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THE RELATION OF HABITUALTHOUGHT AND BEHAVIORTO LANGUAGE

BENJAMIN LEE WHORF[EDITOR'S FOREWORD : Few people have been as well qualified as Benjamin Lee Whorf to ex-plain, from personal knowledge and study, what is meant by the expression, 'the structure of

language . ' A n o u t s t a n d i n g a u t h o r i t y o n t h e M a y a n a n d A z t e c c i v i l i z a t i o n s a n d o n A m e r i c a n I n d i a n

l a n g u a g e s , b e w a s i n t i m a t e l y a c q u a i n t e d w i t h l a n g u a g e s w h o s e b a s i c s t r u c t u r e s w e r e t o t a l l y u n l i k e

those of the Indo-European languages. What is even more to the point, Mr . Whorf was extraor-

d i n a r i l y s e n s i t i v e t o t h e n o n - l i n g u i s t i c c o n s e q u e n c e s o f l i n g u i s t i c b e h a v i o r . I t i s o b v i o u s f r o m h i s

w r i t i n g s t h a t , a l l t h e t i m e h e w a s i n v e s t i g a t i n g l a n g u a g e s , w h e t h e r a m o n g t h e P u e b l o v i l l a g e s o f

Central Mexico or among the Hopi in Arizona, he must have been watc hing what was going on-

what actions, what attitudes, what events accompanied or resulted from the utterances he was

s o c a r e f u l l y r e c o r d i n g .Among Mr . W h o r f ' s m a n y c o n t r i b u t i o n s t o l a n g u a g e s t u d y , t h e h i g h e s t p l a c e m u s t b e a c c o r d e d-at least in the eyes of those interested in general semantics-to his demonstration through

c o m p a r a t i v e l i n g u i s t i c s t h a t o u r d a y - t o - d a y o r i e n t a t i o n s i n l i f e , t o s a y n o t h i n g o f o u r ' r e a s o n i n g

p r o c e s s e s ' a n d o u r ' p h i l o s o p h i e s , ' r e s t u p o n t h e s t r u c t u r e o f t h e l a n g u a g e w h i c h w e h a p p e n t o

h a v e i n h e r i t e d . O u r ' c o m m o n s e n s e , ' o u r m o s t b a s i c ' i n t u i t i o n s ' i n t o t h e ' n a t u r e o f t h i n g s , ' o u r

d i c h o t o m y o f ' f o r m ' a n d ' s u b s t a n c e , ' o u r n o t i o n s o f ' t i m e , ' ' s p a c e , ' a n d ' m a t t e r , ' a n d e v e n o u r

l i f e - h a b i t s a n d o u r s o c i a l i n s t i t u t i o n s a r e s h a p e d t o a degree hitherto unsuspected, Mr . Whorf

b e l i e v e d , b y t h e s t r u c t u r a l i z a t i o n s w h i c h o u r l a n g u a g e s i m p o s e u p o n t h e f l u x o f e x p e r i e n c e .

'The Relation of Habitual Thought and Behavior to Language' combines Mr . W h o r f ' s e x p e r i -

e n c e s a s a n t h r o p o l o g i s t , l i n g u i s t , g r a m m a r i a n , a n d f i r e i n s u r a n c e e x e c u t i v e . Born i n 1897 in

Winthrop, Mass . , h e w a s a g r a d u a t e o f M I . T . , a n d s e r v e d a s a p r i v a t e i n t h e e n g i n e e r i n g c o r p sduring World War I . I n 1 9 1 9 h e j o i n e d t h e H a r t f o r d F i r e I n s u r a n c e C o m p a n y , a n d w a s a s s i s t a n t

s e c r e t a r y o f t h e c o m p a n y a t t h e t i m e o f h i s d e a t h , J u l y 2 6 , 1 9 4 1 . He began his study of Aztec

a n d M a y a n c u l t u r e s , a s a h o b b y , i n 1 9 2 5 . W i t h i n a f e w y e a r s h e h a d b e c o m e o n e o f t h e n a t i o n ' s

l e a d i n g A m e r i c a n i s t s . M a n y o f h i s a r t i c l e s , t h e r e s u l t s o f f i e l d w o r k i n M e xi c o a n d t h e S o u t h w e s t

a s w e l l a s o f p r i v a t e s t u d y , w e r e p u b l i s h e d i n Technology Review . Two o f h i s a r t i c l e s , ' L a n -guages and Logic,' published in Papers from the Second American Congress of General Se-

m a n t i c s , and 'Science and Linguistics,' repri nted as an appendix to Hayakawds Language in

A c t i o n , a r e a l r e a d y f a m i l i a r t o s t u d e n t s o f g e n e r a l s e m a n t i c s . A more complete biography with

b i b l i o g r a p hy w i l l b e f o u n d i n t h e N a t i o n a l C y c l o p e d i a o f A m e r i c a n B i o g r a p h y .

T h e p r e s e n t a r t i c l e i s r e p r i n t e d b y p e r m i s s i o n f r o m L a n g u a g e , C u l t u r e , a n d P e r s o n a l i t y : E s s a y s

in Memory of Edward Sapir (Menasha, Wiscons in, 1941) . ]

TH E R E w i l l p r o b a b l y b e g e n e r a l a s s e n t

t o t h e , p r o p o s i t i o n t h a t a n a c c e p t e d

p a t t e r n o f u s i n g w o r d s i s o f t e n p r i o r t o

c e r t a i n l i n e s o f t h i n k i n g a n d f o r m s o f

b e h a v i o r , b u t h e w h o a s s e n t s o f t e n s e e s

i n s u c h a s t a t e m e n t n o t h i n g m o r e t h a n a

p l a t i t u d i n ou s r e c o g n i t i o n o f t h e h y p n o t i c

p o w e r o f p h i l o s o p h i c a l a n d l e a r n e d t e r m -

i n o l o g y o n t h e o n e h a n d o r o f c a t c h w o r d s ,

1 9 7

s l o g a n s , a n d r a l l y i n g - c r i e s o n t h e o t h e r .

T o se e on l y t h us f ar i s t o m i s s t he p o i n t

o f o n e o f t h e i m p o r t a n t i n t e r c o n n e c t i o n s

w h i c h S a p i r s a w b e t w e e n l a n g u a g e , c u l -

t u r e , a n d p s y c h o l o g y , a n d s u c c i n c t l y e x -

p r e s s e d i n t h e i n t r o d u c t o r y q u o t a t i o n . * I t

i s n o t s o m u c h i n t h e s e s p e c i a l u s e s o f

l a n g u a g e a s i n i t s c o n s t a n t w a y s o f a r r a n g -

* S e e n e x t p a g e .

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E T C . : A R E VI E W OF G E NE R A L S E M A NT I C S

i n g d a t a a n d i t s m o s t o r d i n a r y e v e r y - d a y

analysis of phenome na that we need to

recognize the influence it has on other

a c t i v i t i e s , c u l t u r a l a n d p e r s o n a l .

T h e N a m e o f t h e S i t u a t i o n

a s A f f e c t i n g B e h a v i o r

I c a m e i n t o u c h w i t h a n a s p e c t o f t h i s

problem before I had studied under Dr .

S a p i r , a n d i n a f i e l d u s u a l l y c o n s i d e r e d

remote from linguistics . It was in the

c o u r s e o f m y p r o f e s s i o n a l w o r k f o r a f i r e

insurance company, in which I undertook

the task of analyzing many hundreds of

r e p o r t s o f c i r c u m s t a n c e s s u r r o u n d i n g t h e

s t a r t o f f i r e s , a n d i n s o m e c a s e s , o f e x -

p l o s i o n s . M y a n a l y s i s w a s d i r e c t e d t o w a r d

p u r e l y p h y s i c a l c o n d i t i o n s , s u c h a s d e f e c -

t i v e w i r i n g , p r e s e n c e o r l a c k o f a i r s p a c e s

between metal flues and woodwork, etc . ,

and the results were presented in these

terms. Indeed it was undertaken with no

t h o u g h t t h a t a n y o t h e r s i g n i f i c a n c e s w o u l d

o r c o u l d b e r e v e a l e d . B u t i n d u e c o u r s e i t

became evident that not only a physical

s i t u a t i o n qu a p h y s i c s , b u t t h e m e a n i n g o f

t h a t s i t u a t i o n t o p e o p l e , w a s s o m e t i m e s a

f a c t o r , t h r o u g h t h e b e h a v i o r o f t h e p e o -

p l e , i n t h e s t a r t o f t h e f i r e . And this

factor of meaning was clearest when it

wa s a l i n g u i s t i c m e a n i n g , r e s i d i n g i n t h e

name or the linguistic description com-

monly applied to the situation . Thus

a r o u n d a s t o r a g e o f w h a t a r e c a l l e d ' g a s o -

l i n e d r u m s ' b e h a v i o r w i l l t e n d t o a c e r t a i n

t y p e , t h a t i s , g r e a t c a r e w i l l b e e x e r c i s e d ;

w h i l e a r o u n d a s t o r a g e o f w h a t a r e c a l l e d

' e m p t y g a s o l i n e d r u m s ' i t w i l l t e n d t o b e

d i f f e r e n t - c a r e l e s s , w i t h l i t t l e r e p r e s s i o n

o f s m o k i n g o r o f t o s s i n g c i g a r e t t e s t u b s

a b o u t . Y e t t h e ' e m p t y ' d r u m s a r e p e r h a p s

the more dangerous, since they contain

e x p l o s i v e v a p o r . P h y s i c a l l y t h e s i t u a t i o n i s

h a z a r d o u s , b u t t h e l i n g u i s t i c a n a l y s i s a c -

cording to regular analogy must employ

1 9 8

the word 'empty,' which inevitably sug-

g e s t s l a c k o f h a z a r d . T h e w o r d ' e m p t y ' i s

u s e d i n t w o l i n g u i s t i c p a t t e r n s : (1) as a

v i r t u a l s y n o n y m f o r ' n u l l a n d v o i d , n e g a -

t i v e , i n e r t , ' ( 2 ) applied in analysis of

p h y s i c a l s i t u a t i o n s w i t h o u t r e g a r d t o , e . g . ,

v a p o r , l i q u i d v e s t i g e s , o r s t r a y r u b b i s h , i n

t h e c o n t a i n e r . The situation is named in

one pattern (2 ) and the name is then

' a c t e d o u t ' o r ' l i v e d u p t o ' i n a n o t h e r (1) ;

t h i s b e i n g a g e n e r a l f o r m u l a f o r t h e l i n -

g u i s t i c c o n d i t i o n i n g o f b e h a v i o r i n t o h a z -

ardous forms .

I n a w o o d d i s t i l l a t i o n p l a n t t h e m e t a l

s t i l l s w e r e i n s u l a t e d w i t h a c o m p o s i t i o n

'Human beings do not live in the ob-

jective world alone, nor alone in the

w o r l d o f s o c i a l a c t i v i t y a s o r d i n a r i l y un-

d e r s t o o d , b u t a r e v e r y m u c h a t t h e m e r c y

o f t h e p a r t i c u l a r l a n g u a g e w h i c h h a s b e -

c o m e t h e m e d i u m o f e x p r e s s i o n f o r t h e i r

s o c i e t y . I t i s q u i t e a n i l l u s i o n t o i m a g i n e

t h a t o n e a d j u s t s t o r e a l i t y e s s e n t i a l l y w i t h -

o u t t h e u s e o f l a n g u a g e a n d t h a t l a n g u a g e

i s m e r e l y a n i n c i d e n t a l m e a n s of s o l v i n gs p e c i f i c p r o b l e m s o f c o m m u n i c a t i o n o r r e -

f l e c t i o n . T h e f a c t o f t h e m a t t e r i s t h a t t h e

' r e a l w o r l d ' i s t o a l a r g e e x t e n t u n c o n -

s c i o u s l y b u i l t u p o n t h e l a n g u a g e h a b i t s o f

the group . . . . W e s e e a n d h e a r a n d o t h e r -

w i s e e x p e r i e n c e v e r y l a r g e l y a s w e d o b e -

c a u s e t h e l a n g u a g e h a b i t s o f o u r c o m m u -n i t y p r e d i s p o s e c e r t a i n c h o i c e s o f i n t e r p r e -

t a t i o n : - E n w A R w S A P I R , 'The Status of

L i n g u i s t i c s a s a S c i e n c e , ' Langu age, Vol .

V, p p . 209-210 (1929) .

prepared from limestone and called at

the plant 'spun limestone .' No attempt

was made to protect this covering from

excessive heat or the contact of flame .

A f t e r a p e r i o d o f u s e t h e f i r e b e l o w o n e

o f t h e s t i l l s s p r e a d t o t h e ' l i m e s t o n e , '

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RELATION OF HABITUAL THOUGHT AND BEHAVIOR TO LANGUAGEwhich to everyone's great surprise burned

vigor ously . Exposure to acetic acid fumes

from the stills had converted part of the

limestone (calcium carbonate) to calcium

acetate . T h i s w h e n h e a t e d i n a f i r e d e -

c o m p o s e s , f o r m i n g i n f l a m m a b l e a c e t o n e .

Behavior that tolerated fire close to the

covering was induced by use of the name

' l i m e s t o n e , ' w h i c h b e c a u s e i t e n d s i n

'-stone' implies noncombustibility .

A huge iron kettle of boiling varnish

w a s o b s e r v e d t o b e o v e r h e a t e d , n e a r i n g

the temperature at which it would ignite .

T h e o p e r a t o r m o v e d i t o f f t h e f i r e a n d

ran it on its wheels to a distance, but

did not cover it . I n a m i n u t e o r s o t h e

varnish ignited . Here the linguistic influ-

e n c e i s m o r e c o m p l e x ; it is due to the

metaphorical objectifying (of which more

later) of ` cause' as contact or the spatial

juxtaposition of 'things'-to analyzing the

situation as 'on' versus 'off' the fire . In

reality the stage when the external fire

was the main factor had passed ; the over-

h e a t i n g w a s n o w a n i n t e r n a l p r o c e s s o f

c o n v e c t i o n i n t h e v a r n i s h f r o m t h e i n -

t e n s e l y h e a t e d k e t t l e , a n d s t i l l c o n t i n u e d

when 'off' the fire .

A n e l e c t r i c g l o w h e a t e r o n t h e w a l l

was little used, and for one workman had

the meaning of a convenient coat-hanger .

At night a watchman entered and snapped

a switch, which action he verbalized as

'turning on the light .' No light appeared,

and this result he verbalized as 'light is

b u r n e d o u t . ' H e c o u l d n o t s e e t h e g l o w

of the heater because of the old coat hung

on it. Soon the heater ignited the coat,

which set fire to the building .

A tannery discharged waste water con-

t a i n i n g a n i m a l m a t t e r i n t o a n o u t d o o r

s e t t l i n g b a s i n p a r t l y r o o f e d w i t h w o o d

and partly open . This situation is one that

ordinarily would be verbalized as 'pool

o f w a t e r.' A workman had occasion to

light a blow-torch nearby, and threw his

199

match into the water . But the decompos-

ing waste matter was evolving gas under

t h e w o o d c o v e r , s o t h a t t h e s e t u p w a s

the reverse of 'watery .' An instant flare

o f f l a m e i g n i t e d t h e w o o d w o r k , a n d t h e

fire quickly spread into 'the adjoining

building .

A d r y i n g r o o m f o r h i d e s w a s a r r a n g e d

with a blower at one end to make a c ur-

r e n t o f a i r a l o n g t h e r o o m a n d t h e n c e

outdoors through a vent at the other end .

Fire started at a hot bearing on the

b l o w e r , w h i c h b l e w t h e f l a m e s d i r e c t l y

into the hides and fanned them along the

room, destroying the entire stock . This

hazardous setup followed naturally from

the term 'blower' with its linguistic equiva-

l e n c e t o ' t h a t w h i c h b l o w s , ' i m p l y i n g t h a t

its function necessarily is to 'blow .' Also

i t s f u n c t i o n i s v e r b a l i z e d a s ' b l o w i n g a i r

for drying,' overlooking that it can blow

other things, e. g . , flames and sparks . In

reality a blower simply makes a current

of air and can exhaust a s w e l l a s b l o w .

It should have been installed at the vent

e n d t o d r a w t h e air over the hides, then

t h r o u g h t h e h a z a r d ( i t s o w n c a s i n g a n d

b e a r i n g s ) a n d t h e n c e o u t d o o r s .

Beside a coal-fired melting pot for lead

r e c l a i m i n g w a s d u m p e d a p i l e o f ' s c r a p

lead'-a misleading verbalization, for it

consisted of the lead sheets of old radio

condensers, which still had p a r a f f i n p a p e rbetween them . Soon the paraffin blazedup and fired the roof, half of which was

burned off .

S uch examples, which could be greatly

multiplied, will suffice to show how the

cue to a certain line of behavior is often

given by the analogies of the linguistic

formula in which the situation is spoken

o f , a n d b y w h i c h t o s o m e d e g r e e i t i s

analyzed, classifi ed, and allotted its place

in that world which is 'to a large extent

u n c o n s c i o u s l y b u i l t u p o n t h e l a n g u a g e

habits of the group . ' A n d w e a l w a y s a s -

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ETC : A REVIEW OF GENERAL SEMANTICSsume that the linguistic analysis made by

our group reflects reality better than it

does .

Grammatical Patterns as Inter-

p r e t a t i o n s o f E x p e r i e n c e

T h e l i n g u i s t i c m a t e r i a l i n t h e a b o v e

examples is limited to single words,

p h r a s e s a n d p a t t e r n s o f l i m i t e d r a n g e .

On e c a n n o t s t u d y t h e b e h a v i o r a l c o m -

pulsiveness of such material without sus-

p e c t i n g a m u c h m o r e f a r - r e a c h i n g c o m -

p u l s i o n f r o m l a r g e - s c a l e p a t t e r n i n g o f

g r a m m a t i c a l c a t e g o r i e s, s u c h a s p l u r a l i t y ,

gender and similar classifications (ani-

mate, inanimate, etc .), tenses, voices, and

other verb forms, classifications of the

type of 'parts of speech,' and the matter

of whether a given experience is denoted

b y a u n i t m o r p h e m e , a n i n f l e c t e d w o r d ,

or a syntactical combination . A c ateg ory

s u c h a s n u m b e r ( s i n g u l a r v s . plural) is

a n a t t e m p t e d i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f a w h o l e

large order of experience, virtually of the

world or of nature ; it attempts to say how

experience is to be segmented, what ex-

perience is to be called 'one' and what

' s e v e r a l .' But the difficulty of appraising

s u c h a f a r - r e a c h i n g i n f l u e n c e i s g r e a t b e -

c a u s e o f i t s b a c k g r o u n d c h a r a c t e r , b e c a u s e

of the difficulty of standing aside from

our own language, which is a habit and a

cultural n o n e s t d i s p u t a n d u m , and scru-

tinizing it objectively . A n d i f w e t a k e a

very dissimilar language, this language

b e c o m e s a p a r t o f n a t u r e , a n d w e e v e n

d o t o i t w h a t w e h a v e a l r e a d y d o n e t o

nature. We tend to think in our ownlanguage in order to examine the exotic

l a n g u a g e . Or we find the task of un-

raveling the purely morphological intric-

acies so gigantic th at it seems to absorb

a l l e l s e . Yet the problem, though difficult,

is feasible ; and the best approach is

t h r o u g h a n e x o t i c l a n g u a g e , f o r i n i t s

study we are at long last pushed willy-

20 0

f i l l y out of our ruts. Then we f ind that

the exotic language is a mirror held up

t o o u r o w n .

In my study of the Hopi language,what I now see as an opportunity to work

on this problem was first thrust upon me

before I was clearly aware of the prob-

lem. T h e s e e m i n g l y e n d l e s s t a s k o f d e -

scribing the morphology did finally end .

Yet it was evident, especially in the light

of S apir's lectures on Navaho, that the

d e s c r i p t i o n o f t h e l a n g u a g e w a s f a r f r o m

c o m p l e t e . I k n e w f o r e x a m p l e t h e m o r -

phological formation of plurals, but not

h o w t o u s e p l u r a l s . It was evident that the

c a t e g o r y o f p l u r a l i n H o p i w a s n o t t h e

same thing as in English, French, or

German . Certain things that were pluralin these languages were singular in Hopi .

T h e p h a s e o f i n v e s t i g a t i o n w h i c h n o w

b e g a n c o n s u m e d n e a r l y t w o m o r e y e a r s .

The work began to assume the character

o f a c o m p a r i s o n b e t w e e n H o p i a n d w e s t -

e r n E u r o p e a n l a n g u a g e s . It also became

e v i d e n t t h a t e v e n t h e g r a m m a r o f H o p i

bore a relation to Hopi culture, and the

grammar of European tongues to ourown 'western' or 'European' culture . A n d

it appeared that the interrelation brought

in those large subsummations of experi-

ence by language, such as our terms'time,' 'space,' 'substance,' and 'matter

. '

Since with respect to the traits compared

there is little difference between English,

F r e n c h , G e r m a n , o r o t h e r E u r o p e a n l a n -

g u a g e s w i t h t h e p o s s i b l e (but doubtful)

exception of Balto-S lavic and non-Indo-

European, I have lumped these languages

into one group called S AE, or 'S tandard

A v e r a g e E u r o p e a n . '

That portion of the whole investigation

here to be reported may be summed up in

two questions : (1) Are our own concepts

of 'time,' 'space,' and 'matter' given in

substantially the same form by experience

to all men, or are they in part conditioned

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RELATION OF HABITUAL THOUGHT AND BEHAVIOR TO LANGUAGEb y t h e s t r u c t u r e o f p a r t i c u l a r l a n g u a g e s ?

(2) A r e t h e r e t r a c e a b l e a f f i n i t i e s b e t w e e n

(a) cultural and behavioral norms and

( b ) l a r g e - s c a l e l i n g u i s t i c p a t t e r n s ? I

s h o u l d b e t h e l a s t t o p r e t e n d t h a t t h e r e

i s a n y t h i n g s o d e f i n i t e a s ' a c o r r e l a t i o n '

b e t w e e n c u l t u r e a n d l a n g u a g e , a n d e s p e -

c i a l l y b e t w e e n e t h n o l o g i c a l r u b r i c s s u c h

a s ' a g r i c u lt u r a l , ' ' h u nt i n g , ' e t c . , a n d l i n -

g u i s t i c o n e s l i k e ' i n f l e c t e d , ' ' s y n t h e t i c , ' o r

' i s o l a t i n g ." When I began the study the

p r o b l e m w a s b y n o m e a n s s o c l e a r l y f o r m -

u l a t e d a n d I h a d l i t t l e n o t i o n t h a t t h e a n -

s w e r s w o u l d t u r n o u t a s t h e y d i d .

Plurality and Numeration

i n S A E a n d H o p i

I n o u r l a n g u a g e , t h a t i s S A E , p l u r a l i t y

a n d c a r d i n a l n u m b e r s a r e a p p l i e d i n t w o

ways : to real plurals and imaginary

p l u r a l s . O r m o r e e x a c t l y i f l e s s t e r s e l y :

p e r c e p t i b l e s p a t i a l a g g r e g a t e s a n d m e t a -

p h o r i c a l a g g r e g a t e s . We say 'ten men'

a n d a l s o ' t e n d a y s . ' T e n m e n e i t h e r a r e

o r c o u l d b e o b j e c t i v e l y p e r c e i v e d a s t e n ,

ten in one group-perception-ten men

o n a s t r e e t c o r n e r , f o r i n s t a n c e . B u t ' t e n

d a y s ' c a n n o t b e o b j e c t i v e l y e x p e r i e n c e d .

W e e x p e r i e n c e o n l y o n e d a y , t o - d a y ; t h e

o t h e r n i n e ( o r e v e n a l l t e n ) a r e s o m e -

t h i n g c o n j u r e d u p f r o m m e m o r y o r

i m a g i n a t i o n . I f ' t e n d a y s ' b e r e g a r d e d a s

a g r o u p i t m u s t b e a s a n ' i m a g i n a r y , ' m e n -

t a l l y c o n s t r u c t e d g r o u p . Whence comes

t h i s m e n t a l p a t t e r n ? J u s t a s i n t h e c a s e o f

' W e h a v e p l e n t y o f e v i d e n c e t h a t t h i s i s n o t

t h e c a s e . C o n s i d e r o n l y t h e H o p i a n d t h e U t e ,

w i t h l a n g u a g e s t h a t o n t h e o v e r t m o r p h o l o g i c a l

a n d l e x i c a l l e v e l a r e a s s i m i l a r a s , s a y , E n g l i s h

and G erman . T h e i d e a o f ' c o r r e l a t i o n ' b e t w e e n

l a n g u a g e a n d c u l t u r e , i n t h e g e n e r a l l y a c c e p t e d

s e n s e o f c o r r e l a t i o n , i s c e r t a i n l y a m i s t a k e n o n e .

' A s w e s a y , ' t e n a t t h e same t i m e , ' s h o w i n g

t h a t i n o u r l a n g u a g e a n d t h o u g h t w e r e s t a t e t h e

f a c t o f g r o u p - p e r c e p t i o n i n t e r m s o f a c o n c e p t

' t i m e , ' t h e l a r g e l i n g u i s t i c c o m p o n e n t o f w h i c h

w i l l a p p e a r i n t h e c o u r s e o f t h i s p a p e r .

2 0 1

t h e f i r e - c a u s i n g e r r o r s , f r o m t h e f a c t t h a t

o u r l a n g u a g e c o n f u s e s t h e t w o d i f f e r e n t

s i t u a t i o n s , h a s b u t o n e p a t t e r n f o r b o t h .

W h e n w e s p e a k o f t e n s t e p s f o r w a r d , t e n

s t r o k e s o n a b e l l , o r a n y s i m i l a r l y d e -

s c r i b e d c y c l i c s e q u e n c e , ' t i m e s ' o f a n y s o r t ,

w e a r e d o i n g t h e s a m e t h i n g a s w i t h ' d a y s . '

C y c l i c i t y b r i n g s t h e r e s p o n s e o f i m a g i n a r y

p l u r a l s . B u t a l i k e n e s s o f c y c l i c i t y t o a g -

g r e g a t e s i s n o t u n m i s t a k a b l y g i v e n b y e x -

p e r i e n c e p r i o r t o l a n g u a g e , o r i t w o u l d b e

f o u n d i n a l l l a n g u a g e s , a n d i t i s n o t .

Ou r a w a r e n e s s o f , t i m e a n d c y c l i c i t y

does contain something immediate and

subjective-the basic sense of 'becom-

i n g l a t e r a n d l a t e r . ' B u t i n t h e h a b i t u al

t h o u g h t o f u s S A E p e o p l e t h i s i s c o v e r e d

u n d e r s o m e t h i n g q u i t e d i f f e r e n t , w h i c h

t h o u g h m e n t a l s h o u l d n o t b e c a l l e d s u b -

j e c t i v e . I c a l l i t o bje c t i f i e d , o r i m a g i n a r y ,

b e c a u s e i t i s p a t t e r n e d o n t h e o u t e r world .

I t i s t h i s t h a t r e f l e c t s o u r l i n g u i s t i c u s a g e .

O u r t o n g u e m a k e s n o d i s t i n c t i o n b e t w e e n

n u m b e r s c o u n t e d o n d i s c r e t e e n t i t i e s a n d

n u m b e r s t h a t a r e s i m p l y c o u n t i n g i t s e l f .

H a b i t u a l t h o u g h t t h e n a s s u m e s t h a t i n t h e

l a t t e r c a s e t h e n u m b e r s a r e j u s t a s m u c h

counted on something a s i n t h e f o r m e r .

T h i s i s o b j e c t i f i c a t i o n . C o n c e p t s o f t i m e

l o s e c o n t a c t w i t h t h e s u b j e c t i v e e x p e r i e n c e

o f ' b e c o m i n g l a t e r ' a n d a r e o b j e c t i f i e d a s

c o u n t e d q u a n t i t i e s , e s p e c i a l l y a s l e n g t h s ,

m a d e u p o f u n i t s a s a l e n g t h c a n b e v i s i b l e

m a r k e d o f f i n t o i n c h e s . A ' l e n g t h o f t i m e '

i s e n v i s i o n e d a s a r o w o f s i m i l a r u n i t s ,

l i k e a r o w o f b o t t l e s .

I n H o p i t h e r e i s a d i f f e r e n t l i n g u i s t i c

s i t u a t i o n . P l u r a l s a n d c a r d i n a l s a r e u s e d

o n l y f o r e n t i t i e s t h a t f o r m o r c a n f o r m

a n o b j e c t i v e g r o u p . T h e r e a r e n o i m a g -

i n a r y p l u r a l s , b u t i n s t e a d o r d i n a l s u s e d

w i t h s i n g u l a r s . S u c h a n e x p r e s s i o n a s ' t e n

d a y s ' i s n o t u s e d . T h e e q u i v a l e n t s t a t e m e n t

i s a n o p e r a t i o n a l o n e t h a t r e a c h e s o n e d a y

b y a s u i t a b l e c o u n t . ' T h ey s t ay e d te n d a ys '

b e c o m e s ' t h e y s t a y e d u n t i l t h e e l e v e n t h

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ETC : A REVIEW OF GENERAL SEMANTICSday' or 'they left after the tenth day . '

'Ten days is greater than nine days' be-

c o m e s ' t h e t e n t h d a y i s l a t e r t h a n t h e

ninth .' Our 'length of t ime' is not re-

garded as a length but as a relation be-

tween two eve nts in latene ss . Instead of

our linguistically promoted objectification

o f t h a t d a t u m o f c o n s c i o u s n e s s w e c a l l

' t i m e , ' t h e H o p i l a n g u a g e h a s n o t l a i d

d o w n a n y p a t t e r n t h a t w o u l d c l o a k t h e

subjective 'becoming later' that is the es-

sence of time .

Nouns of P hysical Quantity

in SAE and Hopi

W e h a v e t w o k i n d s o f n o u n s d e n o t i n g

physical things ; i n d i v i d u a l n o u n s , a n d

mass nouns, e . g . , water, milk, wood, gran-

ite, sand, flour, meat . Individual nouns de-

n o t e b o d i e s w i t h d e f i n i t e o u t l i n e s : a t r e e ,

a stick, a man, a hill . M a s s n o u n s d e n o t e

homogeneous continua without implied

boundaries . T h e d i s t i n c t i o n i s m a r k e d

by linguistic form ; e . g ., mass nouns lack

p l u r a l s , s i n E n g l i s h d r o p a r t i c l e s , a n d i n

French take the partitive article d u , d e l a ,

d e s . The distinction is more widespread

in language than in the observable appear-

ance of things . R a t h e r f e w n a t u r a l o c c u r -

r e n c e s p r e s e n t t h e m s e l v e s a s u n b o u n d e d

extents ; air of course, and often water,

rain, snow, sand, rock, dirt, grass. Wedo not encounter butter, meat, cloth, iron,

g l a s s , o r m o s t ' m a t e r i a l s ' i n s u c h k i n d o f

manifestation, but in bodies small or large

with definite outlines . The distinction is

* I t i s n o e x c e p t i o n t o t h i s r u l e o f l a c k i n g a

plural that a mass noun may sometimes coin-

cide in lexeme with an individual noun that of

c o u r s e h a s a p l u r a l ; e . g . , ' s t o n e ' ( n o p 1 . ) w i t h

' a s t o n e ' ( p l . ' s t o n e s ' ) . T h e p l u r a l f o r m d e n o t -

i n g v a r i e t i e s , e . g . , ' w i n e s ' i s o f c o u r s e a d i f f e r -

ent sort of thing from the true plural ; i t i s a

curious outgrowth from the S AE mass nouns,

l e a d i n g t o s t i l l a n o t h e r s o r t o f i m a g i n a r y a g g r e -

gates, which will have to be omitted from this

paper .

2 0 2

somewhat forced upon our description of

events by an unavoidable pattern in lan-

g u a g e . It is s o inconvenient in a great

many cases that we need some way of in-

d i v i d u a l i z i n g t h e m a s s n o u n b y f u r t h e r

linguistic devices . This is partly done by

names of body-types : stick of wood, piece

of cloth, pane of glass, cake of soap ; a l s o ,

a n d e v e n m o r e , b y i n t r o d u c i n g n a m e s o f

containers though their contents be the

real issue : glass of water, cup of coffee,

dish of food, bag of flour, bottle of beer .

T h e s e v e r y c o m m o n c o n t a i n e r - f o r m u l as ,

in which 'of' has an obvious, visually per-

ceptible meaning ('contents'), influence

our feeling about the less obvious type-

b o d y f o r m u l a s : s t i c k o f w o o d , l u m p o f

dough, etc . The formulas are very similar :

i n d i v i d u a l n o u n p l u s a s i m i l a r r e l a t o r

(English ' o f ' ) . In the obvious case this

relator denotes contents . In the inobvious

one it s u g g e s t s contents. Hence the lumps,

c h u n k s , bl o c k s , pi e c e s , et c . , s e e m t o c o n -

t a i n s o m e t h i n g , a ' s t u f f , ' ' s u b s t a n c e , ' o r

'mattei that answers to the water, coffee,

or flour in the container formulas . S o with

S A E p e o p l e t h e p h i l o s o p h i c ' s u b s t a n c e '

a n d ' m a t t e r ' a re a l s o t h e n a iv e i d e a ; t h ey

are instantly acceptable, 'common sense . '

It is so through linguistic habit . Our lan-

guage patterns often require us to name

a physical thing by a binomial that splits

the reference into a formless item plus a

form.Hopi is again different . It has a form-

ally distinguished class of nouns . B u t t h i s

c l a s s c o n t a i n s n o f o r m a l s u b - c l a s s o f m a s s

n o u n s . A l l n o u n s h a v e a n i n d i v i d u a l s e n s e

and both singular and plural forms .Noun s t r a n s l a t i n g m o s t n e a r l y o u r m a s s

nouns still refer to vague bodies or

v a g u e l y b o u n d e d e x t e n t s . They imply in-

definiteness, but not lack, of outline and

s i z e . I n s p e c i f i c s t a t e m e n t s ' w a t e r ' m e a n s

one certain mass or quantity of water, not

what we call 'the substance water . ' G e n -

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RELATION OF HABITUAL THOUGHT AND BEHAVIOR TO LANGUAGEerality of statement is conveyed through

t h e v e r b o r p r e d i c a t o r , n o t t h e n o u n .

S ince nouns are individual already they

a r e n o t i n d i v i d u a l i z e d e i t h e r b y t y p e -

bodies or names of containers, if there is

n o s p e c i a l n e e d t o e m p h a s i z e s h a p e o r

container . The noun itself implies a suit-

a b l e t y p e - b o d y o r c o n t a i n e r . On e s a y s , no t

' a g l a s s o f w a t e r ' b u t k e .yi 'a water,' not

'a pool of water' but pa . h e , 4 n o t ' a d i s h

of corn-flour' but ngemni 'a (quantity of)

corn-flour,' not 'a piece of meat' but sik"i

' a m e a t . ' The language has neither need

for nor analogies on which to build the

concept of existence as a duality of form-

less item and form . It deals with formless-

ness through other symbols than nouns .

Phases of Cycles in SAE and Hopi

S u c h t e r m s a s s u m m e r , w i n t e r , S e p -

tember, morning, noon, sunset, are with

us nouns, and have little formal linguistic

difference from other nouns . They can be

subjects or objects, and we say 'at' sun-

set or 'in' winter just as we say at a corner

o r i n a n o r c h a r d . 5 T h e y a r e pl u r a li z e d a n d

numerated like nouns of physical objects,

a s we h a ve s ee n . Ou r t h ou g ht about the

r e f e r e n t s o f s u c h w o r d s h e n c e b e c o m e s

objectified . Without objectification i twould be a subjective experience of real

time, i . e. of the consciousness of 'becom-

i n g l a t e r a n d l a t e r ' - s i m p l y a c y c l i c p h a s e

similar to an earlier phase in that ever-

later-becoming duration . On l y b y i m a g -

' Hopi has two words for water-quantities ;

k e .yi and pa-he. The difference is something

l i k e t h a t b e t w e e n ' s t o n e ' a n d ' r o c k ' i n E n g l i s h ,

pa-he implying greater size and 'wildness' ;

flowing water, whether or not out-doors or in

n a t u r e , i s p a - b e, s o i s ' m o i s t u r e . ' B u t u n l i k e

' s t o n e ' a n d ' r o c k , ' t h e d i f f e r e n c e i s e s s e n t i a l ,

n o t p e r t a i n i n g t o a c o n n o t a t i v e m a r g i n , a n d t h e

two can hardly ever be interchanged .

' T o b e s u r e t h e r e a r e a f e w m i n o r d i f f e r e n c e s

from other nouns, in English for instance in

t h e u s e o f t h e a r t i c l e s .

2 0 3

i n a t i o n c a n s u c h a c y c l i c p h a s e b e s e t b e -

side another and another in the mannerof a spatial ( i . e . v i s u a l l y p e r c e i v e d ) c o n -

figuration . But such is the power of lin-

guistic analogy that we do so objectify

cyclic phasing . W e d o i t e v e n b y s a y i n g

'a phase' and 'phases' instead of, e . g . ,

'phasing .' And the pattern of individual

a n d m a s s n o u n s , w i t h t h e r e s u l t i n g b i -

n o m i a l f o r m u l a o f f o r m l e s s i t e m p l u s

form, is so general that it is implicit for

all nouns, and hence our very generalized

f o r m l e s s i t e m s l i k e ' s u b s t a n c e , ' ' m a t t e r , '

b y w h i c h w e c a n f i l l o u t t h e b i n o m i a l

f o r a n e n o r m o u s l y w i d e r a n g e o f n o u n s .

But even these are not quite g eneralized

e n o u g h t o t a k e i n o u r p h a s e n o u n s . S o

for the phase nouns we have made aformless item, 'time.' We have made it

by using 'a time,' i . e. an occasion or a

phase, in the pattern of a mass noun, just

a s f r o m ' a s u m m e r ' w e m a k e ' s u m m e r ' i n

t h e p a t t e r n o f a m a s s n o u n . Thus with our

b i n o m i a l f o r m u l a w e c a n s a y a n d t h i n k

'a moment of time,' 'a second of time,'

'a year of time .' Let me again point out

that the pattern is simply that of 'a bottle

of milk' or 'a piece of cheese . ' T h u s w e

are assisted to imagine that 'a summer'

a c t u a l l y c o n t a i n s o r c o n s i s t s o f s u c h - a n d -

s u c h a q u a n t i t y o f ' t i m e . '

In Hopi however all phase terms, like

s u m m e r , m o r n i n g , e t c ., are not nouns but

a kind of adverb, to use the nearest SAE

analogy . T h e y a r e a f o r m a l p a r t o f s p e e c h

by themselves, distinct from nouns, verbs,

a n d e v e n o t h e r H o p i ' a d v e r b s . ' S u c h a

word is not a case form or a locat ive pat-

tern, like 'des Abends' or 'in the morn-

in g . ' I t c o n t a i n s n o m o r p h e m e l i k e o n e

of 'in the house' or 'at the tree .'e It means

'Year' and certain combinations of 'year'

w i t h n a m e o f s e a s o n , r a r e l y s e a s o n n a m e s a l o n e ,

can occur with a locative morpheme ' a t , ' but

t h i s i s e xc e p t i o na l . I t a p p e a r s l i k e h i s t o r i c a l

d e t r i t u s o f a n e a r l i e r d i f f e r e n t p a t t e r n i n g , o r

t h e e f f e c t o f E n g l i s h a n a l o g y , o r b o t h .

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ETC : A REVIEW OF GENERAL SEMANTICS' w h e n i t i s m o r n i n g o r ' w h i l e m o r n i n g -

p h a s e i s o c c u r r i n g . ' T h e s e ' t e m p o r a l s ' a r e

n o t u s e d a s s u b j e c t s o r o b j e c t s , o r a t a l l

l i k e n o u n s . O n e d oe s n o t sa y ' i t ' s a h o t

summer' or 'summer is hot ; ' s u m m e r i s

n o t h o t , s u m m e r i s o n l y w h e n c o n d i t i o n s

a r e h o t , w h e n h e a t o c c u r s . O n e d o e s n o t

s a y ' t h i s summer,' but 'summer now' or

' s u m m e r r e c e n t l y .' There is no objec-

t i f i c a t i o n , a s a r e g i o n , a n e x t e n t , a q u a n -

t i t y , o f t h e s u b j e c t i v e d u r a t i o n - f e e l i n g .

N o t h i n g i s s u g g e s t e d a b o u t t i m e e x c e p t

t h e p e r p e t u a l ' g e t t i n g l a t e r ' o f i t . A n d s o

t h e r e i s n o b a s i s h e r e f o r a f o r m l e s s i t e m

a n s w e r i n g t o o u r ' t i m e . '

Tempo ral Forms o f Verbs

in SAE and Hopi

The three-tense system of SAE verbs

c o l o r s a l l o u r t h i n k i n g a b o u t t i m e . T h i s

s y s t e m i s a m a l g a m a t e d w i t h t h a t l a r g e r

s c h e m e o f o b j e c t i f i c a t i o n o f t h e s u b j e c t i v e

e x p e r i e n c e o f d u r a t i o n a l r e a d y n o t e d i n

o t h e r p a t t e r n s - i n t h e b i n o m i a l f o r m u l a

a p p l i c a b l e t o n o u n s i n g e n e r a l , i n t e m -

p o r a l n o u n s , i n p l u r a l i t y a n d n u m e r a t i o n .

T h i s o b j e c t i f i c a t i o n e n a b l e s u s i n i m a g -

i n a t i o n t o ' s t a n d t i m e u n i t s i n a r o w . '

I m a g i n a t i o n o f t i m e a s l i k e a r o w h a r -

monizes with a system of t h r e e t e n s e s ;

w h e r e a s a s y s t e m o f two, a n e a r l i e r a n d a

l a t e r , w o u l d s e e m t o c o r r e s p o n d b e t t e r t o

t h e f e e l i n g o f d u r a t i o n a s i t i s e x p e r i -

e n c e d . F o r i f w e i n s pe c t c o n s c i o u s n e s s w e

f i n d n o p a s t , p r e s e n t , f u t u r e , b u t a u n i t y

embracing complexity . E v e r y t h i n g i s i n

consciousness, and everything in con-

s c i o u s n e s s i s , a n d i s t o g e t h e r . T h e r e i s i n

i t a s e n s u o u s a n d a n o n - s e n s u o u s . We may

call the sensuous-what we are seeing,

h e a r i n g , t o u c h i n g - t h e ' p r e s e n t ' w h i l e i n

t h e n o n - s e n s u o u s t h e v a s t i m a g e - w o r l d o f

m e m o r y i s b e i n g l a b e l l e d ' t h e p a s t ' a n d

a n o t h e r r e a l m o f b e l i e f , i n t u i t i o n , a n d u n -

c e r t a i n t y ' t h e f u t u r e ; ' y e t s e n s a t i o n , m e m -

2 04

o r y , f o r e s i g h t , a l l a r e i n c o n s c i o u s n e s s t o -

g e t h e r - o n e i s n o t ' y e t t o b e ' n o r a n o t h e r

'once but no more .' Where real time

c o m e s i n i s t h a t a l l t h i s i n c o n s c i o u s n e s s

i s ' g e t t i n g l a t e r , ' c h a n g i n g c e r t a i n r e l a t i o n s

i n a n i r r e v e r s i b l e m a n n e r . I n t h i s ' l a t e r i n g '

o r ' d u r a t i n g ' t h e r e s e e m s t o m e t o b e a

p a r a m o u n t c o n t r a s t b e t w e e n t h e n e w e s t ,

l a t e s t i n s t a n t a t t h e f o c u s o f a t t e n t i o n a n d

t h e r e s t - t h e e a r l i e r . Languages by the

s c o r e g e t a l o n g w e l l w i t h t w o t e n s e - l i k e

f o r m s a n s w e r i n g t o t h i s p a r a m o u n t r e l a -

t i o n o f l a t e r t o e a r l i e r . W e c a n o f c o u r s e

c o n s t r u c t a n d c o n t e m p l a t e i n t h o u g h t a

s y s t e m o f p a s t , p r e s e n t , f u t u r e , i n t h e o b -

j e c t i f i e d c o n f i g u r a t i o n o f p o i n t s o n a l i n e .

T h i s i s w h a t o u r g e n e r a l o b j e c t i f i c a t i o n

tendency leads us to do and our tense

s y s t e m c o n f i r m s .

I n E n g l i s h t h e p r e s e n t t e n s e s e e m s t h e

o n e l e a s t i n h a r m o n y w i t h t h e p a r a m o u n t

t e m p o r a l r e l a t i o n . I t i s a s i f p r e s s e d i n t o

v a r i o u s a n d n o t w h o l l y c o n g r u o u s d u t i e s .

O n e d u t y i s t o s t a n d a s o b j e c t i f i e d m i d d l e

t e r m b e t w e e n o b j e c t i f i e d p a s t a n d o b j e c t i -

f i e d f u t u r e , i n n a r r a t i o n , d i s c u s s i o n , a r g u -

m e n t , l o g i c , p h i l o s o p h y . A n ot h er i s t o de -

n o t e i n c l u s i o n i n t h e s e n s u o u s f i e l d : ' I

s e e him . ' A n o t h e r i s f o r n o m i c , i . e . c u s -

t o m a r i l y o r g e n e r a l l y v a l i d , s t a t e m e n t s :

' W e s e e w i th o ur e y e s . ' T h e s e v a r i e d u s e s

i n t r o d u c e c o n f u s i o ns o f t h o u g h t , o f w h i c h

f o r t h e m o s t p a r t w e a r e u n a w a r e .

H o p i , a s w e m i g h t e x p e c t , i s d i f f e r e n t

h e r e to o . V e r b s h a v e n o ' t e n s e s ' l i k e o u r s ,

b u t h a v e v a l i d i t y - f o r m s ( ' a s s e r t i o n s ' ) , a s -

p e c t s , a n d c l a u s e - l i n k a g e f o r m s ( m o d e s ) ,

t h a t y i e l d e v e n g r e a t e r p r e c i s i o n o f s p e e c h .

T h e v a l i d i t y - f o r m s d e n o t e t h a t t h e s p e a k e r

( n o t t h e s u b j e c t ) r e p o r t s t h e s i t u a t i o n

( a n s w e r i n g t o o u r p a s t a n d p r e s e n t ) o r

t h a t h e e x p e c t s i t ( a n s w e r i n g t o o u r f u -

t u r e )7

o r t h a t h e m a k e s a n o m i c s t a t e m e n t

T h e e x p e c t i ve a n d r e p o r t i v e a s s e r t i o n s c o n -

t r a s t a c c o r d i n g t o t h e ' p a r a m o u n t r e l a t i o n . ' T h e

e x p e c t i v e e x p r e s s e s a n t i c i p a t i o n e x i s t i n g e a r l i e r

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RELATION OF HABITUAL THOUGHT AND BEHAVIOR TO LANGUAGE( a ns w er i n g t o o ur n o m ic p r e s en t ) . T h e

aspects denote different degrees of dura-

t i o n a n d d i f f e r e n t k i n d s o f t e n d e n c y ' d u r -

i n g d u r a t i o n .' As yet we have notednothing to indicate whether an event is

s o o n e r o r l a t e r t h a n a n o t h e r w h e n b o t h

a re r ep or te d . But need for this does not

arise until we have two verbs, i . e. t w o

clauses . In that case the 'modes' denote

relations between the clauses, including

relations of later to earlier and of simul-

taneity . Then there are many detached

words that express similar relations, sup-

p l e m e n ti n g t h e m o d e s a n d as p e c t s . T h e

duties of our three-tense system and its

tripartite linear objectified 'time' are dis-

tributed among various verb categories,

all different from our tenses ; and there is

no more basis for an objectified time in

Hopi verbs than in other Hopi patterns ;

a l t h o u g h t h i s d o e s n o t i n t h e l e a s t h i n d e r

t h e v e r b f o r m s a n d o t h e r p a t t e r n s f r o m

being closely adjusted to the pertinent

realities of actual situations .

D u r a t i o n , I n t e n s i t y , a n d T e n d e n c y

in SAE and Hopi

To fit discourse to manifold actual situ-

a t i o n s a l l l a n g u a g e s n e e d t o e x p r e s s d u r a -

tions, intensities, and tendencies . It is

characteristic of SAE and perhaps of many

other language-types to express them

metaphorically . The metaphors ar e those

of spatial extension, i . e . of size, number

(plurality), position, shape, and motion .

t h a n o b j e c t i v e f a c t , a n d c o i n c i d i n g w i t h o b j e c -

t iv e f a c t l a te r than the status quo of the

s p e a k e r , t h i s s t a t u s q u o , i n c l u d i n g a l l t h e s u b -

summation of the past therein, being expressed

b y t h e r e p o r t i v e . Our notion 'future' seems to

r e p r e s e n t a t o n c e t h e e a r l i e r ( a n t i c i p a t i o n ) a n d

the later (afterwards, what will be), as Hopi

shows . This paradox may hint of how elusive

t h e m y s t e r y o f r e a l t i m e i s , a n d h o w a r t i f i c i a l l y

it is expressed by a linear relati on of past-

p r e s e n t - f u t u r e .

2 0 5

W e e x p r e s s d u r a t i o n b y l o n g , s h o r t , g r e a t ,

much, quick, slow, etc . ; intensity by

large, great, much, heavy, light, high, low,

sharp, faint, etc . ; tendency by more, in-

c r e a s e , g r o w , t u r n , g e t , a p p r o a c h , g o ,

come, rise, fall, stop, smooth, even, rapid,

s l o w , a n d s o o n t h r o u g h a n a l m o s t i n -

e x h a u s t i b l e l i s t o f m e t a p h o r s t h a t w e

hardly recognize as such since they are

v i r t u a l l y t h e o n l y l i n g u i s t i c m e d i a a v a i l -

able . The non-metaphorical terms in this

f i e l d , l i k e e a r l y , l a t e , s o o n , l a s t i n g , i n t e n s e ,

very, tending, are a mere handful, quite

inadequate to the needs .

It is clear how this condition 'fits in . '

It is part of our whole scheme of o b j e c t i -

fying-imaginatively spatializing qualities

and potentials that are quite non-spatial

(so far as any spatially-perceptive senses

can tell us) . Noun-meaning (with us)proceeds from physical bodies to referents

of far ot her sort . Since physical bodies

a nd t he ir o ut li ne s in p er c ei ve d s pa c e a re

denoted by size and shape terms andreckoned by cardinal numbers and plurals,

these patterns of denotation and reckon-

ing extend to the symbols of non-spatial

m e a n i n g s , a n d s o s u g g e s t a n i m a g i n a r y

s p a c e . Physical shapes move, stop, rise,

sink, approach, etc ., in perceived space ;

w h y n o t t h e s e o t h e r r e f e r e n t s i n t h e i r

i m a g i n a r y s p a c e ? T h i s h a s g o n e s o f a r t h a t

we can hardly refer to the simplest non-

spatial situation without constant resort to

physical metaphors . I 'grasp' the 'thread'

of another's arguments, but if its 'level' is

'over my head' my attention may 'wander'

and 'lose touch' with the 'drift' of it, so

t h a t w h e n h e ' c o m e s ' t o h i s ' p o i n t ' w e

differ 'widely,' our 'views' being indeed so

' f a r a p a r t ' t h a t t h e ' t h i n g s ' h e s a y s ' a p -

pear' 'much' too arbitrary, or even 'a lot'

of nonsense!

The absence of such metaphor fromH o p i s p e e c h i s s t r i k i n g . Us e o f s p a c e

terms when there is no space involved is

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ETC : A REVIEW OF GENERAL SEMANTICSnot there-as if on it had been laid the

taboo teetotal! The reason is clear when

w e k n o w t h a t H o p i h a s a b u n d a n t c o n j u -

gational and lexical means o f expressing

d u r a t i o n , i n t e n s i t y , a n d t e n d e n c y d i r e c t l y

as such, and that major grammatical pat-

terns do not, as with us, provide analogies

f o r a n i m a g i n a r y s p a c e . The many verb'aspects' express duration and tendency of

manifestations, while some of the 'voices'

express intensity, tendency, and duration

of causes or forces producing manifesta-

tions. Then a special part of speech, the

'tensors,' a huge class of words, denotes

only intensity, tendency, duration, and

s e q u e n c e . The function of the tensors is

to express intensities, 'strengths,' and how

they continue or vary, their rate-of-change ;

so that the broad concept of intensity,

w h e n c o n s i d e r e d a s n e c e s s a r i l y a l w a y s

varying and/or continuing, includes also

t e n d e n c y a n d d u r a t i o n . T e n s o rs c o n v e y

distinctions of degree, r a t e , c o n s t a n c y ,

repetition, increase and decrease of in-

tensity, immediate sequence, interruption

or sequence after an interval, etc . , a l s o

qualities of strengths, such a s w e s h o u l d

express metaphorically as smooth, even,

h a r d , r o u g h . A striking feature is their

lack of resemblance to the terms of real

space and movement that to us 'meant h e s a m e . ' T h e r e i s n o t e v e n m o r e t h a n

a trace of apparent derivation from space

terms .8 So while Hopi in its nouns seems

highly concre te, here in the tensors it be-

c o m e s a b s t r a c t a l m o s t b e y o n d o u r o w n

p o w e r t o f o l l o w .

'One such trace is that the tensor 'long in

d u r a t i o n , ' w h i l e q u i t e d i f f e r e n t f r o m t h e a d j e c -

t i v e ' l o n g ' o f s p a c e , s e e m s t o c o n t a i n t h e s a m e

r o o t a s t h e a d j e c t i v e ' l a r g e ' o f s p a c e . Another

is that 'somewhere' of space used with certain

tensors means 'at some indefinite time . ' P o s -

s i b l y h o w e v e r t h i s i s n o t t h e c a s e a n d i t i s o n l y

t h e t e n s o r t h a t g i v e s t h e t i m e e l e m e n t , s o t h a t

' s o m e w h e r e ' s t i l l r e f e r s t o s p a c e a n d t h a t u n d e r

these conditions indefinite space means simply

2 0 6

Habitual Thought in SAE

and Hopi

The comparison now to be made be-tween the habitual thought worlds o f SAEa n d H o p i s p e a k e r s i s o f c o u r s e i n c o m -

plete . It is possible only to touch upon

certain dominant contrast s that appear to

stem from the linguistic differences al-

r e a d y n o t e d . By 'habitual thought' and

'thought world' I mean more than simply

language, i . e . , than the linguistic patterns

themselves . I include all the analogical

and suggestive value of the patterns ( e . g . ,

our 'imaginary space' and its distant im-

plications) , and all the give-and-take be-

tween language and the culture a s awhole, wherein is a vast amount tha t is not

linguistic yet shows the shaping influence

of language . In brief, this 'thought world'

i s t h e m i c r o c o s m t h a t e a c h m a n c a r r i e s

about within himself, by which he meas-

ures and understands what he can of the

macrocosm .T h e S A E m i c r o c o s m h a s a n a l y z e d r e -

ality largely in terms of what it calls

'things' (bodies and quasi-bodies) p l u s

modes of extensional but formless exist-

e n c e t h a t i t c a l l s ' s u b s t a n c e ' o r ' m a t t e r . '

It tends to see existence through a bi-

n o m i a l f o r m u l a t h a t e x p r e s s e s a n y e x i s t e n t

as a spatial form plus a spatial formless

continuum related to the form a s content

is related to the outlines of its container .

Non-spa tial existents are imaginatively

spatialized and charge d with similar im-

plications of form and c ontinuum .

The Hopi microcosm seems to havea n a ly z e d re a l it y l a rg e l y i n te r m s of e v e n t s

g e n e r a l a p p l i c a b i l i t y r e g a r d l e s s o f e i t h e r t i m e

o r s p a c e . A n o t h e r t r a c e i s t h a t i n t h e t e m po r a l

(cycle word) 'afternoon' the element meaning

'aftei is derived from the verb 'to separate . '

There are other such traces, but they are few

a n d e x c e p t i o n a l , a n d o b v i o u s l y n o t l i k e o u r o w n

s p a t i a l m e t a p h o r i z i n g .

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RELATION OF HABITUAL THOUGHT AND BEHAVIOR TO LANGUAGE(or better 'eventing') , referred to in two

w a y s , o b j e c t i v e a n d s u b j e c t i v e . O b j e c -

tively, and only if perceptible physical

experience, events are expressed mainly

as outlines, colors, movements, and other

perceptive reports . S u b j e c t i v e l y , f o r b o t h

the physical and non-physical, events are

considered the expression of invisible in-

tensity-fac tors, on which depend their sta-

bility and persistence, or their fugitiveness

and proclivities . It implies that existents

do not 'become later and later' all in the

same way ; b u t s o m e d o s o b y g r o w i n g ,like plants, some by diffusing and vanish-

i n g , s o m e b y a p r o c e s s i o n o f m e t a m o r -

p h o s e s , s o m e b y e n d u r i n g i n o n e s h a p e

till affected by violent forces . In the na-

ture of each existent able to manifest as

a definite whole is the power of its own

mode of duration ; its growth, decline,

stability, cyclicity, or creativeness . Every-

thing is thus already 'prepared' for the

way it now manifests by earlier phases,

and what it will be later, partly has been,

and partly is in act of being so 'prepared . '

An emphasis and importance rests on this

preparing or being prepared aspect of the

world that may to the Hopi correspond to

that 'quality of reality' that 'matter' or

' s t u f f ' h a s f o r u s .

Habitual Behavior Features

o f Hopi Culture

Our behavior, and that of Hopi, can be

s e e n t o b e c o o r d i n a t e d i n m a n y w a y s t o

the linguistically-conditioned microcosm .

As in my fire case-book, people act about

s i t u a t i o n s i n w a y s w h i c h a r e l i k e t h e w a y s

they talk about them . A characteristic of

Hopi behavior is the emphasis on prepara-

tion . This includes announcing and get-

t i n g r e a d y f o r e v e n t s w e l l b e f o r e h a n d ,

elaborate precautions to insure persistenc e

of desired conditions, and stress on good

will as the preparer of right results . Con-

sider the analogies of the day-counting

2 07

pattern alone . T i m e i s m a i n l y r e c k o n e d

'by day' (talk, -tala) or 'by night' (tok) ,

w h i c h w o r d s a r e n o t n o u n s b u t t e n s o r s ,

the first formed on a root 'light, day,' the

second on a root 'sleep .' The count is by

o r d i n a l s . This is not the pattern of count-

ing a number of different men or things,

even though they appear successively, for

even then they could gather into an assem-

blage . It is the pattern of counting succes-

sive reappearances of the same man orthing, incapable of forming an assemblage .

The analogy is not to behave about day-

cyclic ity as to several men ('several days'),

which i s what w e tend to do, but to be-have as to the successive visits of the same

m a n . One does not al ter several men by

working upon just one, but one can pre-

pare and so alter the later visits of the

same man by working to affect the visit

he is making now. T h i s i s t h e w a y t h eHopi deal with the future-by working

within a present situation which is ex-

pected to carry impresses, both obvious

and occult, forward into the future event

of interest . One might sa y that Hopi so -

ciety understands our proverb 'Well be-

g u n i s h a l f d o n e , ' b u t n o t o u r T o - m o r -

r o w i s a n o t h e r d a y . ' T h i s m a y e x p l a i n

much in Hopi character .

T h i s H o p i p r e p a r i n g b e h a v i o r m a y b e

r o u g h l y d i v i d e d i n t o a n n o u n c i n g , o u t e r

preparing, inner preparing, covert par-

ticipation, and persistence. A n n o u n c i n g ,

or preparative publicity, is an important

function in the hands of a special official,

the Crier Chief . Outer preparing is prepa-

ration involving much visible activity, not

all necessarily directly useful within our

u n d e r s t a n d i n g . It includes ordinary prac-

tising, rehearsing, getting ready, introduc-

tory formalities, preparing of special food,

etc . (all of these to a degree that may

seem over-elaborate to us) , intensive sus-

tained muscular activity like running, rac-

ing, dancing, which is thought to increase

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ETC . : A REVIEW OF GENERAL SEMANTICSt h e i n t e n s i t y o f d e v e l o p m e n t o f e v e n t s

( s u c h a s g r o w t h o f c r o p s ) , m i m e t i c a n d

other magic, preparations based on eso-

teric theory involving perhaps occult in-

struments like prayer sticks, prayer feath-

ers, and prayer meal, and finally the great

cyclic ceremonies and dances, which have

t h e s i g n i f i c a n c e o f p r e p a r i n g r a i n a n d

crops . From one of the verbs meaning'prepare' is derived the noun for 'harvest'

or 'crop :' na'twani 'the prepared' or the

' i n preparation . ' 9

I n n e r p r e p a r i n g i s u s e o f p r a y e r a n d

meditation, and at lesser intensity good

wishes and good will, to further desired

r e s u l t s . Hopi attitudes stress the power of

desire and thought . With their 'microcosm'

it is utterly natural that they should . De-

s i r e a n d t h o u g h t a r e t h e e a r l i e s t , a n d

therefore the most important, most criti-

cal and crucial, stage of preparing . M o r e -

over, to the Hopi, one's desires and

thoughts influence not only his own ac-

tions, but all nature . This too is wholly

natural . Consciousness itself is aware of

work, of the feel of effort and energy, in

d e s i r e a n d t h i n k i n g . Experience morebasic than language tells us that if energy

is expended effects are produced . Wet e n dt o b e l i e v e t h a t o u r b o d i e s c a n s t o p u p

this energy, prevent it from affecting other

t h in g s u nt il we wi ll ou r b od ie s t o o ve rt

action . B u t t h i s m a y b e o n l y b e c a u s e w e

have our own linguistic basis for a theory

that formless items like 'matter' are things

in themselves, malleable only by similar

things, by more matter, and hence insul-

ated from the powers of life and thought .

I t i s n o m o r e u n n a t u r a l t o t h i n k t h a t

thought contacts everything and pervades

the universe than to think, as we all do,

that light kindled outdoors does this . A n d

'The Hopi verbs of preparing naturally do

n o t c o r r es p o n d n e at l y t o o u r ' p r e p ar e ' ; s o t ha t

n a ' t w a n i c o u l d a l s o b e r e n d e r e d ' t h e p r a c t i s e d -

u p o n , ' ' t h e t r i e d - f o r , ' a n d o t h e r w i s e .

2 08

it is not unnatural to suppose that thought,

like any other force, leaves everywhere

traces of effect . Now when we t h i n k o fa c e r t a i n a c t u a l r o s e - b u s h , w e d o n o t s u p -

pose that our thought goes to that actual

bush, and engages with it, like a search-

light turned upon it. What then do wesuppose our consciousness is dealing with

when we are thinking of that rose-bush?

P r o b a b l y w e t h i n k i t i s d e a l i n g w i t h a

'mental image' which is not the rose-bush

b u t a m e n t a l s u r r o g a t e o f i t . But whys h o u l d i t b e natural t o t h i n k t h a t o u r

t h o u g h t d e a l s w i t h a s u r r o g a t e a n d n o t

with the real rose-bush? Quite possibly

because we are dimly aware that we carry

a b o u t w i t h u s a w h o l e i m a g i n a r y s p a c e ,

full of mental surrogates . To u s, men tal

surrogates are old familiar fare . A l o n g

with the images of imaginary space, which

we perhaps secretly know to be imaginary

only, we tuck the thought-of actually ex-

isting rose-bush, which may be quite an-

other story, perhaps just because we have

that very convenient 'place for it . T h e

Hopi thought-world has no imaginaryspace . The corollary to this i s that it may

n o t l o c a t e t h o u g h t d e a l i n g w i t h r e a l s p a c e

anywhere but in real space, nor insulate

real space from the effects of thought . A

H o p i w o u l d n a t u r a l l y s u p p o s e t h a t h i s

thought (or he himself) traffics with the

actual rose-bush-r m o r e l i k e , c o r n -p l a n t - t h a t h e i s t h i n k i n g a b o u t . T h e

thought then should leave some trace of

itself with the plant in the field . I f i t i s

a g o o d t h o u g h t , o n e a b o u t h e a l t h a n d

growth, it is good for the plant ; if a bad

thought, the reverse .

The Hopi emphasize the intensity-factor

of th ought . Thought to be most effective

should be vivid in consciousn ess, definite,

steady, sustained, charged with strongly-

felt good intentions . They render the idea

i n E n g l i s h a s ' c o n c e n t r a t i n g , ' ' h o l d i t i n

your heart,' 'putting your mind to it,'

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RELATION OF HABITUAL THOUGHT AND BEHAVIOR TO LANGUAGE'earnestly hoping .' Thought power is the

f o r c e b e h i n d c e r e m o n i e s , prayer-sticks,

ritual smoking, etc . The prayer-pipe is re-

garded as an aid to 'concentrating' (so

s a i d m y i n f o r m a n t ). I t s n a m e , n a ' t w a n p i ,

means 'instrument of preparing . '

C o v e r t p a r t i c i p a t i o n i s m e n t a l c o l l a b o -

ration from people who do not take part

in the actual affair, be it a job of work,

hunt, race, or ceremony, but direct their

thought and good will toward the affair's

success . Announcements often seek to en-

list the support of such mental helpers as

wella s

of overt participants, and contain

e x h o r t a t i o n s t o t h e p e o p l e t o a i d w i t h

their active good will . 1 0 A similarity to

our concepts of a sympathetic audience or

the cheering section at a football game

should not obscure the fact th at is is pri-

marily the power of directed thought, and

n o t m e r e l y s y m p a t h y o r e n c o u r a g e m e n t ,

that is expected of covert participants . I n

f a c t t h e s e l a t t e r g e t i n their deadliest work

before, not during, the ga me! A corollary

to the power of thought is the power of

w r o n g t h o u g h t f o r e v i l ; hence one pur-

pose of covert participati on is to obtain

t h e m a s s f o r c e o f m a n y g o o d w i s h e r s t o

o f f s e t t h e h a r m f u l t h o u g h t o f i l l w i s h e r s .

Such attitudes greatly favor cooperation

and commun ity spirit . Not that the Hopi

community is not full of rivalries and col-

liding interests . A gainst the tendency to

social disintegrati on in such a small, iso-

lated group, the theory of 'preparing' by

the power of thought, logically leading

to the great power of the combined, in-

1 0 S e e , e . g . , E r n e s t B e a g l e h o l e , N o t e s o n H o p i

E c o n o m i c L i f e ( Y a l e U n i v e r s i t y P u b l i c a t i o n s i n

Anthrop ology , No . 15, 1937), especial ly the

r e f e r e n c e t o t h e a n n o u n c e m e n t o f a r a b b i t h u n t ,

and on p . 3 0 , d e s c r i p t i o n o f t h e a c t i v i t i e s i n

connection with the cleaning of Toreva Spring

-announcing, various preparing activities, and

finally, preparing the continuity of the good

r e s u l t s a l r e a d y o b t a i n e d a n d t h e c o n t i n u e d f l o w

o f t h e s p r i n g .

tensified and harmonized thought of the

w h o l e c o m m u n i t y , must help vastlyt o w a r d t h e r a t h e r r e m a r k a b l e d e g r e e o f

cooperation that in spite of much private

b i c k e r i n g t h e H o p i v i l l a g e d i s p l a y s i n a l l

the important cultural activities .

Hopi 'preparing' activities again show a

result of their linguistic thought back-

ground in an emphasis on persistence and

constant insistent repetition . A sense of the

cumulative value of innumerable small mo-

menta is dulled by an objectified, spatial-

ized view of time like ours, enhanced by

a way of thinking close to the subjective

awareness of duration, of the ceaseless

'latering' of events . To us, for whom time

is a motion on a space, unvarying repeti-

tion seems to scatter its force along a row

o f u n i t s o f t h a t s p a c e , a n d b e w a s t e d .

To the Hopi, f o r whom time is not amotion but a 'getting later' of everything

that has ever been done, unvarying repeti-

tion is not wasted but accumulated . I t i s

storing up an invisible change that holds

over into later events ." As we have seen,

it is as if the return of the day were felt

as the return of the same person, a little

older but with all the impresses o f yes-

t e r d a y , n o t a s ' a n o t h e r d a y , ' i . e . like an

" T h i s n o ti o n o f s t o ri n g u p p o w er , w h i c h

seems implied by much Hopi behavior, has an

a n a l o g u e i n p h y s i c s , a c c e l e r a t i o n . It might be

said that the linguistic background of Hopi

thought equips it to recognize naturally that

force manifests not as motion or velocity, but

as cumulation or acceleration . O u r l i n g u i s t i c

backgroun d tends to hinder in us this same

recognition, for having legitimately conceived

f o r c e t o b e t h a t w h i c h p r o d u c e s c h a n g e , w e

then think of change by our linguistic m e t a -

phorical a n a l o g u e , m o t i o n , i n s t e a d of by a p u r e

motionless changingness concept, i . e . , accumu-

l a t i o n o r a c c e l e r a t i o n . H e n c e i t c o m e s t o o u r

naive feeling as a shock to find from physical

experiments that it is not possible to define

f o r c e b y m o t i o n , t h a t m o t i o n a n d s p e e d , a s a l s o

'being at rest,' are wholly relative, and that

force can be measured only by acceleration .

2 0 9

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ETC . : A REVIEW OF GENERAL SEMANTICSe n t i r e l y d i f f e r e n t p e r s o n . This principle

j o i n e d w i t h t h a t o f t h o u g h t - p o w e r a n d

with traits of general Pueblo culture is

expressed in the theory of the Hopi cere-

m o n i a l d a n c e f o r f u r t h e r i n g r a i n a n d

crops, as well as in its short, piston-like

tread, repeated thousands of times, hour

a f t e r h o u r .

S o m e I m p r e s s e s o f L i n g u i s t i c H a b i t

i n W e s t e r n C i v i l i z a t i o n

It is harder to do justice in a few words

t o t h e l i n g u i s t i c a l l y - c o n d i t i o n e d f e a t u r e s

o f o u r o w n c u l t u r e t h a n i n t h e c a s e o f

the Hopi, because of both vast scope and

and difficulty of objectivity-because of

our deeply ingrained familiarity with the

attitudes to be analyzed . I w i s h m e r e l y t o

s k e t c h c e r t a i n c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s a d j u s t e d t o

our linguistic binomialism of form plus

formless item or 'substance,' to our meta-

p h o r i c a l n e s s , o u r i m a g i n a r y s p a c e , a n d o u r

objectified time . These, as we have seen,

are linguistic .

F r o m t h e f o r m - p l u s - s u b s t a n c e d i c h o t -

omy the philosophical views most tradi-

tionally characteristic of the 'Western

w o r l d ' h a ve d e r i v e d h ug e s u p p o r t . H e r e

belong materialism, psycho-physical par-

allelism, physics-at least in its traditional

Ne w t o n i a n f o r m - a n d d u a l i s t i c v i e w s o f

the universe in general . Indeed here be-

l o n g s a l m o s t e v e r y t h i n g t h a t i s ' h a r d ,

p r a c t i c a l c o m m o n s e n s e .' Monistic, hol-

istic, and relativistic views of reality ap-

peal to philosophers and some scientists,

b u t t h e y a r e b a d l y h a n d i c a p p e d f o r a p -

p e a l i n g t o t h e ' c o m m o n s e n s e ' o f t h e

W e s t e r n a v e r a g e m a n . This is not because

nature herself refutes them (if she did,

philosophers could have discovered this

m u c h ) b u t b e c a u s e t h e y m u s t b e t a l k e d

about in what amounts to a new language .

' C o m m o n s e n s e , ' a s i t s n a m e s h o w s , a n d

2 10

'practicality' as its name does not show,

a r e l a r g e l y m a t t e r s o f t a l k i n g s o t h a t o n e

is readily understood . I t i s s o m e t i m e s

s t a t e d t h a t New t o n i a n s p a c e , t i m e , a n d

matter are sensed by everyone intuitively,

whereupon relativity is cited as showing

how mathematical analysis can prove in-

tuition wrong . T h i s , b e s i d e s b e i n g u n f a i r

to intuition, is an attempt to answer off-

h a n d q u e s t i o n ( 1 ) p u t a t t h e o u t s e t o f

this paper, to answer which this research

w a s u n d e r t a k e n . Presentation of the find-

ings now nears its end, and I think the

answer is clear . The offhand answer, lay-

ing the blame upon intuition for our slow-

ness in discovering mysteries of the cos-

m o s , s u c h a s r e l a t i v i t y , i s t h e w r o n g o n e .

T h e r i g h t a n s w e r i s : Ne w t o n i a n s p a c e ,

time, and matter are no intuitions. T h e y

a r e r e c e p t s f r o m c u l t u r e a n d l a n g u a g e .

T h a t i s w h e r e N e w t o n g o t t h e m .

Our objectif ied view of time is ho w-

ever favorable to historicity and to every-

thing connected with the keeping of rec-

ords, while the Hopi view is unfavorable

thereto . The latter is too subtle, complex,

and ever-developing, supplying no r e a d y -made answer to the question of when' o n e ' e v e n t e n d s a n d ' a n o t h e r ' b e g i n s .

When it is implicit that everything that

ever happened still is, but is in a neces-

s a r i l y d i f f e r e n t f o r m f r o m w h a t m e m o r y

o r r e c o r d r e p o r t s , t h e r e i s l e s s i n c e n t i v e

t o s t u d y t h e p a s t . As for the present, the

incentive would be not to record it but

to treat it as 'preparing .' But our o b j e c t i -

fied time puts before imagination some-

thing like a ribbon or scroll marked off

into equal blank spaces, suggesting that

e a c h b e f i l l e d w i t h a n e n t r y . Writing has

n o d o u b t h e l p e d t o w a r d o u r l i n g u i s t i c

treatment of time, even as the linguistic

treatment has guided the uses of writing .

Through this give-and-take between lan-

guage and the whole culture we get, for

i n s t a n c e :

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ETC : A REVIEW OF GENERAL SEMANTICSo r throwing c i g a r e t t e s t u b s i n t o w a s t e

p a p e r . A n o t h e r o f d i f f e r e n t s o r t i s g e s t u r -

ing when we talk . V e r y m a n y o f t h e g e s -

t u r e s m a d e b y E n g l i s h - s p e a k i n g p e o p l e a t

l e a s t , a n d p r o b a b l y b y a l l S A E s p e a k e r s ,

s e r v e t o i l l u s t r a t e b y a m o v e m e n t i n s p a c e ,

n o t a r e a l s p a t i a l r e f e r e n c e b u t o n e o f t h e

n o n - s p a t i a l r e f e r e n c e s t h a t o u r l a n g u a g e

h a n d l e s b y m e t a p h o r s o f i m a g i n a r y s p a c e .

T h a t i s , w e a r e m o r e a p t t o m a k e a g r a s p -

ing gesture when we speak of g rasping

an elusive idea than when we speak of

g r a s p i n g a d o o r k n o b . T h e g e s t u r e s e e k s t o

m a k e a m e t a p h o r i c a l a n d h e n c e s o m e w h a t

u n c l e a r r e f e r e n c e m o r e c l e a r . B u t i f a l a n -

g u a g e r e f e r s t o n o n - s p a t i a l s w i t h o u t i m -

p l y i n g a s p a t i a l a n a l o g y , t h e r e f e r e n c e i s

n o t m a d e a n y c l e a r e r b y g e s t u r e . T h e H o p i

g e s t u r e v e r y l i t t l e , p e r h a p s n o t a t a l l i n t h e

s e n s e w e u n d e r s t a n d a s g e s t u r e .

I t w o u l d s e e m a s i f k i n e s t h e s i a , o r t h e

sensing of muscular movement, though

a r i s i n g p r i o r t o l a n g u a g e , s h o u l d b e m a d e

m o r e h i g h l y c o n s c i o u s b y l i n g u i s t i c u s e o f

imaginary space and methaphorical im-

a g e s o f m o t i o n . K i n es t h es i a is m a rk e d in

t w o f a c e t s o f E u r o p e a n c u l t u r e : a r t a n d

s p o r t . E u r o p e a n s c u l p t u r e , a n a r t i n w h i c h

E u r o p e e x c e l s , i s s t r o n g l y k i n e s t h e t i c , c o n -

v e y i n g g r e a t s e n s e o f t h e b o d y ' s m o t i o n s ;

E u r o p e a n p a i n t i n g l i k e w i s e . T h e d a n c e i n

o u r c u l t u r e e x p r e s s e s d e l i g h t i n m o t i o n

r a t h e r t h a n s y m b o l i s m o r c e r e m o n i a l , a n d

o u r m u s i c i s g r e a t l y i n f l u e n c e d b y o u r

dance forms . O u r s p o r t s a r e s t r o n g l y i m -

b u e d w i t h t h i s e l e m e n t o f t h e ' p o e t r y o f

motion .' Hopi rac es and games seem to

e m p h a s i z e r a t h e r t h e v i r t u e s o f e n d u r a n c e

a n d s u s t a i n e d i n t e n s i t y . H o p i d a n c i n g i s

highly symbolic and is performed with

g r e a t i n t e n s i t y a n d e a r n e s t n e s s , b u t h a s

not much movement or swing .

S y n e s t h e s i a , o r s u g g e s t i o n b y c e r t a i n

s e n s e r e c e p t i o n s o f c h a r a c t e r s b e l o n g i n g

t o a n o t h e r s e n s e , a s o f l i g h t a n d c o l o r b y

sounds and v i c e v e r s a , should be made

2 1 2

m o r e c o n s c i o u s b y a l i n g u i s t i c m e t a p h o r -

i c a l s y s t e m t h a t r e f e r s t o n o n - s p a t i a l e x -

p e r i e n c e s b y t e r m s f o r s p a t i a l o n e s , t h o u g h

undoubtedly it arises from a deeper

s o u r c e . P r o b a b l y i n t h e f i r s t i n s t a n c e m e t a -

p h o r a r i s e s f r o m s y n e s t h e s i a a n d n o t t h e

reverse, yet metaphor need not become

f i r m l y r o o t e d i n l i n g u i s t i c p a t t e r n , a s H o p i

shows . Non-spatial experience has one

w e l l - o r g a n i z e d s e n s e , hearing-for s m e l l

a n d t a s t e a r e b u t l i t t l e o r g a n i z e d . Non-

s p a t i a l c o n s c i o u s n e s s i s a r e a l m c h i e f l y o f

t h o u g h t , f e e l i n g , a n d sound . S p a t i a l c o n -

s c i o u s n e s s i s a r e a l m o f l i g h t , c o l o r , s i g h t ,

a n d t o u c h , a n d p r e s e n t s s h a p e s a n d d i -

mensions . Our metaphorical system, by

n a m i n g n o n - s p a t i a l e x p e r i e n c e s a f t e r s p a -

t i a l o n e s , i m p u t e s t o s o u n d s , s m e l l s , t a s t e s ,

e m o t i o n s , a n d t h o u g h t s q u a l i t i e s l i k e t h e

c o l o r s , l u m i n o s i t i e s , s h a p e s , a n g l e s , t e x -

t u r e s , a n d m o t i o n s o f s p a t i a l e x p e r i e n c e .

A n d t o s o m e e x t e n t t h e r e v e r s e t r a n s f e r -

e n c e o c c u r s ; f o r a f t e r m u c h t a l k i n g a b o u t

t o n e s a s h i g h , l o w , s h a r p , d u l l , h e a v y ,

b r i l l i a n t , s l o w , t h e t a l k e r f i n d s i t e a s y t o

t h i n k o f s o m e f a c t o r s i n s p a t i a l e x p e r i -

e n c e a s l i k e f a c t o r s o f t o n e . Thus we

s p e a k o f ' t o n e s ' o f c o l o r , a g r a y ' m o n o -

t o n e , ' a ' l o u d ' n e c k t i e , a ' t a s t e ' i n d r e s s ;

all spatial metaphor in reverse. NowE u r o p e a n a r t i s d i s t i n c t i v e i n t h e w a y i t

s e e k s d e l i b e r a t e l y t o p l a y w i t h s y n e s t h e s i a .

M u s i c t r i e s t o s u g g e s t s c e n e s , c o l o r , m o v e -

ment, geometric design ; painting and

s c u l p t u r e a r e o f t e n c o n s c i o u s l y g u i d e d b y

t h e a n a l o g i e s o f m u s i c ' s r h y t h m ; c o l o rs

a r e c o n j o i n e d w i t h f e e l i n g f o r t h e a n a l o g y

t o c o n c o r d s a n d d i s c o r d s . The European

theatre and opera seek a sy nthesis of

m a n y a r t s . I t m a y b e t h a t i n t h i s w a y o u r

metaphorical language that is in some

s e n s e a c o n f u s i o n o f t h o u g h t i s p r o d u c i n g ,

t h r o u g h a r t , a r e s u l t o f f a r - r e a c h i n g v a l u e

- a d e e p e r e s t h e t i c s e n s e l e a d i n g t o w a r d

a m o r e d i r e c t a p p r e h e n s i o n o f u n d e r l y i n g

u n i t y b e h i n d t h e p h e n o m e n a s o v a r i o u s l y

r e p o r t e d b y o u r s e n s e c h a n n e l s .

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a u t o c r a t i c w a y . T h i s i s b e c a u s e a l a n g u a g e

i s a s y s t e m , n o t j u s t a n a s s e m b l a g e o f

norms . L a r g e s y s t e m i c o u t l i n e s c a n c h a n g e

t o s o m e t h i n g r e a l l y n e w o n l y v e r y s l o w l y ,

w h i l e m a n y o t h e r c u l t u r a l i n n o v a t i o n s a r e

made with comparative quickness . L a n -

g u a g e t h u s r e p r e s e n t s t h e m a s s m i n d ; i t

i s a f f e c t e d b y i n v e n t i o n s a n d i n n o v a t i o n s ,

b u t a f f e c t e d l i t t l e a n d s l o w l y , w h e r e a s t o

i n v e n t o r s a n d i n n o v a t o r s i t l e g i s l a t e s w i t h

t h e d e c r e e i m m e d i a t e .

The growth of the SAE language-cul-

ture complex dates from ancient times .

M u c h o f i t s m e t a p h o r i c a l r e f e r e n c e t o t h e

n o n - s p a t i a l b y t h e s p a t i a l w a s a l r e a d y f i x e d

i n t h e a n c i e n t t o n g u e s , a n d m o r e e s p e -

c i a l l y i n L a t i n . I t i s i n d e e d a m a r k e d t r a i t

o f L a t i n . I f w e c o m p a r e , s a y H e b r e w , w e

f i n d t h a t w h i l e H e b r e w h a s s o m e a l l u s i o n

to not-space as space, Latin has more .

L a t i n t e r m s f o r n o n - s p a t i a l s , l i k e educo,

r e l i g i o , p r i n c i p i a , c o m p r e h e n d o , a r e u s u -

a l l y m e t a p h o r i z e d p h y s i c a l r e f e r e n c e s :

l e a d o u t , t y i n g b a c k , e t c . T h i s i s n o t t r u e

o f a l l l a n g u a g e s - i t i s q u i t e u n t r u e o f

Hopi . T h e f a c t t h a t i n L a t i n t h e d i r e c t i o n

o f d e v e l o p m e n t h a p p e n e d t o b e f r o m s p a -

t i a l t o n o n - s p a t i a l ( p a r t l y b e c a u s e o f s e c -

o n d a r y s t i m u l a t i o n t o a b s t r a c t t h i n k i n g

w h e n t h e i n t e l l e c t u a l l y c r u d e R o m a n s e n -

c o u n t e r e d G r e e k c u l t u r e ) a n d t h a t l a t e r

t o n g u e s w e r e s t r o n g l y s t i m u l a t e d t o m i m i c

L a t i n , s e e m s a l i k e l y r e a s o n f o r a b e l i e f

w h i c h s t i l l l i n g e r s o n a m o n g l i n g u i s t s t h a t

t h i s i s t h e n a t u r a l d i r e c t i o n o f s e m a n t i c

RELATION OF HABITUAL THOUGHT AND BEHAVIOR TO LANGUAGEHistorical Implications c h a n g e i n a l l l a n g u a g e s , a n d f o r t h e p e r -

s i s t e n t n o t i o n i n W e s t e r n l e a r n e d c i r c l e s

H o w d o e s s u c h a n e t w o r k o f l a n g u a g e ,( i n s t r o n g c o n t r a s t t o E a s t e r n o n e s ) t h a t

culture, and behavior come about his-o b j e c t i v e e x p e r i e n c e i s p r i o r t o s u b j e c t i v e .

t o r i c a l l y ? W h i c h e r a s f i r s t , t h e l a n g u a g e P h i l o s o p h i e s m a k e o u t a w e i g h t y c a s e f o r

p a t t e r n s o r t h e c u l t u r a l n o r m s ? I n m a i nt h e r e v e r s e , a n d c e r t a i n l y t h e d i r e c t i o n o f

t h e y h a v e g r o w n u p t o g e t h e r , c o n s t a n t l y development is sometimes the reverse .

i n f l u e n c i n g e a c h o t h e r . B u t i n t h i s p a r t - Thus the Hopi word for 'heart' can be

n e r s h i p t h e n a t u r e o f t h e l a n g u a g e i s t h es h o w n t o b e a l a t e f o r m a t i o n w i t h i n H o p i

f a c t o r t h a t l i m i t s f r e e p l a s t i c i t y a n d r i g i d - from a root meaning think or remember .

i f i e s c h a n n e l s o f d e v e l o p m e n t i n t h e m o r e Or consider what has h