Language and Cultural Values
I was thinking about language and how it affects a person. I'm certain that the grammatical, lexical, and semantic properties of a language influence how those that use it view and process the world around them. After all - they have to. Language is a part of your daily life.
For instance, consider that languages like Chinese, Japanese, and Korean have "classifiers" while Indo-European languages such as English, Spanish, French, and German do not. A classifier is a structure that defines an "object frame" or a reference point for object categorization.
English: "that umbrella"
Chinese: "nei ba yusan"
Yusan is umbrella, and nei is "that" while "ba" is the classifier. In this case ba signifies that the object can be grasped or held in one's hand. Chinese uses the classifier "duo" with nouns such as flame, cloud, or spray to indicate that these objects are shapeless. The important thing to note is that classifiers are not optional the way English adjectives are. While not every noun in Chinese has a classifier, when a noun is associated with a classifer it is generally mandatory that the classifier be used otherwise the sentence is not grammatically correct. Knowing this one could assume that Chinese speakers may see objects a certain way, such as graspable, while English speakers may not construe umbrellas in any one particular way since there is no predefined method.
Language can also provide a guideline for what values are seen as important in a culture. At a party I jokingly said, "See French is a lazy language and therefore the French are lazy. Then Chinese is so organized and requires high attention to detail, which is why the Chinese are such perfectionists. In addition, Chinese requires hearing slight tonal differences, which also correlates to why Chinese are typically good at music. Spanish is more sing-songy and then music is a big part of their culture. It makes sense that we speak and write all the time so how we use words can shape how we think." I was of course, talking out of my ass and half serious, but there might be some validity to what I'm saying...
The book "1984" sort of hinted at the power of words when describing newspeak and manipulating language for political reasons. This also makes me believe that someone out there has come up with this idea before and decided to do studies. What I'm concerned with is why I never hear about it. I hate the fact that news is nothing but common things that happen all the time mixed in with a rare sensational thing. I want to get something meaningful out of the news.
For instance, consider that languages like Chinese, Japanese, and Korean have "classifiers" while Indo-European languages such as English, Spanish, French, and German do not. A classifier is a structure that defines an "object frame" or a reference point for object categorization.
English: "that umbrella"
Chinese: "nei ba yusan"
Yusan is umbrella, and nei is "that" while "ba" is the classifier. In this case ba signifies that the object can be grasped or held in one's hand. Chinese uses the classifier "duo" with nouns such as flame, cloud, or spray to indicate that these objects are shapeless. The important thing to note is that classifiers are not optional the way English adjectives are. While not every noun in Chinese has a classifier, when a noun is associated with a classifer it is generally mandatory that the classifier be used otherwise the sentence is not grammatically correct. Knowing this one could assume that Chinese speakers may see objects a certain way, such as graspable, while English speakers may not construe umbrellas in any one particular way since there is no predefined method.
Language can also provide a guideline for what values are seen as important in a culture. At a party I jokingly said, "See French is a lazy language and therefore the French are lazy. Then Chinese is so organized and requires high attention to detail, which is why the Chinese are such perfectionists. In addition, Chinese requires hearing slight tonal differences, which also correlates to why Chinese are typically good at music. Spanish is more sing-songy and then music is a big part of their culture. It makes sense that we speak and write all the time so how we use words can shape how we think." I was of course, talking out of my ass and half serious, but there might be some validity to what I'm saying...
The book "1984" sort of hinted at the power of words when describing newspeak and manipulating language for political reasons. This also makes me believe that someone out there has come up with this idea before and decided to do studies. What I'm concerned with is why I never hear about it. I hate the fact that news is nothing but common things that happen all the time mixed in with a rare sensational thing. I want to get something meaningful out of the news.