Limitations of Language

Graphics just makes lectures so much more fun! When I was teaching English in Shanghai, I would use videos just like this for a more comprehensive understanding of higher level topics. Graphics are able to convey much more than a simple textbook definition and even more than the charades I would play with my students.

The key here is the language gap. The author of this video points out that in Sicilian there is no future tense for verbs. This makes it very difficult to make plans when you can’t communicate about the future. The same idea applies to vocabulary: if you have a poor vocabulary then you are unable to communicate a point clearly, but also you have difficulty translating the world around you for others.

For example, imagine you didn’t know the word “depressed”. You would be unable to diagnose a mental state, you would be confused about what you were feeling, and you would also be unable to communicate why you were behaving unusually. Words like “sad” or “down” just can’t convey the same point. But since you do know the word for depressed, now you can reach out for help with a single word and be understood. Also, you know that what you are feeling is relatively normal and you are one among others since you are borrowing a word imagined by another. The point I am trying to get across is that communication in general is the keystone to reaching a higher understanding of the world around you.

Language and the development of greater human understanding has enabled us to write down our thoughts, to tell the stories of our parents and grandparents, and to keep in touch from afar. I believe the study of languages is necessary to understanding humanity and to moving our species forward. Each word is a step by mankind to label the world he is surrounded by. The creation of new words is just as exciting as space exploration (ok maybe not…) because it means greater cognizance.

Examples from other languages:

Mamihlapinatapei is Yagan (indigenous language of Tierra del Fuego) for “the wordless, yet meaningful look shared by two people who both desire to initiate something but are both reluctant to start”
Tartle is Scottish for “the act of hestitating while introducing someone because you’ve forgotten their name”
Torschlusspanik is German for “gate-closing panic,” but its contextual meaning refers to “the fear of diminishing opportunities as one ages”
Ya’aburnee is Arabic – Both morbid and beautiful at once, this incantatory word means “You bury me,” a declaration of one’s hope that they’ll die before another person because of how difficult it would be to live without them.

In English, we tend to think of a past, present, and future. However, Chinese has none of these tenses while the six-tense language Kalaw Lagaw Ya of Australia has the remote past, the recent past, the today past, the present, the today/near future and the remote future. The differences between such finer distinctions are the distance on the timeline between the temporal reference points from the present. Imagine organizing your thoughts on this timeframe. Tricky, but maybe a higher order of thinking? Now put this together with a deeper vocabulary and you are able to convey much more, succinctly.

If you haven’t watched the video above- you should!

Source: http://www.altalang.com/beyond-words/