Cover Letter
Research on language commonality has found some interesting information, but for decades, no so-called commonality has withstood scrutiny. On the contrary, as linguists continue to study various languages in the world (there are about 7,000 languages in the world, only a small part of them are analyzed), countless unexpected differences have emerged. Different languages can give people different cognitive abilities. This argument can be traced back many centuries. In the 1930s, American linguists Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf conducted research on the differences between different languages and suggested that the users of different languages should think in ways Not the same. Although their hypothesis was very popular at first, they encountered a small problem: there was hardly any evidence to support this hypothesis. By the 1970s, many scientists had no hope for the Sapir-Wolf hypothesis. With a series of new theories claiming that language and thinking are universal, their hypotheses were eventually forgotten. But decades later, a large amount of data based on experience finally appeared, showing the process of language shaping thinking. This evidence reverses people’s long-held beliefs about universality and provides thought-provoking insights into the origin of knowledge and the construction of reality. The results of these studies will have an important impact on law, politics, and education.
In this regard, behavioral economist Keith Chen demonstrated the impact of language differences on people’s concept of savings. The study found that if the language of a nation can describe the future, then the savings rate of the entire nation will be lower than this level. On the contrary, it is easy to save money. In addition, Keith also explained the influence of language systems on the concept of social classification. There are many words describing the relationship between relatives in Chinese, but the only adjectives in English are “Uncle” and “aunt”, which reflects the very fine social hierarchy of East Asian society. In addition, the neuroscientist Stanislas De Haan also explained the influence of language differences on people’s mathematical ability in “Number Sense”. The two biggest reasons are that the pronunciation of numbers in Chinese is shorter and the number of syllables in English is longer; the other reason is that Asian numbers have regular and clear logic, but the opposite is true in the mathematical systems of Western countries. Northwestern University Psychology Karen C. Fuson also said that the number system in Asia is clear at a glance, which has also led to different attitudes towards mathematics among Chinese and Western children.
The way of thinking has an important influence on the expression of language, and the difference in the way of thinking directly leads to cultural differences. The two cultures have produced two civilizations. Understanding the culture is helpful for language learning. As Professor Lera Boroditsky said: “Language is a unique talent of human beings. When we discover the differences between languages and their users, we will also find that humanity will also appear significantly due to the differences in the languages we use.” Language has a profound impact on the thinking and cognitive structure of the real world we construct.
The World’s View of Language
Different language users also have differences in thinking. As early as the 19th century, German linguist Humboldt, who is proficient in multiple languages, had already noticed the influence of language on thinking. He believes that every nation will inevitably bring a certain unique subjective consciousness into its own language, thereby forming a unique “world view” in the language, and this “language world view” may, in turn, affect people’s behavior. Based on Humboldt’s view, American linguists at Sapir and Whorf proposed a “Sapir-Wolf hypothesis” in the last century. The hypothesis holds that the structure and form of language control people’s thoughts and cultural norms. Everyone lives in the small part of the world his language allows him to understand, and the world they understand has been set a priori by his language to a large extent. In other words, the difference between languages is the difference between different worldviews in different cultures.
The language difference has caused people to have an impact on the concept of savings. As a behavioral economist, Keith Chen argued in a TED talk: the influence of language on people’s savings behavior. Researchers have found that people’s saving behavior will vary depending on their native language. If the language of a nation can describe the future (for example, there are words for tomorrow, next week, and next year), the savings ratio of the entire nation will be below. On the contrary, if the language of a nation can only be vague or even unable to describe the future (for example, there are no words such as tomorrow, next week, and next year), then the nation’s savings ratio will be higher, and it will be less prone to abuses such as smoking and drinking. The reason for this difference is that if a language cannot distinguish between the present and the future, then the users of the language are more inclined to regard the present and the future as the same point in time, or very close points in time, which will make they feel that the future is now, making it easier to save. Conversely, if users of a language can accurately distinguish between the present and the future, they will tend to think that the future is a relatively distant concept, which makes it more difficult for them to save. It can be seen from this that, as a carrier of thought, language can in turn shape thought while expressing thought. Different languages reflect the cultures of different nations and their different worldviews. Learning a foreign language is a process of learning how to see the world from a new perspective it will make our understanding of the world more comprehensive and profound.
Behavior scientist Keith Chen also demonstrated in his TED speech that different language systems have different concepts of social classification. In Chinese, there are relative concepts such as “大(dà)伯(bó)”, “小(xiǎo)姨(yí)”, “姑(gū)妈(mā)”, “婶(shěn)婶(shěn)”, and “大(dà)舅(jiù)”, but there are only two words corresponding to uncle and aunt in English. The difference between these two languages is actually a social and cultural difference. East Asian societies have an extremely fine social grading system, which distinguishes blood relatives, in-laws, collaterals, elders, and children very clearly, so there is a very fine concept of relatives reflected in the language. The social grading system in Europe and the United States is not as detailed as in East Asia, and the distinction between blood and in-laws is not so particular, so the distinction between relatives in English vocabulary is not particularly obvious. If you haven’t studied English or Chinese, it will be difficult for you to realize the cultural differences.
In addition to the influence of language differences on the concept of savings, the influence of language differences on people’s mathematical ability. Many studies have tried to attribute the mathematics level of Asians a few blocks away from Europeans and Americans to the fact that Asian numbers and words are short. For example, all numbers in Chinese have only one syllable, but for example, English seven has two syllables. Because it is short, it has an advantage in limited working memory. On the other hand, Chinese and Japanese have very disciplined oral counting systems, which directly correspond to written numbers, such as 11 = 十(shí)一(yī) (compared to eleven in English), which has subtly strengthened Asians’ Understanding of digital relationships. This kind of numerical advantage is considered by some studies to be the reason for Asian mathematics talent, but the influence of cultural and educational factors (such as attitudes towards mathematics and the time spent on mathematics) cannot be eliminated. The neuroscientist Stanislas Dehaene explained in the book “The Number Sense” (The Number Sense) that the pronunciation of Chinese numbers is extremely short, most of the numbers can be spoken in less than a quarter of a second, while the English numbers, it takes a little longer, about one-third of a second. （On page 54 of “the number sense”）Therefore, it takes longer to recite a string of numbers in English than in Chinese. The number naming system of Western languages and Asian languages is very different. （On page 91 of “the number sense”） Examples 14, 16, and 17 are in English: fourteen, sixteen, and seventeen. Some people may think that 11, 12, should be oneteen, twoteen, but it is not the case. The correct terms for these figures are eleven and twelve. Although the numbers greater than 20, we will follow certain rules, first say the ten digits, then the single digits, such as twenty-one (21), twenty-two (22); but for the numbers from 11 to 19, we reverse it. Let’s talk about the single-digit first, then the tens digit, such as fourteen (14), seventeen (17), eighteen (18). It can be seen that the English number naming system is very irregular. In contrast, the numbers in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean are very regular and logical. For example, the two-digit numbers “eleven”, “twelve”, and “twenty-four” in Chinese are the ten digits first, and then plus the single digit. This kind of numerical advantage is considered by some studies to be the reason for Asian mathematics talent, but the influence of cultural and educational factors (such as attitudes towards mathematics and the time spent on mathematics) cannot be eliminated. In other words, in terms of mathematics, native Chinese speakers have an inherent advantage, and this is a very special advantage.
Another example of the impact of language differences on people’s mathematical ability is the transparency of the Asian mathematical system. This kind of numerical advantage is considered by some studies to be the reason for Asian mathematics talent, but the influence of cultural and educational factors (such as attitudes towards mathematics and the time spent on mathematics) cannot be eliminated. Karen C. Fuson, a psychologist at Northwestern University, said: “The number system in Asia is clear at a glance, and their attitude towards mathematics is very different from that of Westerners. Chinese native children are not just memorizing by rote. I find that they can also do types. Or the recognition and analysis of patterns, they have confidence in their own abilities and think that this calculation is reasonable. Because the language structure of the number naming system is clumsy, and the basic rules seem to be unreasonable and complicated, Western children reach the third and fourth grades of elementary school, they hate math even more. In contrast, Asian children have no such confusion about mathematics. Their heads can temporarily store more numbers and do calculations faster. For example, the expression of scores in their language is exactly the same as the meaning of scores. They prefer mathematics. Because they like it more, they are willing to work harder and attend more classes. do more questions to form a virtuous circle. In other words, in terms of mathematics, native Chinese speakers have an inherent advantage, and this is a very special advantage.
Through these comparisons, we can see the difference between Chinese and English in terms of time and space. What is interesting is that this difference can only be found by people who have studied both English and Chinese at the same time. This is exactly what Goethe said: “Those who know nothing of foreign languages know nothing of their own.” Language is not just a communication tool, it also carries a unique culture, way of thinking, and worldview. Language learning is a process of shaping thinking and constructing new concepts. As we construct more and more concepts, our understanding of the world will become broader and deeper. This is also a huge benefit that learning foreign languages can bring us.
Work Cited:
- https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ccny-ebooks/reader.action?docID=716741
