LANGUAGE AND THOUGHT

Nicholas Hanna

What do we do using our language? Generate Manipulate Record

Research Questions

Does the language we speak limit our thoughts?

Does the language we speak influence our thoughts?

Color

Setswana:1 word for both blue and greenGroup these items together1

English and RussianDo not group these items together

Grammatical Features

Chinese and Navajo1

Categorize items differentlyConsistent with features of their grammars

Quantity

Pirahã, of Brazil{ “One”, “Two”, “Many” }“unable to reliably tell the difference

between four objects placed in a row and five in the same configuration”2

Language trains us to segregatePractice makes perfect

Different languages demand we segregate different features

Intuition

We want a more expressive language More categories

EvidentialsAffixes to wordsSpecify the source of knowledge (witnessed,

inferred, …)Required in some languages

Evidentials

In languages with evidentials, children:Evaluate degree of certainty from a younger

age7

Differentiate between credible and non-credible sources from a younger age7

Are more reliable in court testimony7

What this means…

In English the idea behind the evidentialcan be represented by words or phrasescan be left out

In languages with evidentialsEvidentials are not optional

ThereforeEnglish is more expressiveThe “less expressive” language is linked

with the positive effects

Programming Languages

How we structure a problem?Recursive or Iterative?Parallel or Sequential?

Conclusion

Does the language we speak limit our thoughts?Maybe.

Does the language we speak influence our thoughts?Yes. Heavily.

Applications

Cross-cultural communicationAre speakers of different languages capable

of the same thoughts? Multilingualism

Benefits to learning multiple languages. Constructed language

Can we design a more capable language to enhance knowledge?

Can we accidentally hinder a language to the point of hurting knowledge?

References1. Arrieta Espinoza, Anita. “Language Culture and Thought: Toward a Reacquaintance

with the Whorfian Hypothesis.” Kanina. 27.2: 173-83.

2. Biever, Celeste. “Language May Shape Human Thought.” New Scientist.

3. Boroditsky, Lera. “Does Language Shape Thought? Mandarin and English Speakers' Conceptions of Time.” Cognitive Psychology. 43.1 (2001): 1-22.

4. Chafe, Wallace. “Language and Memory.” Language. 49.2 (1973): 261-81.

5. Chen, Jenn-Yeu. “Do Chinese and English speakers think about time differently? Failure of replicating Boroditsky.” Cognition. 104.2 (2007): 427-36.

6. Gobel, Eric. "Neural correlates of skill acquisition: Decreased cortical activity during a serial interception sequence learning task." NeuroImage. 58.4 (15 October 2011): 1150-7.

7. Matsui, Tomoko. “Knowing how we know: Evidentiality and cognitive development.” New Directions for Child and Adolescent Development. 2009.125: 1-11.

8. Skerrett, Delaney Michael. “Can the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis save the planet? Lessons from cross-cultural psychology for critical language policy.” Current Issues in Language Planning. 11.4: 331-40.

9. Tohidian, Iman. “Examining Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis as One of the Main Views on the Relationship Between Language and Thought.” Journal of Psycholinguistic Research. 38.1: 65-74.