linguisticrelativity - Tumblr blog

[linguisticrelativity]

To choose any one vernacular as a norm means to favor the group of people speaking that variety. It gives them prestige as norm-bearers and a head start in the race for power and position. If a recognized elite already exists with a characteristic vernacular, its norm will almost inevitably prevail.

Haugen (via linguisten)

[linguisticrelativity]

We tend to look through a language and not realize how much power language has.

Deborah Tannen (via linguisten)

[linguisticrelativity]

Have been wanting to add this video here for some time. Petrina Nomikou explains very clearly how language relativity works. This 8 minute video was basically what I needed when explaining my theses to people that knew nothing about it. I could never find the words to explain it so clearly, as she does.

[linguisticrelativity]

We don't often get movies about linguistics, do we? Have you seen Arrival (2016) yet? It's an interesting movie about alien language and linguistic determinism. Linguistic determinism is not something a lot of linguists support (including me). It's the extreme form of linguistic relativity. The thing that fascinated me most was that it was about perceiving time - which I did two theses about! The aliens (which, by the way, are luckily not like most monster-aliens you see in a lot of alien movies) perceive time differently than humans, because of their language. Where we humans see time as linear, the aliens perceive it as cyclical. Here's a great article about a linguist's opinion on the movie: How Realistic Is the Way Amy Adams’ Character Hacks the Alien Language In Arrival? We Asked a Linguist. I wholly agree with the statement that they took the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis way beyond anything that is plausible. But it's still a cool movie.

[linguisticrelativity]

No matter what area of linguistics you specialized in, you've been trained to examine data empirically, to pay close attention to detail, and to find order in chaos.

Anna Marie Trester, in: Bringing Linguistics to Work (2017)

[linguisticrelativity]

Training in linguistics is training to think creatively, associatively, and in systems. We linguists see beneath the surface, we see solutions to puzzles, we see patterns in chaos, we are not afraid of ambiguity–all of which can (and should) be brought to bear on the challenges and needs of our world. We can and should find wide application of our powerful analytical skills, systems-thinking and problem-solving

Anna Marie Trester, The Career Linguist (quote taken from an interview by Superlinguo)

[linguisticrelativity]

Often when I tell people I studied linguistics they ask how many languages I know. But (as I’m sure you all know!), linguistics didn’t teach me different languages so much as it taught me how languages work. If you know how language works, it’s easier to know how computer languages (i.e. programming) work, how writing works, how communication works, and how people think. These sorts of skills can be useful just about anywhere.

Shanna Hollich, librarian (quote taken from an interview by Superlinguo