[Palter]

[Palter]

Just interesting ping.

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

“The question of whether languages shape the way we think goes back centuries; Charlemagne proclaimed that “to have a second language is to have a second soul.” But the idea went out of favor with scientists when Noam Chomsky's theories of language gained popularity in the 1960s and ‘70s. “

Could it be that Chomsky is as wrong, about the things he's supposed to be an expert in; as he is about all the things that the far left revers him for?

[raybbr]

"That Awful German Language" by Mark Twain.

An extraordinarily funny essay on the German language. Even funnier because it's all true.

[SunkenCiv]

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[Perdogg]

ping

[eleni121]

Sure but the way we codify our languages signifies another complex dimension of understanding human behavior, an element that this article does not touch on.

These are the oldest written languages - several of which are no longer used:

Sumerian (5000 years old), Ancient Egyptian (4500 years old), Hittite (3500 years old), Greek (3500 years old), Latin (2800 years old), Sanskrit (2500 years old), Old Chinese (2500 years old), Mayan (2500 years old).

[x]

That is the famous Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.

There's some truth in it, but John McWhorter suggests that some skepticism is required.

Sometimes there aren't exactly equivalent single words in two languages, but the distinctions involved are readily understood by people in both cultures.

People have worked up complicated philosophical treatises based on the existence of a foreign word representing a particular complex of meanings without realizing that you can find words with interesting and distinctive bundles of meanings in any language, including one's own, without their being grave philosophical consequences.

[Little Ray]

Bump for later.

[Pharmboy]

Thanks for the post and ping, respectively, I learned much from this article.

One interesting language factoid that always struck me was trying to explain to a non-English speaker the difference between a "house" and a "home." Not easy...

[Pontiac]

WSJ Ping

Great Article

[marsh2]

At one time I was a professional journalist. I still write a regular weekly column. My son has a processing disorder which made it difficult for him to learn to read. Both have given me some insight into the English language and perspective. Who, what when where and how. Noun, verb, adjectives usually unfolding in a chronological order. The boy jumped over the wooden fence. Each sentence hangs around one action. If you get beyond that, the American reader has problems following it.

My son, who referenced words pictorially when he was young could see a sentence like this unfold like a video. It is very action oriented. The German language seems very detail-oriented, hung up on all the adjectives. Our adjectives can be very subtly emotionally nuanced - see a Thesaurus. On the other hand, I understand the Japanese language is very simple and has one word meaning many things. Perhaps the inflection of verbal expression changes the meaning.

[colorado tanker]

Chingrish is full of lost in translations . . .