Debate on whether language affects perception or perception affects language has been studied, switched, and reverted multiple times over the last century, but a definitive agreement from both sides is that one does affect the other.
In Namibia the BBC documented the Himba tribe's ability to specifically select minute differences in reds and browns but an almost non-existent ability to express differences in greens. A more documented case in linguistic expression of the visual world is the differentiation in Russian's words for lighter and darker shade. The terminology distinction cues the language user's brain to be more aware of minuscule tone variations. The conclusion of the color-linguistic study found that native Russian speakers were faster and more accurate in distinguishing light and dark blues compared to Latin and Germanic language users that do not have multiple words to describe colors.
The origin of color perception to real world descriptions dates back to the mid-nineteenth century with Britain's William Gladstone. While reading through The Odyssey and The Illiad, he noticed Homer's odd descriptions of objects. The ocean is often described as "wine dark" and sheep are "violet." Curious, Gladstone tallied the use of color words in the original Greek and found that white, black, and red were the most used colors followed by yellow with almost no reference to green and no words for blue. In the decades since Gladstone's observation, other ancient cultures have been analyzed for color-describing terms. Blues are the last colors to be described by most cultures except ancient Egypt because of their unique ability to make blue dyes.
The general consensus by linguists and psychologists is that man's ability to describe the world is directly related to his experience of it and vice versa. If there is not a word for a specific pigment, hue, or tone, that color cannot be distinguished so cannot be described so cannot exist in the minds of the people that cannot describe it.
As the internet aids in the globalization of the economy and speeds the industrialization of billions of people, new words are being invented for technological innovations, techniques, and social interactions as humans have done for thousands of years. However, with the increased permeability of cultural perspectives, words are changing hands ever more rapidly. Though the mixed-slurred language blend of Ridley Scott's Blade Runner does not seem likely within the next few years, the rapid exchange is changing the way younger generations perceive the world. With the explosive development of the scientific system in the late nineteenth century, languages were cataloged, recorded, and fixed. With the established language code in place, science translated between English, French, and German cultures rapidly and led to the modern age. As science has slowed its progress, language has begun to evolve beyond the rigid confines of the nineteenth century.
Language affects human perception of the world. If this assumption is true, language has the power to change the focus of humanity by altering the focus of science and repurposing the power of politics. With its ability to alter the reality of the user, language is the most powerful tool of humanity. Language is the magic of man.
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Agatha Tyche
I note that your original premise refers to the spoken language then evolves to include written language, and sums up with language as a whole. I pose you the question: do you believe that the form of language (spoken, written, etc.) affects the ideas that can be conceived?
ReplyDeleteYes, the presentation format affects perception. The clearest examples of this are wordplays involving spelling, particularly with homophones. There is a loss of meaning if the desired word is not indicated from potentials.
ReplyDelete"Tonight, you should practice with your sword."
"To knite, you should practice with your sword."
While this example is petty, situations could arise where meaning and connotation need writing to be conveyed. Message security is greatly diminished if not written since the most complex the message can be is a riddle while writing allows for codes, anagrams, and more complex arrangements.
Another distinction between verbal and written is emphasis. Asian languages have inflections that change the word itself while most English inflections only change the emphasis. Emphasis before fixed type format could only be indicated with underlining. The lack of emphasis, inflection, and emotion in writing is a problem for email and text in the modern world, especially when conveying sensitive emotions.
As initially stated, development of language as a whole affects the perception of the world. Since a majority of humanity has been illiterate through history, writing's impact is most noticeable within recent centuries where large portions of the population can communicate through the written word, but the format of the words does affect the transfer of ideas.