language determinism.docx

language determinism.docx

《language determinism.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《language determinism.docx（7页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

languagedeterminism

【NewYorkTimes】DoesYourLanguageShapeHowYouThink?

（August26,2010）

Seventyyearsago,in1940,apopularsciencemagazinepublishedashortarticlethatsetinmotiononeofthetrendiestintellectualfadsofthe20thcentury.Atfirstglance,thereseemedlittleaboutthearticletoauguritssubsequentcelebrity.Neitherthetitle,“ScienceandLinguistics,”northemagazine,M.I.T.’sTechnologyReview,wasmostpeople’sideaofglamour.Andtheauthor,achemicalengineerwhoworkedforaninsurancecompanyandmoonlightedasananthropologylectureratYaleUniversity,wasanunlikelycandidateforinternationalsuperstardom.AndyetBenjaminLeeWhorfletlooseanalluringideaaboutlanguage’spoweroverthemind,andhisstirringproseseducedawholegenerationintobelievingthatourmothertonguerestrictswhatweareabletothink.

Inparticular,Whorfannounced,NativeAmericanlanguagesimposeontheirspeakersapictureofrealitythatistotallydifferentfromours,sotheirspeakerswouldsimplynotbeabletounderstandsomeofourmostbasicconcepts,liketheflowoftimeorthedistinctionbetweenobjects（like“stone”）andactions（like“fall”）.Fordecades,Whorf’stheorydazzledbothacademicsandthegeneralpublicalike.Inhisshadow,othersmadeawholerangeofimaginativeclaimsaboutthesupposedpoweroflanguage,fromtheassertionthatNativeAmericanlanguagesinstillintheirspeakersanintuitiveunderstandingofEinstein’sconceptoftimeasafourthdimensiontothetheorythatthenatureoftheJewishreligionwasdeterminedbythetensesystemofancientHebrew.

Eventually,Whorf’stheorycrash-landedonhardfactsandsolidcommonsense,whenittranspiredthattherehadneveractuallybeenanyevidencetosupporthisfantasticclaims.Thereactionwassoseverethatfordecades,anyattemptstoexploretheinfluenceofthemothertongueonourthoughtswererelegatedtotheloonyfringesofdisrepute.But70yearson,itissurelytimetoputthetraumaofWhorfbehindus.Andinthelastfewyears,newresearchhasrevealedthatwhenwelearnourmothertongue,wedoafterallacquirecertainhabitsofthoughtthatshapeourexperienceinsignificantandoftensurprisingways.

Whorf,wenowknow,mademanymistakes.Themostseriousonewastoassumethatourmothertongueconstrainsourmindsandpreventsusfrombeingabletothinkcertainthoughts.Thegeneralstructureofhisargumentswastoclaimthatifalanguagehasnowordforacertainconcept,thenitsspeakerswouldnotbeabletounderstandthisconcept.Ifalanguagehasnofuturetense,forinstance,itsspeakerswouldsimplynotbeabletograspournotionoffuturetime.Itseemsbarelycomprehensiblethatthislineofargumentcouldeverhaveachievedsuchsuccess,giventhatsomuchcontraryevidenceconfrontsyouwhereveryoulook.Whenyouask,inperfectlynormalEnglish,andinthepresenttense,“Areyoucomingtomorrow?

”doyoufeelyourgriponthenotionoffuturityslippingaway?

DoEnglishspeakerswhohaveneverheardtheGermanwordSchadenfreudefinditdifficulttounderstandtheconceptofrelishingsomeoneelse’smisfortune?

Orthinkaboutitthisway:

Iftheinventoryofready-madewordsinyourlanguagedeterminedwhichconceptsyouwereabletounderstand,howwouldyoueverlearnanythingnew?

SINCETHEREISNOEVIDENCEthatanylanguageforbidsitsspeakerstothinkanything,wemustlookinanentirelydifferentdirectiontodiscoverhowourmothertonguereallydoesshapeourexperienceoftheworld.Some50yearsago,therenownedlinguistRomanJakobsonpointedoutacrucialfactaboutdifferencesbetweenlanguagesinapithymaxim:

“Languagesdifferessentiallyinwhattheymustconveyandnotinwhattheymayconvey.”Thismaximoffersusthekeytounlockingtherealforceofthemothertongue:

ifdifferentlanguagesinfluenceourmindsindifferentways,thisisnotbecauseofwhatourlanguageallowsustothinkbutratherbecauseofwhatithabituallyobligesustothinkabout.

Considerthisexample.SupposeIsaytoyouinEnglishthat“Ispentyesterdayeveningwithaneighbor.”Youmaywellwonderwhethermycompanionwasmaleorfemale,butIhavetherighttotellyoupolitelythatit’snoneofyourbusiness.ButifwewerespeakingFrenchorGerman,Iwouldn’thavetheprivilegetoequivocateinthisway,becauseIwouldbeobligedbythegrammaroflanguagetochoosebetweenvoisinorvoisine;NachbarorNachbarin.TheselanguagescompelmetoinformyouaboutthesexofmycompanionwhetherornotIfeelitisremotelyyourconcern.Thisdoesnotmean,ofcourse,thatEnglishspeakersareunabletounderstandthedifferencesbetweeneveningsspentwithmaleorfemaleneighbors,butitdoesmeanthattheydonothavetoconsiderthesexesofneighbors,friends,teachersandahostofotherpersonseachtimetheycomeupinaconversation,whereasspeakersofsomelanguagesareobligedtodoso.

Ontheotherhand,Englishdoesobligeyoutospecifycertaintypesofinformationthatcanbelefttothecontextinotherlanguages.IfIwanttotellyouinEnglishaboutadinnerwithmyneighbor,Imaynothavetomentiontheneighbor’ssex,butIdohavetotellyousomethingaboutthetimingoftheevent:

Ihavetodecidewhetherwedined,havebeendining,aredining,willbediningandsoon.Chinese,ontheotherhand,doesnotobligeitsspeakerstospecifytheexacttimeoftheactioninthisway,becausethesameverbformcanbeusedforpast,presentorfutureactions.Again,thisdoesnotmeanthattheChineseareunabletounderstandtheconceptoftime.Butitdoesmeantheyarenotobligedtothinkabouttimingwhenevertheydescribeanaction.

Whenyourlanguageroutinelyobligesyoutospecifycertaintypesofinformation,itforcesyoutobeattentivetocertaindetailsintheworldandtocertainaspectsofexperiencethatspeakersofotherlanguagesmaynotberequiredtothinkaboutallthetime.Andsincesuchhabitsofspeecharecultivatedfromtheearliestage,itisonlynaturalthattheycansettleintohabitsofmindthatgobeyondlanguageitself,affectingyourexperiences,perceptions,associations,feelings,memoriesandorientationintheworld.

BUTISTHEREanyevidenceforthishappeninginpractice?

Let’stakegendersagain.LanguageslikeSpanish,French,GermanandRussiannotonlyobligeyoutothinkaboutthesexoffriendsandneighbors,buttheyalsoassignamaleorfemalegendertoawholerangeofinanimateobjectsquiteatwhim.What,forinstance,isparticularlyfeminineaboutaFrenchman’sbeard（labarbe）?

WhyisRussianwaterashe,andwhydoesshebecomeaheonceyouhavedippedateabagintoher?

MarkTwainfamouslylamentedsucherraticgendersasfemaleturnipsandneutermaidensinhisrant“TheAwfulGermanLanguage.”ButwhereasheclaimedthattherewassomethingparticularlyperverseabouttheGermangendersystem,itisinfactEnglishthatisunusual,atleastamongEuropeanlanguages,innottreatingturnipsandteacupsasmasculineorfeminine.Languagesthattreataninanimateobjectasaheorasheforcetheirspeakerstotalkaboutsuchanobjectasifitwereamanorawoman.Andasanyonewhosemothertonguehasagendersystemwilltellyou,oncethehabithastakenhold,itisallbutimpossibletoshakeoff.WhenIspeakEnglish,Imaysayaboutabedthat“it”istoosoft,butasanativeHebrewspeaker,Iactuallyfeel“she”istoosoft.“She”staysfeminineallthewayfromthelungsuptotheglottisandisneuteredonlywhenshereachesthetipofthetongue.

Inrecentyears,variousexperimentshaveshownthatgrammaticalgenderscanshapethefeelingsandassociationsofspeakerstowardobjectsaroundthem.Inthe1990s,forexample,psychologistscomparedassociationsbetweenspeakersofGermanandSpanish.Therearemanyinanimatenounswhosegendersinthetwolanguagesarereversed.AGermanbridgeisfeminine（dieBrücke）,forinstance,butelpuenteismasculineinSpanish;andthesamegoesforclocks,apartments,forks,newspapers,pockets,shoulders,stamps,tickets,violins,thesun,theworldandlove.Ontheotherhand,anappleismasculineforGermansbutfeminineinSpanish,andsoarechairs,brooms,butterflies,keys,mountains,stars,tables,wars,rainandgarbage.Whenspeakerswereaskedtogradevariousobjectsonarangeofcharacteristics,Spanishspeakersdeemedbridges,clocksandviolinstohavemore“manlyproperties”likestrength,butGermanstendedtothinkofthemasmoreslenderorelegant.Withobjectslikemountainsorchairs,whichare“he”inGermanbut“she”inSpanish,theeffectwasreversed.

Inadifferentexperiment,FrenchandSpanishspeakerswereaskedtoassignhumanvoicestovariousobjectsinacartoon.WhenFrenchspeakerssawapictureofafork（lafourchette）,mostofthemwantedittospeakinawoman’svoice,butSpanishspeakers,forwhomeltenedorismasculine,preferredagravellymalevoiceforit.Morerecently,psychologistshaveevenshownthat“genderedlanguages”imprintgendertraitsforobjectssostronglyinthemindthattheseassociationsobstructspeakers’abilitytocommitinformationtomemory.

Ofcourse,allthisdoesnotmeanthatspeakersofSpanishorFrenchorGermanfailtounderstandthatinanimateobjectsdonotreallyhavebiologicalsex—aGermanwomanrarelymistakesherhusbandforahat,andSpanishmenarenotknowntoconfuseabedwithwhatmightbelyinginit.Nonetheless,oncegenderconnotationshavebeenimposedonimpressionableyoungminds,theyleadthosewithagenderedmothertonguetoseetheinanimateworldthroughlensestintedwithassociationsandemotionalresponsesthatEnglishspeakers—stuckintheirmonochromedesertof“its”—are