Everyone who has the experiences with a foreigner would know that sometimes what you mean does not get perceived correctly. An obscure example would be if an American says “he he” to a Chinese, instead of perceiving it as a signal of funny, the Chinese may understand that as cynical. This is a differentiation in language. As Thom Scott-Phillips pointed out in the article More Than Words, the language a glorious chaos. It is incredibly versatile, flexible and the interpretation would vary with people. Albeit its convenience and prevalence, language is not the peak of communication. Phillips says other forms of expressions that can convey more meanings than language does. Unlike artistic forms of expression, music or arts, language has boundaries
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Limitations in language will further influence thoughts of people who nourished in the language. To illustrate the profound impact, a new principle is needed: Linguistic Relativity. The principle of linguistic relativity or the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis states that the structure of a language affects its speakers ' world view or cognition. A strong version of the linguistic relativity which is later called linguistic determinism holds the view that language and its structures limit and determine human knowledge or thought, as well as perception (Wolff and Holmes, 253). What it means is that how people see the world may be limited by meanings in their languages. An example of the linguistic relativity is Daniel Everett’s study. It analyzes conception of numbers in the Brazilian Pirahã people. Originally, there is no language in their culture represent numbers beyond one and two. Instead, Piraha people use actual terms in their language as representations of numbers greater than two. Researchers tried to teach them the Portuguese language for eight months and not one individual successfully count to ten (Bower,376). This example illustrates that language affects people’s cognition and this impact may be intrinsic and may not be learned afterward. A potential consequence of the problem is misunderstanding between languages. Applying the principle to students at UC Davis …show more content…
It is true that language frames people’s viewpoints. But Charlemagne also said that “to learn a new language is to gain a new soul”. The limitation of language which exerts on human thoughts is also devastating. Because language is about the combination of words, differences in combinations may cause variations in meanings. These variations will further affect people’s cognition and may lead to misunderstanding in a multilingual environment. Therefore, do not mislead ourselves by thinking language as
Limitations in language will further influence thoughts of people who nourished in the language. To illustrate the profound impact, a new principle is needed: Linguistic Relativity. The principle of linguistic relativity or the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis states that the structure of a language affects its speakers ' world view or cognition. A strong version of the linguistic relativity which is later called linguistic determinism holds the view that language and its structures limit and determine human knowledge or thought, as well as perception (Wolff and Holmes, 253). What it means is that how people see the world may be limited by meanings in their languages. An example of the linguistic relativity is Daniel Everett’s study. It analyzes conception of numbers in the Brazilian Pirahã people. Originally, there is no language in their culture represent numbers beyond one and two. Instead, Piraha people use actual terms in their language as representations of numbers greater than two. Researchers tried to teach them the Portuguese language for eight months and not one individual successfully count to ten (Bower,376). This example illustrates that language affects people’s cognition and this impact may be intrinsic and may not be learned afterward. A potential consequence of the problem is misunderstanding between languages. Applying the principle to students at UC Davis …show more content…
It is true that language frames people’s viewpoints. But Charlemagne also said that “to learn a new language is to gain a new soul”. The limitation of language which exerts on human thoughts is also devastating. Because language is about the combination of words, differences in combinations may cause variations in meanings. These variations will further affect people’s cognition and may lead to misunderstanding in a multilingual environment. Therefore, do not mislead ourselves by thinking language as