How Language Shapes Your Thinking
Everyone knows that language shapes your thinking. French, German, and English speakers all have fundamentally different views of reality, because their respective languages shape their minds in unique ways.
It’s an idea that makes for a compelling theory — but it’s almost entirely wrong.
That said, different languages do have unique ways of expressing ideas, and some of them can be quite eye-opening. Do they allow you to perceive reality on a far deeper level than your monolingual friends? Not really. Do they make for insightful glimpses into how other people and cultures express themselves? Sure!
Today, we look at some of the more curious elements of other languages, and how they might shed light on your own…
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Subject to Your Liking
One of the first things students of Spanish, French, or Italian learn is how to say they like something. But, to their surprise, none of it has to do with them liking anything at all!
Speakers of romance languages don’t express themselves in terms of what they like or dislike, but in terms of what is or isn’t pleasing to them. The Spanish me gusta, for example, simply means “it is pleasing to me”. In Italian, non mi piacciono gli spaghetti literally means “the spaghettis (in Italian, they’re plural) aren’t pleasing to me”.
When compared with English, this inversion of the subject and object can be rather sweet, such as when French use tu me manques (literally: you are lacking from me) to say “I miss you”. At other times, it can be a bit harsh: having to say no me gustas (“you’re not pleasing to me”) for a breakup in Spanish doesn’t give you much room to use the classic fallback of “it’s not you, it’s me”.
Funcompoundwords
Oscar Wilde once quipped that “life is too short to learn German”, and when students of the language come across words like Rindfleischetikettierungsüberwachungsaufgabenübertragungsgesetz (“Law on the delegation of duties for the supervision of beef labeling”), they often can’t help but agree.
German is famous for its compound words, but it doesn’t actually operate all too differently from English. While the German word for headlights, Scheinwerfer (literally “light throwers”), might sound funny to English ears, we use compound terms like windshield or windshield wipers just as regularly. The only difference is, English usually keeps the spaces.
That said, German does have a knack for coming up with terms that convey a rich, visual image with a single word. Schadenfreude, the joy one takes in another’s suffering, is a popular example, but not nearly as vivid as Kummerspeck. Literally meaning “sorrow fat”, this word indicates the weight one puts on after going through a breakup, the loss of a loved one, etc.
As you might have have noticed, despite neither of these terms existing in English, it is far from impossible to translate them or grasp what they’re getting at — which is part of the reason why “linguistic determinism” isn’t as weighty a theory as it’s made out to be.
What Is up With Thee?
While many years have passed since English lost the distinction between the formal and informal forms of “you”, these pronouns have remained cornerstones of most European languages. Tu / Lei in Italian, tu / vous in French, and du / Sie in German are among the most popular examples.
Although these formal “you” pronouns are used slightly differently in each language, they all serve a similar function of indicating social distance and/or respect. They also serve as a reminder of what the English “thou” once was, even if most people get it wrong.
Contrary to popular belief, “thou” wasn’t simply a formal variant of “you”. By Shakespeare’s time, it was used to indicate a sort of emotional charge in a relationship, whether positive or negative. You could yell “thou” at a criminal, or use it while praying to God. In simplified terms, “thou” was more intimate, whereas “you” (like the French vous) was more formal and distant — not unlike the different “you” pronouns still around in many languages today.
These are just a few examples of how other languages express themselves differently from English. What did we miss?
I grew up bilingual and I work in a third language. I strongly believe I had slightly different personalities in each language lol
I think language does shape our thinking: Consider the Greek verb, "agapeo" or its noun form "agape". We know from John's letters that this refers to treating someone according to the Law. So if I "agapeo" you, I won't kill you, steal your stuff, or bear false witness against you.
But in English, we don't have a word for that concept. So it's mistranslated to mean "charity" or "liking" or "loving".
So Jesus' command to agapeo our enemies actually means we must treat them according to the Law. It doesn't mean we are required to "like" them or have a tender affection for them. But English speaking Christians believe we are commanded to like or love our enemies!
This has been a disaster. Because English doesn't have a word for that concept and English translators either didn't understand what it meant or mistakenly believed they had to come up with a one word definition instead of using a phrase to show its true meaning.