Can language influence the way we think?

Language is a key part of our everyday life. As social creatures, humans crave communication between others, and words have enabled us to do just that. “The limits of my language mean the limits of my world” is a famous quote from Ludwig Wittgenstein that also just so happens to be around the MFL floor (take a look next time you go up the staircase), and to a certain extent, it is true. In this article, I will be talking about how language plays a key role in our cognitive functioning, and can influence the way we think.

An interesting example of language influencing our behaviour and thoughts is an Aboriginal community in Australia called the Kuuk Thaayorre. In their language, there are no directions such as left or right; everything is referred to using compass directions. In fact, even the way to greet people involves asking which direction they are going in. Because of this integration of orientation into their language and culture, studies found this community to be incredibly aware of their directions and very oriented themselves. This contrasts with previous suggestions that humans were simply not as good as other creatures at this, often using an unproved biological disadvantage. However, this community has shown that in fact integrating it into our language and culture can make us just as able as other animals. This shows that the way we use language to interact has a profound effect on our behaviour.

Another example of linguistics in thought is the perception of colour. In English, we have “Blue”. Yes there is cobalt blue, royal blue, etc., but it all falls under the umbrella term of “Blue”. In Russian, they have two separate words for light blue (goluboy) and dark blue (siniy). When tested to differentiate between the individual shades of blue, Russian speakers were found to be much faster in separating out the shades of blue than English speakers. Similarly, the same was done with Greek speaking individuals (who also have separate terms for light and dark blue) and people who spoke both Greek at birth and learned English. This study found that the bilinguals distinguished less between the shades of blue than those who only spoke Greek, showing how adaptable and plastic our brains can be even with factors that have been with us since childhood. Again, this proves how language can change our cognitive function.

The final example I will use is grammatical gender and thinking patterns. In Spanish, the word ‘Bridge’ is  gendered masculine, while in German, it is feminine. Could this really impact the way these different cultures view bridges? Yes. When asked to describe bridges, the Germans were much more likely to use stereotypically feminine words such as elegant or beautiful, and vice versa in Spanish, describing bridges as strong.

For all of the evidence listed above, we can see how important language is in shaping the way we view the world. With so much linguistic diversity in the world, it’s not hard to see why we all think and act so differently depending on our culture or language. Communication through language is one of the most underrated and important factors that shapes our minds. So next time you feel like you have a bit of spare time, hop on Duolingo and start learning a new language, it might just change the way you think.