My cat Delilah seems to know the difference between night and day but she can't discuss what happened two days ago with me (or it seems to another cat) to share me how much she loved the petting session we had or hated that I was away all day long.
The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis claims that a culture's language has a significant impact on how the members of the culture perceive things. For example, in American English we use a lot of metaphors about battle and war. What is we replaced them with metaphors of dance? Would we perceive our interactions differently?
"I shot down all your points" vs. "I'm tired of dancing to those points"
"You're always attacking my points" vs. "You're always dancing around my points"
"I win." vs. "What a great dance!"
What about the metaphors we use to talk about love?
Below, I offer 3 examples to bring your into the anthropological world of language, into the study of linguistics. First, language change in English literature, then two quotes and finally a TED Talk video that I love. All is followed by a suggestion for comments.
Language Changes in Bible: (taken from Wesch lecture notes):
English 11th Century:
Fæder ure þu þe eart on heofonum; Si þin nama gehalgod
English about 1400 CE:
Oure fader that art in heuenis halowid be thi name ...
English 1611 (King James):
Our father which art in heauen, hallowed be thy name.
English 1963 (Phillips):
Our Heavenly Father, may your name be honored;
English 1970 (K. Condon):
Our Father in Heaven, let your holy name be known
On the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis (or the "linguistic relativity hypothesis"):
[Language] diversity is a diversity not of sounds and signs but of ways of looking at the world (Karl Kerenyi, 1976).
From a TED talk by anthropologist Wade Davis:
Language is not just a body of vocabulary or set of grammatical rules. A language is the flash of the human spirit. It is vehicle through which the soul of each particular culture comes into the material world. Every language is an old-growth forest of the mind; a watershed of thought; an ecosystem of spiritual possibilities....fully half [of 6000] are no longer whispered into the ears of children.
[22 mins TED TALK]
TRY IT ON (suggestion for comments): What kinds of metaphors do you notice yourself speaking as part of being male or female, Black, Caribbean, or Asian, as part of your student club, or your home country/nation? How have those metaphors or other uses of language shaped the way you perceive yourself and the world around you?
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19 comments:
http://ncowie.files.wordpress.com/2007/08/metaphor.gif
The link to the picture above shows a popular metaphor often used when we feel betrayed. Regardless of sex, it is common for us to be "stabbed in the back." I feel that this metaphor makes things more dramatic. Little things can be blown out of proportion as a result of labeling it differently.
There are alot of metaphors used in Indian culture. I'm fluent in Hindi, English and Punjabi. Our culture places alot of importance on family and heritage. So, the one metaphor you hear very often is 'Let the beacon of your family name shine bright like the sun,' and also, 'Don't play with my trust.'
Kottak writes "Our way of expressing the future as certain is so ingrained that we don't even think about it" and he juxtapositions this sociolinguistic quirk with the Portuguese language's grammatical system as an example for the axiom of the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis.
I find this interesting because it reflects on American norms, the optimism and individuality that is the trademark of American culture. While the Hopi of the Pueblo region and the Portuguese lagnuages seem to view the future much more skeptically, the Americans seem to characterize it in similar ways grammatically to the past and the future, which already exist (Hopi) and are already fact (Portugeuse).
Is that confidence and individuality a result of American history, vice versa or is it a bilateral, cyclic relationship of "feeding the loop?"
I find Steve's comment very interesting, I was thinking the exact same thing while reading the chapter... the idea that Americans are confident of their present and their future, maybe a sort of arrogance.
Hispanic culture usually has many metaphors to mean various things. Specifically in Peru there is one that mostly stands out which is
"Al mejor casador se le va la liebre"...which roughly translated means " Even the best hunter loses its prey". Meaning that you may be extremely wise in a certain subject, but you are human and for that reason you can make mistakes; so don't think you are invincible.
I found today's class very interesting. It is amazing how languages vary. Someone mentioned today how the Eskimo have a lot of words to signify snow. I just wanted to somewhat expand on that idea. Different spanish speaking countries have different ways of saying bus. For example: in Puerto Rico and Cuba, people say "guagua." In Ecuador, people say "bus." In Argentina, people call it the "colectivo." Meanwhile in Spain it is called the "autobus." All these countries are spanish-speaking. This just shows how language has developed over the years and is expanding.
Coming from a Chinese family, I feel it has affected how I percieve the world. The Chinese have a very patriarchical and male dominated culture. Although now a day we have changed our view on the equality of male and female some of those opinion are still active in our culture. In my family both my parents work and are the providers of the family, but their parents still acknowledge the oldest male of the family more than the others. Even though my generation has less of these biases I still have thoughts that males are superior to females like in sports or driving. Or that a woman's job is to take care of the house and the children. I know these ideas are biased and inccorrect so I hope the next generation can avoid such idea passed down from our culture.
Since I have met many Asian friends, especially Chinese and Japanese, found something interesting in Korean, Japanese and Chinese language. We all use different language 한글(Korean), 日本語(Japanese) and 漢語(Chinese). Each language has different grammer rules and even different characters. Despite the fact, some words' pronunciation is same or similar. As an example, there is a word "tea." Korean uses "차," Chinese and Japanese use "茶." But pronunciation is same "cha." I think this is because Asian countires share their culture.
the metaphor that comes to mind is "not the sharpest tool in the shed"... meaning some one is not very quickwitted or another way to describe is is after some one has a major "blonde moment." My guess is that this is mainly a metaphor used in the south or maybe in most rural areas. Honestly, who here has a tool shed (not a garage with tools but a shed)? The best example of when to use this is a girl that went to my sister's high school asked the teacher (seriously) "Why can't you walk to Italy??? It doesn't look that far away on the map." She apparently didnt understand the concept of scale or oceans..... Nor did she ever understand why her classmates were unable to take her seriously.
I believe that people from different parts of the world obviously have different beliefs and ways of thinking. For example, my boyfriend is from Portugal and they give two kisses when they greet someone. Americans generally give one kiss. Also, in Portugal the text says that they speak as if they don't know that the future may ever happen where as in America we speak like we do. I believe you can be raised in American and speak english yet two Americans may have completely different perceptions of the world however I think your culture shapes how you perceieve the world, so I guess since your language is apart of your culture then I would have to say yes it does shape how you perceieve the world.
In the French culture, we use quite often metaphors to describe something,to talk about someone or whatever it can be. As an example if something will never happen we say " quand les poules auront des dents" which means it will happen when hens will have teeth, which does not mean anything in English. Moreover, in Italy both men and women use body language, especially the hands when they talk and face expression as well, useless to specify that they have the tendency to talk very loud sometimes :)
I agree with Ashley, that "little things can be blown out of proportion as a result of labeling it differently." I read that as taking into consideration the context in which certain things are said; for example, the expression "Oh my G-d!" can have multiple meanings depending on the context, whether it is said to express astonishment, helplessness, or just for purposes of being dramatic. Language shapes the interpretation and therefore shapes how we perceive the world.
Through time I have noticed that when an individual speaks with either a positive or negative denotation the outcome of what they say becomes. ei: "I hope I don't forget the keys" Rather then, "I hope I remember the keys". The simple change in syntax and word choice affects the way their brain registers the thought. It is similar to the concept of time.
It might be a stereotype but among my friends, most of the guys speak with more vulgar words than the girls do. They can be more patronizing and more dominant in the words they use. Meanwhile, for the girls, they do not use the same type of patronizing vocabulary but a more intricate one. When I'm with my club, the things I say usually are relevant to my club or I refer to my club more often.
In the Chinese culture, the common names given to objects reflect what they do or what they are. For example, macaroni is literally translated to a "shallow noodle" because of the hole in the middle.
It is funny how one word can be perceived in many different ways. for example, in Mexico the word "bicho" or "bichito" means a little insect. But in Puerto Rico those words have a completely different meaning. (the certain part of the male body). Just like the word "ahorita" in Dominican Culture that word means "later" but in other hispanic cultures it means "now". This is related to the theory that languages shape the world and how we perceive it because even the same word can be viewed in a different way due to culture and customs.
JianYun,Wang
As an immigrant from China, I found one interesting things about how different language speakers understand the way speaking. When I said the same things and same words, English-speakers may not understand what i said and what i meant, so i need to extra explain my ideas and pronoun more precised. however, Chinese-speakers seldom have those problems with my English. The same thing also happen to me, when my friends speak English to me, i can easy understand what exactly their means, but sometimes i got confuse what their mean when English-speakers speak English to me.
Its funny that language is what shapes us all. For example most Hispanics speak Spanish but we can tell their culture by the way they talk and accent they give. From what I heard Colombians have an accent and most of the time say "parcero" which if im not mistaken means dude. Mexicans have their own saying of dude which is "guey" which is pronounced way. I never understood why or culture say "guey" but i got used to my culture and i don't mind speaking in spanish and saying "guey"
I also agree that language is a vital part to one's culture. After I read the essay, I realized that in Cantonese, there are many metaphors! For example, in order to say a fruit is rotten, we say, "the fruit is broken." The word that means broken in chinese could also mean rotten, or bad. One other metaphor is, "One foot aboard on two ships" which translates to, "having an affair; two-timing cheater". There are many more metaphors/idioms which do not make sense literally, but as a chinese speaker, we learn to know the meaning of them.
I agree with the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis that culture's language shapes how a person perceive the world. When we were born, we were born into a culture. When we learn to speak, we learn to speak that particular culture's language. Therefor, language from a different culture could bring a person a different point of view of the world. For example, in China, there's no such a holiday as "Thanksgiving", even though the word can be translated into Chinese, but it doesn't mean anything more than just the word itself. But to the Americans, it has a greater meanning because Thanksgiving is one of the most important events that took place in America history.
before entering our anthropology class, i had never quite thought about how a culture's language shapes how you perceive the world. but after reading about the sapir-whorf hypothesis and the chapter in the kottak, i feel so enlightened almost by what this statement says and means. i find it to be very true and it makes me think a little deeper into culture in general and its role in our lives.
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