#Linguistic Determinism

[omegaphilosophia]

Language, Thought, and Reality: The Interplay of Human Understanding

Language is more than a mere tool for communication; it's a fundamental element of human cognition that significantly shapes our perception of reality. The intricate relationship between language, thought, and reality has intrigued philosophers, linguists, and cognitive scientists for centuries. This intricate interplay not only influences how we express our ideas but also defines the very nature of our thoughts and, by extension, the way we perceive the world.

Language as a Lens to Reality

One of the most influential ideas in this realm is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which posits that the structure and vocabulary of a language can mold and constrain the way its speakers think about the world. This concept comes in two flavors: linguistic determinism and linguistic relativism. Linguistic determinism suggests that language entirely determines the way we think, limiting our thoughts to what is expressible in our language. Linguistic relativism, on the other hand, holds that language influences thought but doesn't strictly determine it.

Consider, for instance, the linguistic distinction between colors. Languages vary in how they categorize and label colors. Some have more words for different shades of blue, while others may combine colors that speakers of different languages consider distinct. This variation can affect how people perceive and categorize colors. If a language doesn't have a distinct word for a certain shade, its speakers may be less likely to perceive it as a separate entity. In this way, language can serve as a lens through which we view and define our reality.

The Mind's Toolkit: Language and Concepts

Language, in its complexity, provides us with a toolkit for understanding and categorizing the world. Words are not just labels but also containers of meaning and concepts. They define boundaries, allowing us to separate, categorize, and convey information. The very presence of specific words in a language implies the importance of these distinctions to its speakers.

Furthermore, the structural components of a language, such as syntax and grammar, govern how ideas are connected and expressed. They provide a blueprint for how concepts are related within the realm of thought. Thus, language helps us not only to classify the world but also to construct our understanding of it.

The Cultural Dimension

It's important to recognize that language isn't just an individual phenomenon. It is deeply entwined with culture. The language a person speaks is often a reflection of their cultural background and can encompass shared beliefs, values, and worldviews. Cultural linguistics explores how a language's unique features emerge from and influence the culture it is embedded in.

Beyond Language

While the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis and the study of linguistic relativity highlight the significance of language in shaping thought and reality, they are not without controversy. Critics argue that thought and perception are not solely dictated by language. Concepts like non-verbal communication, universal human experiences, and innate cognitive structures challenge the idea of linguistic determinism.

In the grand scheme of philosophy, the relationship between language, thought, and reality remains an open question. Language undoubtedly plays a vital role in shaping our perception of the world, but its extent and limits continue to be topics of philosophical inquiry.

As we ponder the intricate connection between language, thought, and reality, we gain insight into the profound ways in which human beings engage with and understand the world. This philosophical exploration enriches our understanding of the human experience and broadens the horizons of cognitive science, linguistics, and cultural studies.

[jaideepkhanduja]

Unraveling the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis: Exploring Language's Impact on Thought and Perception

The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis: Exploring the Linguistic Relativity of Thought and Perception The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, also known as linguistic relativity, suggests that the structure and content of a language significantly influence the way its speakers perceive and think about the world. This controversial hypothesis has sparked intense debates and captivated the attention of linguists,…

[dreamerking27]

Putting every other word in quotation marks when I talk about “relationships” because I don’t have the words to actually describe what I’m feeling so I need people to know that for ex I’m using the word “attraction” because that’s The Word to use but like idk if that’s what I’m actually feeling anyway Whorf was “right”

[morallygay]

Bucchigiri honki shrine decipher and translation

Some time ago I made a post about this tablet, to exalt its coolness as a stylistic mix of arabic and japanese scripts. Upon closer look I noticed it was not random for the aesthetic, but actually real japanese sentences, in an arabic-inspired font!

So I decided to decipher it. It was fun but challenging (especially as a non-native japanese speaker!), but I managed to do it.

japanese and translation:

戦で乱れし世に　逃げぬ心で In a world disarrayed by war, with a heart that does not flee

鍛錬を積み頂点を目指せ者共あり。 They are the people who accumulate training and aim for the top.

その名を本気人という。 They are called Honki People.

己が身に幾千の武具すら及ぬ力を宿し Their body possesses power that a thousand armors cannot match.

その拳は火を吹く大筒の如く Their fist is such as a cannon that spits fire

その蹴りは玉鋼の名刀をも砕いた。 Their kick shattered even the famous tamahagane* swords.

正々堂々　一途な(る?)生き— A "fair and square", singleminded (way of) life—

民の心を打つも— They strike even the People's hearts—

*traditional japanese steel made from iron sand and used in swords

BONUS:

This banner from episode 7. Once again japanese, but the katakana part really looks like arabic imo if you didn't know better! very cool

"合同コンバット" (gôdô combatto) Joint combat

A pun on "合同コンパ" (gôdô compa), "joint party / mixer"; what Arajin thought he was getting into.

[matuk-art]

Five at age 10: Why would I waste my time choosing a stupid name when I need to work on reinventing the Planck scale, Grace? I only have about 20 years or so of maximum brain capacity.

[needlesandnilbogs]

To Show Patience With: The Character of Overse in Martha Wells's Murderbot

Overse is not a name. As it's spelled, it's a Norwegian or Danish verb that means "overlook," or it can be spelled "överse" and be a Swedish word meaning "overlook" as well. My friend, a fluent Swedish speaker, said she'd understand the meaning if she saw the word "överse" used, but she wouldn't pick that word to translate from English to Swedish.

However, the language authority for Sweden, the Swedish Academy, gives an alternate meaning to the verb "överse"; it can mean to overlook, to critically go through/to review, or to show patience with. Their example of that last meaning is "han över­såg med barnens slarv," which my friend and Google Translate both say means something along the lines of "he overlooked the carelessness of the children."

I feel at this point I should quote this friend: "The funky thing about Swedish is that it's a very word-poor language, so one word can mean a lot of different things depending on context."

Martha Wells is a pantser, she's admitted to it. I'm sure she didn't intend that last meaning. But what if she did?

Our first introduction to Overse is on page 14 of All Systems Red (all page numbers are from hardback editions), where we get "I carried Bharadwaj up the ramp into the cabin, where Overse and Ratthi were frantically unclipping seats [...] their horrified expressions when they took in what was left of my upper body through my torn suit" (All Systems Red 14). Not very patient yet, given the description that the words "frantically" and "horrified" imply. But a few pages later, Overse and Arada have stabilized Bharadwaj by the end of the ride, and in the end of the chapter she's presumably among the group worrying in the mess. Soon after, when MB announces that there's a deleted part of the hazard report, it notes that "The reaction to that in general was pretty pissed off. There were some loud complaints from Pin-Lee and Overse and dramatic throwing-hands-in-the-air from Ratthi" (ASR 29). In a traumatic situation, it's understandable that everyone is a little panicked and nobody's being patient, but Overse seems to be able to work, even when she's upset by the situation.

By the time they're thinking about going to DeltFall, we have a little more info about Overse. Arada asks about recharging at DeltFall and "Overse put an arm around her and squeezed her shoulder" before explaining (ASR 47). MB even notes that "As a couple, they were always so nice to each other" (ASR 47). Arada is a little naive about the Corporate Rim, as evidenced by her questions here, the "terminal optimist" line in Network Effect, and just everything else. Overse, however, knows what's going on, and moreover, the combination of action and words, plus MB's statement that they are "nice" to each other, combines to create a patient tone when she's explaining.

During the rest of the book, Overse mostly shows up in the group scenes, in which she's a voice for reason, if just as worried as the rest of them. She appears briefly at the end of Exit Strategy, but not for long. When she really becomes a force of patience is in Network Effect.

In the first chapter, she "would be upset if I let her marital partner get killed" and "had shouted" at MB on the comm before that (Network Effect 11-12). However, she remains calm enough to warn Ratthi to get off the comm with the raiders and prepare the facility for launch, even through her worry. Shortly after, she notes to MB that it's been really supportive of Arada and how helpful that's been, and it notes that "[Arada] and Overse had always been firmly in the 'least likely to abandon a SecUnit to a lonely horrible fate' category, which was always the category I was most interested in" (NE 40). From it, that's an impressive compliment and a sign of Overse's ability to remain calm enough to make kind decisions while under immense stress.

This is born out a few pages later when Overse and Ratthi are in the control deck during the attack on the baseship and facility. "Both looked frantic," MB says, but it also notes that "frantic was the right reaction" and that there's no comm or feed (NE 43). Immediately afterward, Arada arrives, and "Overse's face twisted with relief and she bit her lip hard" (NE 44). After knowing that her wife is safe, Overse is more able to handle the situation. She gets comm partially active another page later, handles evacuation and separation well (though she and Arada both let their protectiveness for each other and the rest of the crew override their self-preservation instincts), and comes up with the idea of getting MB and Amena into EVAC suits as well as helping "cannibalize four of the EVAC suits aboard" to stabilize the safepod (NE 135).

Once removed from the immediate stress of almost dying, Overse demonstrates the ability to control her initial reactions (she "grimaced and rubbed her eyes" at ART's declaration that it won't leave till it gets what it wants, then communicates silently with Arada) and handles ART's demands with patience (NE 140). For instance, ART says it didn't plan to attack the facility, and she responds, "But it was your idea," with narrowed eyes (NE 141). I hate to make a personal anecdote in an analytical essay, but this is exactly the attitude my mother takes when I do something and she's trying to be patient but also communicate that I did a stupid. Same thing with their next group conversation with ART, where MB notes that she has a "'let's get this over with' expression," and when they first discuss the colony, where "Her expression had that grimly frustrated quality that was common when my humans talked about the corporates" (NE 149, 155). (What I'm saying is Overse is the mom friend lol)

There are two scenes later in NE that are especially telling. The first is in chapter 10, when Overse and Arada are on the way to check out engineering.

Arada and Overse had stopped in the corridor that went toward the engineering module. Arada hugged Overse, and Overse kissed her and said into her ear, "You can do this, babe. You're a bulkhead." "I'm a wibbly bulkhead," Arada muttered. (The wibbliness was why I trusted Arada. Overconfident humans who don't listen to anybody else scare the hell out of me.) Arada stepped back and smiled at Overse. "Got to get to work." (NE 164)

In this scene, Arada is worried; she's finally letting down the mask of command and letting Overse see how worried she is in a situation that is close to private. Overse responds in a manner consistent with the mention in ASR that they were always nice to each other, but she's more than just nice. Arada is upset in a way that's likely troubling to Overse, and Overse is able to calm her, be patient with her, and make sure that she's okay despite being worried about her.

The other scene in question is the infamous bunkroom scene, which deserves a whole separate meta about what's been told and what's left missing, but the simple summary is thus: in chapter 11, Arada agrees to go over to the Barish-Estranza ship, without consulting anyone else or making an informed decision. From then on, Overse is upset. Her initial response to the idea is "Fuck no," then "there was a big human argument" and "Overse said through gritted teeth, 'Rescuing you–or trying to recover your body–will not save us time'"(NE 202-03). A few minutes later, "Overse was still mad," and apparently needs "a chance to vent and calm down," which she gets by venting to Ratthi (NE 204). MB paraphrases, so we'll never know her exact words, but she apparently ends up "being angry at herself for getting angry at Arada during a crisis" (NE 205). She's able to calm herself down and be patient long enough to work with Arada, but it takes until the next chapter for MB to notice their relationship improving. The infamous bunkroom scene is really only a few lines:

Arada and Overse were back to getting along after spending time together in an unused bunkroom while we were traveling to the dock. I hadn't bothered to monitor them on ART's cameras or try to slip a drone in; the chances that they were having sex and/or a relationship discussion (either of which I would prefer to stab myself in the face than see) were far higher than the chance that they were saying anything I needed to know about. (I mean they might have been plotting against me, but you know, probably not.) (NE 230)

What's amazing is how much is communicated in the absence of any detail on what actually happened. Overse isn't mad anymore, not necessarily because there's a way to go back or to make it better (though they do seem to have negotiated a compromise about the next stressful situation), but because she's able to look past the situation and recognize that the best way to get back to a normal relationship with her marital partner is to overlook what happened.

To overlook. It can be a very easy thing to do, to overlook and ignore someone with a smaller role, such as Overse. To oversee something, to manage a whole bunch of things and ensure all of it goes correctly. But "överse" is also to be patient with, or to overlook flaws. And that is the core of Overse's character: she is the Patient One.

Not to say that I believe in nominative determinism, the idea that people gravitate towards work that match their name (Wikipedia). Martha Wells is a known pantser, and I doubt that this was a deliberate choice on her part. But she had to have a reason to choose the name Overse, even if that was just that it was on a list of words she liked. I want to imagine that the reason is that she knew she'd made a patient character and picked a name that secretly describes a patient person.

Sources:

"Nominative Determinism." Wikipedia, 25 Apr. 2024. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Nominative_determinism&oldid=1220754650. Accessed May 31, 2024.

överse | SAOL | svenska.se. https://svenska.se/saol/?hv=lnr114060. Accessed May 14, 2024.

Wells, Martha, and Martha Wells. All Systems Red. First edition, Tom Doherty Associates, 2017.

---. Network Effect. First edition, Tom Doherty Associates, 2020.

[clonehub]

lowkey i think the clones would not have a strong culture of like. consistent place names and the like. names to them are personal and may or may not carry significant history, but when it comes to naming places--well. they have no place. they don't settle anywhere. their history doesn't bleed into any earth and it isn't carved into any rivers or mountains. any settlement or place they name i think would be more literal since I think they'd have a more literal than conceptual language (and notice how their language is unnamed [for safety reasons]).

so their village could easily be Blue River Village because it happens to be by a blue river. It could be Settlement A until they come up with something else. It could also be 501st village. they might choose a name from their language. but place names convey as much as they do because they have the benefit of sheer time on their side--years, decades, centuries of conflicts and compromises and movements and changes from all sorts of people. but they're one people with a linear and brutally short history.

[sentence-arborist]

[ID: Huge syntax tree for the sentence "California man [whose billionaire stepfather is on missing sub] asks OnlyFans model to sit on him 30 minutes after pleading for prayers, as he triggers war of words with Cardi B over Blink-182 concert". The tree is very broad and has many layers, indicating the amount of time, energy, and stress that must've gone into making it.]

[angelsaxis]

everyone has to know about my problems but i am not under any obligation to learn about others' problems. this is a totally 100% fair and not-hypocritical way to view both domestic and global politics. there can be no disastrous result from shutting my ears to the plight of others while expecting those very people to hear me cry. "do as i say, not as i do" is not a shitty worldview to have. nope.

(this is all sarcastic btw)

[oaxleaf]

i wish that more pieces of fictional media paid attention to what kind of spelling/grammar/pronounciation/vocabulary mistakes a character would make based on where they're from. or at the very least look up the word in the original language to make sure it's feasible they'd get it wrong in english. like, please just post in some subreddit or something asking what are common mistakes for english second language speakers from their country, i beg you it's not that hard

[captain-acab]

Linguists when they write an article

[after-perfect]

Morphosyntax pickup lines

"Hey baby, are you a strong head, because you attract me."

"Are you into government and binding?"

"Are you a ditransitive verb, because you're assigning me dative case."

"Wanna be the clitic to my morpheme?"

"Not to be too obviative about it, but I'd like to be proximate to you."

"Let's make like a VP and split."

"So can I see your underlying form?"

[queerplatonicpositivity]

Hi! I like your blog. It's inclusive, helpful, and just generally has a warm vibe. And I read your essay-- to answer your question, Latinx started in the same way as Latin@ in that it was a symbolic written representation of inclusiveness and the pronunciation is not literal. Most Spanish-speaking communities that use Latinx today pronounce it with the -e suffix.

And while I love how the comic simply explains what can be complex concepts for monolingual English speakers, I do have a bone to pick with how the comic tacitly dismisses Latinx as a white-washed colonizer term. The artist uses soft language in discouraging it, so the dismissal only becomes explicit when you notice that all the linked readings are anti-Latinx with no Latinx perspectives.

Latinx's exact origins/creator is unclear. Although definitely used in and by Latin American circles, Latinx may very well have been created by a white Latinx. It may have even been created by a white Latinx with no or little understanding of Spanish. But if a term is created to describe oneself, is it self-colonizing? Where is the difference in a person refusing to use correct pronouns because it "imposes beliefs about genders" and refusing to use Latinx because it "imposes English-speaking norms on other cultures"? It's possible to be Latinx and only speak English and they deserve a right to self-identify as much as anyone else.

While anglocentrism and US imperialism in general are Problems that Spanish has to contend with globally, it's also important to remember that Spanish is a colonizer language, too. So while some may perceive it as linguistic submission to use Latinx in an English-dominated culture, for indigenous folks in a Spanish-dominated culture it can be a form of linguistic resistance. Though, at least ime, indigenous folk are just as likely to reject all disambiguations of Latinx/e/@ as its origins are a matter of recorded history (Michel Chevalier, late 1800s) which show the explicit racist and Eurocentric motivations behind its creation.

But the comic wasn't about rejecting Latin@/e. It was about rejecting Latinx. I don't care about what term gets used, but I do care that self-determined labels are respected and Latinx should not be discouraged in the same breath that Latine, Latin@, or Latino/a is.

Hi, Anon! Thank you for the kind words about my blog. :) And thank you for sharing your thoughts and perspectives about Latine and Latinx.

I was worried that the post would get circulated without the tags, but for context, here is a screen grab of the original post that has the tags pasted into the post and the continued of the "essay" in the actual tags:

[ Image Description: A screenshot of the original post. Below is a transcription of the tags involved. End Image Description ]

Aaand Tumblr ate half my tags because my tag essay was too long. D:

Here’s the original tags and the missing tags:

#when I was in undergrad in a university that was majority Latine#I was involved in some activist circles where people were using the @ symbol#to stand for o + a together#I actually have a t-shirt from a time I went to a protest#that says ‘no somos illegales no somos criminales somos trabajador@s internacionales’#which means 'we aren’t illegals we aren’t criminals we are international workers’#anyway that was the preferred way at the time in those circles for people to signal gender neutral language#after I moved out of Texas and away from the Mexican/U.S. border#I started seeing people online (here on Tumblr) use Latinx#and then I started seeing it elsewhere online#and then about 2.5 years ago someone in my guild (who is Abenaki not Latine)#linked to this comic on Vox in a discussion about gender-neutral language#and whether white Western English-speaking people are engaging in further linguistic colonization#by imposing gender-neutral terms/methods on other languages#(which incidentally was taking place between a French speaker and a Romani guildmate iirc)#and it was really interesting to me because I had long wondered how the x worked in actual words#(like 'amigx’ ??)#and using the instead seemed to make a lot of sense#and there are some very specific feelings about it

#about a year or two later the topic came up again in the guild #this time with a guildmate who is an elder in the community #and said the activist circles he's part of (largely in Arizona) use Latinx not Latine #and he feels as a Chicano (who doesn't speak Spanish because of linguistic oppression in his parents' generation) #that Latinx is the preferred term #and that doesn't even get into things like colonization #as a lot of places where Spanish is spoken are places with Indigenous populations that were colonized #and many Indigenous groups have cultural conceptions of gender that have nothing to do with European concepts of binary gender #so there's like... onion layers going on #which I think many of us in the queer community can relate to #as we have endless conversations about what we should be called and why #so I feel there's a lot of solidarity that can be had

I strongly support self-determination in labels, terms, etc. used in our communities, and I definitely support people choosing to refer to themselves as Latinx.

[hoodieimp]

Misc. OC thought of the day:

Dizzy would genuinely enjoy math and be really good at it--it's just that no one's ever bothered to properly teach her. She came into existence with basically all of her background knowledge from her cartoon self, which included stuff like basic arithmetic (or at least addition and subtraction), but Joey's plans for her were solely based on being a performer and singing and dancing for people (plus he's not exactly the type to sit down and teach her)

That being said, if you sat Dizzy down with a bunch of those Mad Minute math worksheets and timed her, she'd absolutely love it. Challenge her! Get her to use her brain in a way she's not accustomed to! It's enrichment!

Or better yet, show her the Schoolhouse Rock series. Learning her times tables AND getting to sing along to a fun little song? Best of both worlds baby!

[juniperscholar]

I think I spent about 8-10 hours on my syntax homework over the past two days, and that's NOT including the time I spent reading 6 chapters of a textbook to try to understand LFG

And honestly, I'm not even mad. It's so interesting. Also I am the most stubborn person in the world, and I have decided that I simply will be good at syntax. If I have to go a little bit insane in the process, so be it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[luyous]

sapir whorf theory on my dash 💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀