Tübingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag, 1967)
4. Kuße, Holger: Kulturwissenschaftliche Linguistik. Eine Einführung (Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht GmbH & Co. KG, Göttingen/ Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht LLC, Bristol, CT, U.S.A, 2012)
5. Samovar, Larry A., Porter, Richard E., McDaniel, Edwin R.: Communication Between Cultures, Sixth edition (Belmont: Thomson Wadsworth 2007)
6. Sapir, Edward: Culture, Language, Personality. Selected Essays edited by David G. Mandelbaum (Berkeley, Los Angeles, Londen: University of California Press, 1949)
7. Weisgerber, Leo: Grundformen sprachlicher Weltgestaltung (Köln und Opladen: Westdeutscher Verlag, 1963)
8. Корнилов, О.А. Языковые картины мира как производные национальных менталитетов: учебное пособие – Москва, издательство «КДУ», 2011
9. Маслова В.А. Когнитивная лингвистика: Учебное пособие/Мн.: ТетраСистемсб 2004 – 256 с.
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