The psychology of language
Language is a very interesting thing. But, one of the most interesting arguments is whether or not language shapes thought.
I have, for a very long time believed that it does. I have, after reading the counter arguments learned to at least temper the amount of stock I put into it. But, I haven't yet abandoned it.
I will gladly admit that a lot of what I once ascribed to language driving thought, can largely be explained by cultural aspects. But, there is one thing which NEVER seems to fully go away.
The differences between the words people use most often.
One thing I've noticed while learning languages is that there are a lot of times and places where someone says "I wish there was a word for this in my language". And they then go on to describe what they are trying to say. Often succeeding quite well, and some times even (amusingly) summarizing it in one word.
Here is the question. Why do we need a word in one language to represent a word in another? I'm not suggesting we simply borrow the word from that other language. What I'm saying is, why don't we simply use the description of that other word? Or whatever words are nearest to it in our own language?
We have an urge to express what this word means. And we KNOW how to express, yet we exhibit a longing of not having THAT word in our language.
And, I would argue the answer is simple; it allows us to express the concept more concisely.
Go read a randomly selected paragraph in English. What you'll probably find is that most words in the sentence contain fewer than 6-7 letters. The sounds are easy to reproduce for most words. And most of the words sound "good" to ear.
Human beings are creatures of efficiency. We look for patterns, and then we look for ways to short cut them. We will tend to use words which are small over ones which are larger. We think in such words as well. We have a tendency over time to either shrink longer words which we have a common need for, or replace them with simpler words.
And so, we yearn for words from other languages, because we find in other languages that they evolved a different set of words that fit this criteria. And, incidentally, we tend to find that they use these words much more often than we do. Which in turn lends itself to a different default way of perceiving the world.
The Japanese word 'Natsukashii' was one such example. It it often translated as 'nostalgic'. 'Nostalgic' is a very rough word to say. It doesn't sound pleasing to the ear, even the definition generally has a pleasant association.
Even though 'Natsukashii' is longer and from a foreign tongue, it rolls off the tongue better. They don't have identical meanings. But I can't think of an example where it would be totally invalid to replace one with the other. And, if 'nostalgic' were a little more palatable, I can definitely see it being used more often and even developing a similar definition through overuse.
The interesting thing is watching my wife. She repeats random Japanese words at moments where she thinks they are appropriate. Including this one. All of the words she appropriates are ones which are either shorter, easier to say, or where the sounds line up more with the impression. 'Kawaii' instead of 'Cute' is another example from her. She uses both of these words FAR more often than their English counter parts. And that includes compared to before she ever learned the words.
The words are convenient to think and say. So, they come to mind more often. They solidify as words more often.
I don't believe language presents absolute barriers. I do believe there will always be a cultural element, and I also believe that speakers will through abuse, selective use and innovation continue to evolve the language for their needs. But, while it may not set hard limits, it also seems similarly easy to see that language does influence us.
My wife now sees the world through 'natsukashii' and 'kawaii' colored glasses. As such, she sees things now that she didn't see before, or sees them in different ways. But, neither of these words are things she doesn't have English equivalents for. I don't see her EVER referring to a car as a 'Kuruma' or a bike as 'Jitensha' though. They are longer, sloppier sounding words. Bike is a bit rough, but it is 1 syllable. Bicycle is smoother sounding, but it is a common word so we found a way to make is shorter and easier.
In short, if language didn't affect the way we thought and experienced the world, it is unlikely that we would experience such a longing for words from other languages. They wouldn't make us feel any or more less expressive because we would simply replace those words with their equivalents or a description in our own language. We yearn for these words because they express a concept more succinctly and we innately detect the value in that. We know we're not going to pull out the dictionary definition of another word every time we want to think of what it refers to.
On an average day, in an average thought or sentence, we're only going to bother thinking or saying something if we can do so in what we feel is an efficient way of doing so. Having words which are short, sound right, and are easy to say is a very important part of that.
As I said before, look at the average length of the words in a random paragraph, or even across a whole article. We gravitate, are drawn to, the simplest expression possible.
I have, for a very long time believed that it does. I have, after reading the counter arguments learned to at least temper the amount of stock I put into it. But, I haven't yet abandoned it.
I will gladly admit that a lot of what I once ascribed to language driving thought, can largely be explained by cultural aspects. But, there is one thing which NEVER seems to fully go away.
The differences between the words people use most often.
One thing I've noticed while learning languages is that there are a lot of times and places where someone says "I wish there was a word for this in my language". And they then go on to describe what they are trying to say. Often succeeding quite well, and some times even (amusingly) summarizing it in one word.
Here is the question. Why do we need a word in one language to represent a word in another? I'm not suggesting we simply borrow the word from that other language. What I'm saying is, why don't we simply use the description of that other word? Or whatever words are nearest to it in our own language?
We have an urge to express what this word means. And we KNOW how to express, yet we exhibit a longing of not having THAT word in our language.
And, I would argue the answer is simple; it allows us to express the concept more concisely.
Go read a randomly selected paragraph in English. What you'll probably find is that most words in the sentence contain fewer than 6-7 letters. The sounds are easy to reproduce for most words. And most of the words sound "good" to ear.
Human beings are creatures of efficiency. We look for patterns, and then we look for ways to short cut them. We will tend to use words which are small over ones which are larger. We think in such words as well. We have a tendency over time to either shrink longer words which we have a common need for, or replace them with simpler words.
And so, we yearn for words from other languages, because we find in other languages that they evolved a different set of words that fit this criteria. And, incidentally, we tend to find that they use these words much more often than we do. Which in turn lends itself to a different default way of perceiving the world.
The Japanese word 'Natsukashii' was one such example. It it often translated as 'nostalgic'. 'Nostalgic' is a very rough word to say. It doesn't sound pleasing to the ear, even the definition generally has a pleasant association.
Even though 'Natsukashii' is longer and from a foreign tongue, it rolls off the tongue better. They don't have identical meanings. But I can't think of an example where it would be totally invalid to replace one with the other. And, if 'nostalgic' were a little more palatable, I can definitely see it being used more often and even developing a similar definition through overuse.
The interesting thing is watching my wife. She repeats random Japanese words at moments where she thinks they are appropriate. Including this one. All of the words she appropriates are ones which are either shorter, easier to say, or where the sounds line up more with the impression. 'Kawaii' instead of 'Cute' is another example from her. She uses both of these words FAR more often than their English counter parts. And that includes compared to before she ever learned the words.
The words are convenient to think and say. So, they come to mind more often. They solidify as words more often.
I don't believe language presents absolute barriers. I do believe there will always be a cultural element, and I also believe that speakers will through abuse, selective use and innovation continue to evolve the language for their needs. But, while it may not set hard limits, it also seems similarly easy to see that language does influence us.
My wife now sees the world through 'natsukashii' and 'kawaii' colored glasses. As such, she sees things now that she didn't see before, or sees them in different ways. But, neither of these words are things she doesn't have English equivalents for. I don't see her EVER referring to a car as a 'Kuruma' or a bike as 'Jitensha' though. They are longer, sloppier sounding words. Bike is a bit rough, but it is 1 syllable. Bicycle is smoother sounding, but it is a common word so we found a way to make is shorter and easier.
In short, if language didn't affect the way we thought and experienced the world, it is unlikely that we would experience such a longing for words from other languages. They wouldn't make us feel any or more less expressive because we would simply replace those words with their equivalents or a description in our own language. We yearn for these words because they express a concept more succinctly and we innately detect the value in that. We know we're not going to pull out the dictionary definition of another word every time we want to think of what it refers to.
On an average day, in an average thought or sentence, we're only going to bother thinking or saying something if we can do so in what we feel is an efficient way of doing so. Having words which are short, sound right, and are easy to say is a very important part of that.
As I said before, look at the average length of the words in a random paragraph, or even across a whole article. We gravitate, are drawn to, the simplest expression possible.
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