Continuing my reading of Steven Pinker’s Language Instinct I have read some interesting observations and analyses. In chapter 3 “Mentalese”, Pinker debunked the theory of linguistic determinism. This theory is the belief that language shapes and determines thought. He used examples from Benjamin Whorf’s research of linguistic determinism that his results were misguided. For example, Pinker took Whorf’s research on studying the Hopi language. Whorf claimed the Hopi language didn’t contain any words or grammatical constructions that represented time, including past, present and future. However, when translated from Hopi to English, it was evident that the Hopi language did contain awareness of time.
I was enlightened when I learned that language and thought could be intertwined. I never thought of these two forces being factors to each other, but when I read Whorf’s claim and Pinker’s argument I felt a new awareness of how truly deep language can go.
I am still wondering if Pinker will shine light on the environment and how it nurtures’ our language. I think Pinker is going to cover what happens between the time am infant is born and he/she learns to speak psychologically.
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