How language shapes the way we think | Lera Boroditsky | TED
There are about 7,000 languages spoken around the world -- and they all have different sounds, vocabularies and structures. But do they shape the way we think? Cognitive scientist Lera Boroditsky shares examples of language -- from an Aboriginal community in Australia that uses cardinal directions instead of left and right to the multiple words for blue in Russian -- that suggest the answer is a resounding yes. "The beauty of linguistic diversity is that it reveals to us just how ingenious and how flexible the human mind is," Boroditsky says. "Human minds have invented not one cognitive universe, but 7,000."
Check out more TED Talks: www.ted.com
The TED Talks channel features the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more.
Follow TED on Twitter: / tedtalks
Like TED on Facebook: / ted
Subscribe to our channel: / ted
Enjoying this talk? You'll love the brand new TED Radio Hour series - Mind, Body, Spirit. Hear TED speakers share their eye-opening ideas on how we think, move, and feel. kzhead.info/channel/PL2TjQf2riraLkqqFGxK65JI-leCAxm1eD.html
I absolutely loved this talk! I find it interesting how Russians have a distinction between light vs dark blue, and English has the same situation with red and light red (pink)!
4\\44\
\\\\\\\\\\\
\\
\\
I really envy the people who so easily and calmly articulate their thoughts
Both of us autistic brother
Don't!! It is just practice, practice, practice! You can do it too!
It doesn‘t matter,you can do it too
I was like that too belive me. Meditating helped a ton you should try it
I hope this comment keeps that image because it's made my night
My mother tongue is Persian, and I speak English fluently. I learned driving on the right side of the road in Iran. When I moved to South Africa, I had to drive on the left side of the road. No problem so far. When I had passengers, and we spoke in English in the car, all went well. When some of my friends switch to speaking in Persian in the car, I subconsciously moved to the right side of the road scaring everyone in the car and on the road! Then I moved to Australia, and the same thing happens every now and then!
Sometimes when I don't use the english for nothing, I tend to forget it, even I can't speak it so I have to turn on my brain into the language to return it and that is really weird, I say that our minds works like this, it respond with differents behaviors to every languge because for learning any language you need to acquaint to the language that you are learning that's why we our reactions are difference in differents language.
Johnny Daller wow!
Waaaw!
Johnny Daller I think that's called ”classical conditioning”.
Johnny Daller superb dude
This is why learning more languages is such a benefit. Not only I find better ways to communicate, it opened my whole brain to think in different ways. One language simply doesn't allow that. But as soon as I learned the 2nd language, I knew there are 3, 4, and even million different ways of everything.
When I speak French especially in Paris I don’t mind someone nodding halfway in to my sentence just after I said the noun and verb, but when I started learning Japanese… it changed everything. Not only I became more patient while listening, but also as a speaker, because you don’t get the verb till the last word in Japanese.
Like German, interesting. And similarly patient nd categorical people..?
Very funny but very logical. It really makes sense!
Fascinating! Thank you for sharing your experience.
You've gotta respect the amount of research that has gone into this speech🙏
The amount of "research" you mean.
@@JurgenErhard wat? she is literally using a bunch of empirical data
I agree, but that does not change my mind that her thesis is misguided. kzhead.info/sun/rLx7gdaylpRjgZ8/bejne.html
Would respect it more had she acknowledged that no linguist holds that language shapes the way a human being thinks in any significant way.
@@chetrisaw6301 She's not saying that language completely changes one's worldview. She's merely stating that languages can have subtle influences or create biases on how speakers of different language think.
"To have a second language is to have a second soul." -Charlemagne, for someone who speaks three languages fluently, this is so true. As a trilingual, you watch movies from three different countries, read books from three different languages, learn cultures of three origins, and forge relationships with from diverse cultures. Indeed, when you learn a new language, you acquire a new reality of something different, or a soul. Knowing more than one or two languages also helps you understand the history of humanity and how some cultures and people act and think in different ways.
Or do a pact with the devil. "Your soul belongs to me" "Ok, the english, spanish, german, arabic or the japanese one?"
Oh, that’s true
Unfortunately, this has not been my experience. I learned English first, and later in life learned some French and German. I never reached the point of fluency in my secondary languages, mind you. My thoughts in French and German are simply as they can be translated into English thoughts. My mother, on the other hand(a German immigrant at age 9), can be spoken to in either English or German, and sometimes does not realize which language she is being spoken to her or which language she is speaking. She will hear some German occasionally and not realize it's not English. Very interesting, I find.
Do you confuse languages? I have learned sign language, some French, and am learning Spanish. Trying to dig up a Spanish word, I will often find myself signing the word that I need or saying the French word. My Spanish teacher laughs at me all the time.
@@juliessignlanguageclass7739 It makes sense to me that you would associate, and even confuse, the two languages as they're both latin-based, and there is a lot of shared nomenclature. But I'm the furthest thing from an expert in the field.
This is one of the best TED talks I have listened to, being able to speak more than one language- I can definitely relate to this, I was actually thinking about this before & she presented the facts, Thanks a lot. I think people would also relate to the fact that speaking different dialects of the same language can very much influence the way you think & behave. I feel there are more 'aggressive' dialects and 'kinder' dialects of the same language.
yeah, European Spanish is very different than all the Latin American countries, and even within a same country there's regional variations and accents that give a completely different meaning to words / phrases, etc
I agree! 👌🤍
@@hristinastoiliva8995 I hardly understand what you mean. please learn the english grammer more
@@hristinastoiliva8995 Totally understand what you mean) 💯
O0
This is very interesting. As someone who speaks a few languages I've become aware of my personality differences every time I switch, it's incredibly amusing really. Great talk!
Indeed. As bilingual I kept telling myself for a long time that there's no difference between the way I present myself in English and in Finnish but it's not true. As my English has improved over the years due to daily use the differences have become smaller and smaller, but they're there. And then there are those moments when you realise that the exact expression you're looking for only exists in one of the languages and you feel weird because you can't convey it effectively to the other party. As an example of the kind of thing this video is about: to this day I occasionally mix up 'he' and 'she' when talking in English because Finnish doesn't use gendered pronouns so when I'm talking/thinking fast (and/or drunk) it's easy to slip as the usage of those classes is not part of my original programming.
SatanicBunny I have to know now if you don’t use he or she in Finnish what is used. Example She picked up her bag and walked to his car How would that sentence work. Keep in mind I do only speak English
My guess is that the Finnish personal pronoun is the equivalent of "they" as a singular form in English, in cases where gender is unknown or irrelevant.
Kansasforlife I think that’s a good guess
SatanicBunny I know exactly what you're talking about! It happens to me too; sometimes there are sayings and metaphors that perfectly describe a situation I'm in, in one language but just don't exist in other languages and it irks me that I can't use it because no one else speaks that language. Also your slip ups make sense! We revert to the language we're most comfortable in when we're quick thinking, drunk, or emotional. I know I bring out my mother tongue with dialect and all when I'm mad. It's very interesting.
I absolutely loved her speech. So professionaly, accurately, meaningfully, interestingly and sweetly constructed and delivered. Simply brilliant!
Carina . . . But it also includes a lot of idiosyncrasies . . . if you want to be honest ! ! !
@@hughmoore786 Oh, Hugh Moore, what do you mean?
@@carinacorrea1976 . . . Everyone brings something of themselves . . . Their past . . . if you prefer . . . into every situation or understanding . . . You (and I) are no exception . . . Ergo . . . idiosyncrasies abound
I'm somewhat tempted to title this talk as . . . language shapes and distorts the way . . .
I found something on my computer I still consider very amusing . . . A box in the various language categories which states . . . User Defined and all this time I thought this was the purpose of a computer . . . to bring clarity or definition to language ! ! ! Well I know what its like to be wrong sometimes . . . but I don't believe this is one of those times!
100% true. I speak several languages and when you shift from one to another, your brain and your mind shift to another way of thinking. You start expressing in a complete different ways. I remember one time that I was in work g in Brazil. One of the local engineers wanted to practice his English with me, although we had been speaking in Portuguese since my arrival. As soon as I started speaking English to him, I saw the surprise in his face and he told me: You voice is completely different in English than in Portuguese which was very curious to me because I never noticed it. I have noticed though that Spanish language is a very descriptive language. You just don’t say a thing. You have to describe it. English is simpler in that way. It lacks the description of things but the pronunciation of words is more complex.
I'm spaniard and I sense how my voice changes when I speak english
Do you sound native in both Portuguese and English?
this is so beautiful
@@iamjust1normalgirlfromindi446 My original language is Spanish, and Portuguese is somewhat similar, so I was able to adapt to the language easily. I also learned English since I was a child, so if I have an accent, it is almost not noticeable. Most people don’t realize.
True. My voice also becomes different when I switch from Chinese to English.
That is one of the most interesting TED talks I’ve ever watched! It’s shocking how vast is the diversity of ways of thinking and you never find the most distinguished one because they all are extraordinary. I speak 3 languages and can say that it's so true that your personality changes as soon as you speak another language and I can see how weird it can sound for someone who does have the same experience.
If one culture couldn’t discover algebra because of their language missing number words, I wonder what our language misses and what we have yet to discover due to that.
Is it even possible to discover something without the necessary language tools or are we going to have to rely on other cultures to teach us?
Good questions, but it is not like that. Some word exist in some languages because they were needed. The number 0 was invented in India because they needed at that time, whyle other population din't and the arab useat after and spreadet to others. So, we have the word teleportation but noboby invented it yeat. I dont agree that a languages is shaping so much..... a languages is reflecting the culture, ideas, needs of a population /tribe. I find realy fascinating that humans are so capable of creating languages, speaked or by signing like for the def people.
Tristan Möller It's not that they can't discover algebra because of their language, they just don't even have what's called mathematics because they don't need it at all for their activities. Basically when a group of humans has a new necesity and therefore begins to do certain activities that they did not even imagine before, they adapt their language to it. That's what happend with computer vocabulary for example, nobody knew the word "internet" back in the 70s for instance. That did not mean that we could not discover the internet because it was missing in our languages, we just discovered it and adapted the languages to it in a short period of time. Basically, there's nothing missing in our languages, it is missing in our minds and we have yet to discover those new posibilities, and then adapt the languages we speak to the new situation. It couldn't work vice versa, you just can't adapt the language to something that doesn't exist yet.
I think this does happen. I have a severe language disability, and so I experience sometime the translation of my thoughts into words more slowly than the average person. But this leaves me mostly not translating my thoughts into language unless I have to (it's hard work), so I have had many ideas I would not be able to put to words, be cause the words do not exist. I think as discovery happens we create new words to share the new ideas (I love the other posters example of internet vocabulary). Deep thoughts!
@@antoniosarosi1161 Beautiful.
She is so gloriously smart and intelligent... She's beautiful.
and you are wet
Oi
@@Mohammed-yd4uc Hmm lemme guess, you meant NERD women in general are not attractive right? Cause if you're generally talking about intelligent women or the woman in the video specifically, you might just be the stupidest person to ever walk this earth. Just saying!
Cool
Beatiful, to be sure, but not much substance to her claims: kzhead.info/sun/rLx7gdaylpRjgZ8/bejne.html
Thanks a lot for this video, I found new examples and new perspectives on the statement "we are how we think and speak". And when you listen to a person who speaks another language dramatically different from yours, you can see the differences in culture, sometimes misundersandings, just only because you think differently. Perfect! This is one of my favourite things to think about and observe. I also can't disagree that the more languages you speak, the wider your mind is (or the bigger your soul is). But I have never thought about future: a bit terrifying prospect to realize that some of the languages will die, or some of them will transform influenced by another more popular language.
One of my favorite talk so far! I love The way she conveys her messages, how she speaks slowly but shaped. What an immersive speak!
Her speech is so interesting. I love her confidence :)
You'd need a lot of confidence to wear a dress like that.
갱미몬 I like the story she said. By the way your travel video it's so cool keep it!
i love her calmness :)
I agree!
She looks equally interesting... Half of what she speaks would have been meaningless without her good look... I'm afraid. C'est la vie... That's how the world works.
THIS is why I love Linguistics!! :) so true language has such power over our perception of the world we live in
i was gonna be a linguistics major, and in my first linguistics class i was told about this theory, but also told that it was most likely untrue. although i dont remember the professor's counterpoints anymore :/
@@mea2429 It was pretty much every single intro to linguistics class. Safir-Whorf hypothesis. Strong and weak versions.
@@scotch-wm6rr im aware
Yes, I agree! ❤️
Yes
Fascinating topic delivered with beautiful examples, profound insights and a touch of humour. Thank you Ms Boroditsky, you are a pleasure to listen to! Thank you TED for sharing this. That final question "What thoughts do I wish to create?" hit me unexpectedly. Speaking several languages also expands your thinking it seems...
What an absolute gem of a video. I have learned a couple of extra languages through the years, and it's always amazed me how language can make me see something differently.
I’m an interpreter (and multilingual anyway) and the content from this video blew my mind and made my day. You speak well and I want to research this topic more. Thank you 😊
mV Castel nice. Being multilingual is a big talent. I wish you all the best with your research! #LifePodcast
I wish you all the best. Being multilingual is a bless. If I may ask which lancuages do you speak??
Hi.Can we chatting? I want improve my english?😊
Hello I want to be a interpreter, please help me
Heey can you share to us what research have you done from this topic!
So amazing! I'm living in Viet Nam and in my language there are different ways to call another in a conversation, it's not just "I-You" like in English. We call people who are older, much older, younger, male, female, ect. by separate subjects (anh, chị, cô, chú, bác, ông, bà,...) At first I thought it was so complicated, but after your talk, I realize that the way we call each other create more close-knit relationships among people. That's the reason why Vietnamese people are so friendly and warmhearted.
In your language, the same word is used for blue and for green - "màu xanh." When my Vietnamese wife took her citizenship interview, she was asked what colors are the American flag. She said, "red, white and green." I explained to the interviewer how color names work in Vietnamese.
@@rubiks6 no, in Vietnamese, green is "màu xanh lá" or "màu xanh lá cây", which means the color of the leaves, while blue is "màu xanh nước biển" or "màu xanh da trời", which means the color of the sea or the sky respectively. We have so very diverse words for colors.
@@ngocanhao3597 - That doesn't explain why my Vietnamese wife, who was born in and grew up in Trà Vinh, got "red, white, and blue" confused with "red, white, and green." Perhaps in everyday speech, "blue" and "green" both get shortened to "màu xanh" and "màu xanh." Perhaps it matters what part of the country you are from. Thanks for the lesson on the longer names of these colors.
@@rubiks6 Your wife probably didn’t answer the question correctly because of either her English or knowledge about the flag. It’s not Vietnamese that makes it hard to distinguish green or blue. Besides, when Vietnamese hear ‘màu xanh’, we’re more likely to get it blue, at least for me. For accuracy, we’ll make it clear which one it is.
@@nhuthaonguyen1610 - When my wife got her citizenship, she had already been in this country for 25 years. She knows the colors of the flag. She explained to me exactly what she was thinking when she said "red, white, and green." She was nervous and mixed up "màu xanh" with "màu xanh."
This is one of the most amazing lectures I've listened to all my life. Thank you for sharing this in the most creative and engaging way.
My husband says that even my voice becomes different when I speak another language))) When I speak French, he calls it "Sweet Katyusha", when I speak Russian - "Tough Katyusha"))
My gf says that I speak with a deeper voice in English than in Spanish!
i personally notice that about myself as well. I speak 3 languages aside my mother tongue. Even thought my voice is the same in each of them, my pitch and intonation changes subconsciously.
@@andreeateodor8118 Yes, I was chatting with a Russian once (I just know a few words) and he asked who I'd learnt it from. He said I speak English like I'm gay and Russian like a complete thug.
@@Pabloparsil i've found that myself too (i'm Spanish). I've been actually wondering if English speakers use a deeper tone of voice
My wife says that my voice is different in English and Spanish.
Now THIS is a TED talk! Very interesting!
Right? So many of the more current TED talks do not live up to this standard.
Truly amazing. I love the way she delivers the facts. Great TED talk.
I really love the part where she tried to explain how languages can change our perception of the world. The examples which were given out helps me understand her ideas better
Absolutely agree. I studied Japanese for 5 years and I was noticing interesting things happening to my mind. The way I was perceiving reality shifted. It smelled different, it was differently colored, different air, different taste, different assumptions and expectations. Japanese language is so "block-like" and the verb always comes in the end. It's very schematic, very logical, very square. It gave me more clarity in the way I was thinking and the way I was formulating my sentences. It's a shame we are losing so many different languages. They ARE other universes. I wish there would be a way to save and preserve them. I feel the same about religions - so so many beautiful philosophies are pushed to the corner and lost.
Yesss! I am personally experiencing a lot of healing as I pursue Spanish. It is my safe, happy place, untouched by sorrows of the past (because I choose to allow it to be that way), and I'm literally relearning how to live my life much more fully. I can credit language learning, conversing, and being welcomed and treated as a valuable person by others all over the world (especially through language exchanges) with successfully reversing a future with little hope for the better. I feel younger!
About the essence of this video. There is too much epistemological non sense in some presupposition about how deep a linguist could explain sociology based on the facts of some specific grammar use versus another use in other grammar . For instance, in Portuguese, bridge is feminine and we have a big bridge here in my town. My wife (who is a female) says it is a beautiful bridge. I am a male and I call it a strong bridge. Are we considering the same bridge under different gender point of views because the bridge is feminine? Or just because the speakers using the same grammar are male and female? There is also a worse case against this video central thesis: if we (male and female native speakers) talk about that bridge, we can conclude that it is indeed beautiful and strong without any problems if it is indeed a really beautiful and strong bridge *to our perceptions* not to our common tongue and grammar. Apparently lady Boroditsky is implying that people do think someway differently because they speak differently. I disagree. They do speak differently because they think differently. Language is just only an innate competence. So if she implies that any specific grammar as performance is capable to establish specific concepts (like race or gender) I should say that she is only defending an ideology not science. Brazil
I'm not so sure you need language to change your thinking process. Understand the culture is also effective. My karate style was taught in the traditional Japanese way using Japanese reasons and concepts like sho shin, ren ma, juku and Bushido as well as the tradition such as proper bowing and the use of Osu. But while we used varied terms for punching, kicking and blocking (tsuki, geri, uke) I never studied Japanese itself, so they sounded completely different when I got to take a class is a Japanese dojo of the same style. And while I struggled a bit at first in that regard, I took to the Japanese dojo culture near perfect because of the 15 years of traditional cultural teaching.
@@KRYPTOS_K5 How many languages do you speak?
@@matthewbittenbender9191 So, you've never had a conversation with anyone in the Japanese language then?
that made me realize how powerful language can be
Which also means that those who only speak one language are powerless.
Hi.Can we chatting? I want improve my english?😊
@@elkhanhuseynov2119 Hi! Can we chat? I want to improve my English?* (sorry for my prescriptivism brother)
Da, cyka!
But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil. (Matt 5: 37( KJV)
Maybe it is one of the best TED video i ever watched. I am not a linguist, but I am so enthusiast with language, and every words she said, is like a magic to my brain. Thank You very much.
love the way she present the talk and the examples she gave to explain the topic, made me understood properly.
I love intelligent people. This intelligent woman exuded an inner and outer beauty.
High
Very rare combination of beauty and brains. It usually has to be a "dumb blonde"
beauty of a dinner kind is a most important one...
"The limits of my language mean the limits of my world" - Ludwig Wittgenstein.
It's how you perceive what you see verstehen.
you do not think only with the language...
Luis Cantero Wow!
30 million words theory between rich and poor . More words more laughs
Luis Cantero
Essa mulher fala impecavelmente bem, não percebo vícios de linguagem ou aqueles tempos para pensar, tipo: "eéehhh" - A fala é fluída e clara, o tom de voz é totalmente agradável, não me dá sono, não me irrita, não desperta ansiedade. Ela desenvolveu muito bem sua oratória.
Great insight. Many thank. Language is a piece of art how it evolves. It is fascinating that so many languages and even more dialects exists. A gift of life to communicate and see culture adapt over time.
1:44 Does the language we speak shapes the way we think? 2:33 Aboriginal community from Australia 4:00 Example of location, point southeast 8:00 German and Spanish 13:38 final thought
thanks for these, really helped me with researching the topic. you saved me a lot of time :)
thank you
Amazing technical skill. Can u share how do you do that? Thank you!
@@nuredin537 sure!, just type the time where u want the reminder and its comment next to it. Easy peasy 👌😎
@@Soulenergy31 🙏🙏🙏🙏
It´s even more clear if you think about how the verb "to be" is divided in two verbs in languages like Spanish and Portuguese: one verb based on essence ("ser") and one based on status ("estar"). They change totally the sense of what you're saying, but in English they are just the same so you aren't able to express your idea totally. I think that's so interesting!
Russian one ups Spanish on that note! Maybe you know already but ser and estar is essentially a distinction on verbal aspect. Many other things aside, every verb in Russian is a pair.
You say that it limits expression but not rigidly defining it can also add more depth to the word. Allowing a single word to create context that is beyond a solid definition.
I guess English can make the same differences, they just use a different resource. For example "es aburrido (he's boring)" vs. "está aburrido /he's bored)". In this case Spanish uses ser/estar to make the difference, whereas English uses -ing/-ed.
@@joangg If I say "She's beautiful!", does it means "es" or "esta"?
@@diogodearaujosgrillo8807 Without any more context, I understand "És bella/guapa". However in the following context: "She's not a pretty girl, but today, with such an ellegant dress and hairdo, she's beautiful" it would be "esta noche, con ese vestido y peinado tan elegante, ESTÀ bella/guapa". In this case we use ser vs. estar to express if the adjective is a normal vs. temporary situation.
That was interesting. It made me remember this thoughts: I’m Japanese, born and raised in Japan and when I went to the US, I got a bit surprised how addition, subtraction and so on are described in a complex way in English (it also requires more syllables in English). People might think asian people are good at calculation and if that tendency is true, I think one of the reasons is language differences.
So true! I was raised in Hong Kong and I moved to the UK too. When I was doing math, I was always doing the calculations in my mother tongue, Cantonese because I thought English words were too long and they took much more time for me to “say” them in my mind.
@@michelletse8995 That' way Asbergers from any language, I suppose, will like to live in Japan.
true, I have always thought so too that asians are smart because of the structure of their language and writing. I am not an expert to detail and explain why but I have always believed that.
I love this video! I am super fascinated with linguistics and it’s so fascinating how languages affect people
English is a very straight language, very direct. I know it's easier for me to express in english than it is in my native language, and I really appreciate that. I also appreciate the complexity and the beauty of my language, especially in poetry and medieval fictions. It's amazing how perception change from one language to another, and I've bearly scratched the surface.
I'd say there are important nuances in english but in the US at least they are very dialect based. I've noticed this because in Detroit where I grew up certain dialect differences are much different than most of the US... Not in "slang" terms but in the way they language itself is used. Like how sarcasm is expressed. Metaphorical use... Negging language.. self negging etc. Other things like hypobole.... Are very common in Detroit... Though I had to make up that word to describe it... (As opposed to hyperbole which is also common in Detroit).
El inglés es un idioma directo, muy directo. Sé que es más fácil para mí expresarme en inglés que en mi idioma nativo, y realmente lo aprecio. También aprecio la complejidad y la belleza de mi lenguaje, especialmente en poesía y ficciones medievales. Es sorprendente cómo cambia la percepción de un idioma a otro, y solo he rasguñado la superficie.
Could i learning English from you? My native language is Mandarin.
I've been learning Swedish and the best example is the words for grandparents. My grandma's and grandpa's. So I'm talking to my grandma about my other grandma. In Swedish I would be speaking to my mormor (or my mom's mom) about my farmor (or my dad's mom)
I totally agree with you. Sometimes when writing in English I find myself being way too redundant and I've come to the conclusion that it is due to how I'm used to expressing myself in my native language, which is Spanish, and since I'm Mexican, I tend to be not straight forward at all. In fact, we use a lot of periphrases and try to soft our expressions to avoid as many problems as we can.
She's so smart. This is a great talk. The dress is very cool
Why everytime I watch some woman speaking to the people in TED or sth, there is always this type of comment: ''she is smart''. I don't get it, you make it feel like it's rare among women to be smart, or that a woman has to be smart in order to even speak out loud, which is not true, obviously.
I don't know, man. Maybe you are reading too much into it? Take a look at this screenshot that proves you wrong. imgur.com/WwOWfth
Actually, she is presenting other men's ideas of linguistic relativism and categorical perception (almost to a degree of presenting these ideas as if they were here own). But for what specific proposition?
Interestingly she's a SLAV.
Matt D that's why she knows about two blue colors in Russian
In Spanish we could also say "él rompió el jarrón" ("he broke the vase"). We would only say "El jarrón se rompió" ("the vase broke") when we don't want to blame ourselves or others for that. There is a pragmatic intention in whether we use the first or the second structure. That is why Spanish speaking kids would always use the second structure, because it sounds as if it happened just like that 🙂. We even say things like "se me perdieron las llaves" (the keys went lost to me") instead of "perdí las llaves" (I lost the keys).
A mi que se pierden siempre digo, 'otra vez se me han perdido las llaves'
@@pml8256 Jaja! Y si las llaves lo pueden hacer pero ahun no sabemos como?
Correcto, o mejor aún "se le rompió el jarrón". Describe tanto quién fue culpable como el hecho de que fue un accidente. Esto hace al español un idioma superior y no inferior al ingles como lo retrató la señora...
El español lo siento muy agresivo comparándolo con el inglés, y sobretodo con idiomas asiáticos como el japonés o coreano. Soy española.
@@ftwan5277 por que agresivo?? cualquiera. me da bronca como los hispanohablantes odian su idioma siendo que es de los mejores que existen (y no lo digo por hablarlo). el ingles de los mas pobres
Linguistics is fascinating! Also, the way our brain learns to recognize nd articulate the sounds that mean something in our language, but "forgets" the sounds that don't, is very interesting and challenging when we struggle to learn a new language in adult age. Some distinctive sounds in Korean are seem as the same in my mother tongue and I can't distinguish them. Sigh.
Which is also indicate that, if you want to fully experience another culture, go study their languages, and just traveling is not enough, cause you are still experiencing it by your own way ( thinking method).
yeah, so true. I started understand Korean culture closer by their language. And also culture can help to understand some points in language, they are bonded.
also indicates you need to get exposure to another culture in order to learn that language
True point! One of the most respected multilinguals in my life said "You don't learn a language in a classroom: classes prepare you to learn it. You learn the language in the community of native speakers." He also had the philosophy of you haven't really experienced a country until you've been there for at least two weeks and one of those was a day sitting and listening to people in a cafe or restaurant.
@@karimsonglin8841 I think it is just a popular misconception. The world doesn't stand still and the most widely spoken languages are no longer belong to native speakers. 'One language one culture' is no longer in. You can successfully learn a language without even bothering to learn about its culture. There are a lot of people out there who learn dead and made-up languages which don’t really have cultures.
Great speech. Love her composure and how she explained everything in simple yet great detail. "Why do I think the way I do?" what a thought-provoking question. I love it.
Can you please answer this question
Thank you very much for teaching the different alternatives that exist to learn a language. Your video shows us that one can learn a language despite how difficult it may seem.
This hits me to the core every time I listen to this. THANK YOU.
Love this! How well thought out this was, the calmness in your voice, just everything!!
This is so damn interesting, love learning languages!
Yusuf the less there are languages the better and convenient the world will be
There are also languages that do not use nouns thought she would mention those that would of been interesting to here more of.
I know! How many can you speak?
That sounds really interesting, is there somewhere I can find out about these?
Aria imo it wont. Languages while they are a barrier of communication, they are also other ways of thinking. Discoveries (more recently) are made by teams of people that speaks different languaged, of course they have toncommunicate using the same language but the way their minds think (like she explained) depends on their “mother” language. This alone increases the chance of people for finding solutions to problems some others cannot even think of it because their languade doesnt have the structure tu accomplish the target
Yep, I totally agree. I noticed when I started chatting with people from different countries on the app Voicely how different our thoughts r. The most interesting that after a long time of chatting , I began to notice how I changing my outlook on life.
Caramba, incrível o exemplo da descrição da cena do vaso quebrando e tbm a de como o gênero do substantivo muda a sua descrição! Realmente, ao falarmos uma segunda língua uma nova personalidade surge em nós, quase como uma nova alma.
¡El lenguaje tiene alma! Esto es profundo. Mi idioma es el escocés y creo que de ahí vino el idioma inglés. Thank you for the video.🌱
Excellent and beautiful exposition on language diversity! Thank You Lera... It would be a great opportunity to listen to or even experience/attend such proficient presentation.
This is such an amazing talk.catchy, easy to understand yet very well researched. i've watched it a couple of times and told my friends about it.
About the essence of this video. There is too much epistemological non sense in some presupposition about how deep a linguist could explain sociology based on the facts of some specific grammar use versus another use in other grammar . For instance, in Portuguese, bridge is feminine and we have a big bridge here in my town. My wife (who is a female) says it is a beautiful bridge. I am a male and I call it a strong bridge. Are we considering the same bridge under different gender point of views because the bridge is feminine? Or just because the speakers using the same grammar are male and female? There is also a worse case against this video central thesis: if we (male and female native speakers) talk about that bridge, we can conclude that it is indeed beautiful and strong without any problems if it is indeed a really beautiful and strong bridge *to our perceptions* not to our common tongue and grammar. Apparently lady Boroditsky is implying that people do think someway differently because they speak differently. I disagree. They do speak differently because they think differently. Language is just only an innate competence. So if she implies that any specific grammar as performance is capable to establish specific concepts (like race or gender) I should say that she is only defending an ideology not science. Brazil
Can you make me understand sapair worhf hypothesis…
I've been always contemplating the communication.. Amazing the way that we can build thoughts and send them for another ones
One of the best lectures I have heard on the topic of the language
I was thinking that languages effect the way the speaker thinks for many years, they act like filters between the world around us and our minds, but I never heard someone explain it so well as this beautiful and sweet lady. Thank you dear lady and thank you "TED talks" in general :)
I dont know what language she was thinking in when she picked her dress, but clearly she nailed it! Great presentation and stunning dress!
Nadia B. I see her dress matches the stage. Good choose.
Not only was she thinking in English, but she thought about it with a British accent. Great speech! Very interesting. My mother tongue is Portuguese, I speak English and I'm learning Spanish and German. Next I want to learn a more difficult language like Arabic. I'd like to speak at least 6 languages. Spanish is pretty easy for native Portuguese speakers. German has its challenges but it is more accessible than I thought. I find English the simplest language of all, of course. I think Portuguese can be harder than German depending on your linguistic background. I think Arabic will be a whole other challenge.
@@eu9234 I'm learning Hebrew, which belongs to the same language family of Arabic, and it's not really difficult. Once you learn the alphabet you can pick up easily its sounds. The biggest challenge for me is the language's completely different vocabulary from other languages I know
Russian!
I guess she was thinking in Russian that moment. As she said Russian people more sensitive to colors, so i think she was imagining how her dress would look on the stage, would it suit or not😁. And also there is another feature of Russian women to pay the great attention to the appearance. Idk what it is related to, maybe history and culture but everyone knows that Russian women like to dress up and stand by the crowd with style ☺️
Wao.... wao, wao, wao, wao. The subject, the focus and the bright star enlightening existence. Thanks TED talks for bringing us Lera Boroditsky.
One of the best TED videos I have ever watched. Full of information and ideas.
Wow, I've never seen language described that way. Really fascinating talk!
Such a nice talk. Congrats to Lera on how she approached a so complex topic and made it easy for understanding. I would like to bring a reflection from myself to the table. I am Portuguese native speaker but I also speak English and a little bit of French and German. I could feel this difference on the way we think frequently based upon the context/culture in which we are trying to communicate with. I some times can only express a feeling or idea in Portuguese or English and many times I get misunderstood in German or French due to lack of "proficiency" which I say that the problem is not thinking in the proper way as that language requires. It is common to sound rude, invasive or completely misunderstood if we mix all these culture + languages rules to the equation but it also impact the message content and how easily people will get your message. That example of languages that can and can't count was a perfect example for this but even close related languages can differ so much. I can't imagine how I would do to communicate with that Australian Tribe. I am clueless about orientation without my GPS. HAHA
This is a very underrated comment haha
Yes the same with me as I speak a few languages growing in KL/Malaysia as a Chinese, a few dialects spoken at home way before going to school to learn 3 proper languages at the age of 7. Moved to USA and gotten the opportunity to learn Spanish and French offered by the company. My mind was working and jumping in a few directions to get what I wanted to convey to a colleague for simple task or direction. I was misunderstood for as long as 19 years working in that company but I am now working for myself as an artist and setting and creating a language from a brand new start. LOL Zen Jinnacrazyart
For the love of God, to anyone who finds this nonsense credible I would highly recommend: Plato's Cratylus dialogue or the linguist John McWhorter's highly competent invalidation of this unfortunately quite pervasive Sapir-Whorf sophistry.
Amazed by the different languages we speak and how we use them to express complex thoughts. Each individual that speaks a different language will pay attention to different things and greatly shape the way we think.
Well done! The impact of this TALK could change the world. It goes so far beyond language. It is an important message about the kinship of human beings and all other living things. It must be SHARED. Bravo! Thank you.
I got shivers when she explained how time perception changed with language
Watch “Arrival” if you already haven’t :3
@@senecakoos5563 heptopod
I'm not sure that that's the case. What I gathered was more a culture that orients at least its visual expression of chronology, relative to the Earth's polar bearings.
ME TOO!!!!!! I loved the east-west arrangement.
this is one of my most favorite lectures on TED. I love learning languages and learning about linguistics!
A very entertaining and educational presentation, thanks so much for posting this kind of content
Yep, totally agree. I can also add that when you learn a new language, it’s like you develop a new part of your brain and personality with it.
I am a native Japanese speaker, I truly agree with this idea!! When I think in English, I feel more reasonable and more computational. And in the case of French, more accurate and more abstract than them. I think it is very difficult to guarantee the equality of all language speakers at the same time as preserving the language. English has gained status as a global language as an established fact. The use of my poor english is one example.
Your english is not poor haha. I am learning Japanese and live in Japan. I also feel that. When I am speaking japanese (very poor), my mind changes a bit. I think Japanese and English is one of the best examples since they are so different.
daiki you are looking for compliments. Japanese is very hard
I totally agree with you. I speak both Japanese and English and the things I say and think changes a lot between the two languages.
I think english has become the main language because its the language of business. Its perfectly suited for that purpose. If you wanna make money, learn english
自卑的日本人
This talk is immensely informative. It guides people to examine the limitation imposed by one language alone. She illustrates the possibilities of a higher dimension of cognitive power to reality by exploring other languages. It is all about fine-tuning the human cognitive tool (the brain) to give life a broader scope and keener perception about time and space, or how we experience that which we called Life on Earth. More importantly, this cognitive power differentiates between machine (technological device) and sentient being (human). Thank you for this wonderful talk.
Language, in my opinion, is a really strong phenomenon, and it is one of the key reasons why we humans evolved to be the way we are today in comparison to other species. It provided people with a sense of identification and trust in others because they now shared a common something. It all starts with developing a small group, then a community, then a society, and finally a nation. It's pretty amazing how a simple way of talking can have such a big impact on society.
We did not evolve. God created us in His image and gave us language. At the tower of Babel, God confused the people by giving them all different languages so they would spread out and populate the Earth as He had previously commanded. If evolution had occurred, it would have driven us all to one single language a long time ago, as we are moving toward one language today.
So true! I believe she stated over half of the world's languages will be extinct in 100 years. Also, John MacArthur states that there will be 10 main languages, with English being the primary language spoken by the majority of the world.@@rubiks6
@@rubiks6 what are you talking about? Haha
@@muamarkhadafi8348 - Which word(s) did you not understand?
How calm and brilliantly she spoke!😌
One of my favorite TEDtalks - interesting and very applicable topic, articulate and engaging speaker, balanced humor. Thank you, Lera!
Speak a new language so that the world will be a new world. - Beloved Rumi
I speak three, in addition to English. It's the same world in each language, and my world view (a very big thing, when you think about it) does not change.
@@chetrisaw6301 maybe it depends on which languages you speak. My native language is Dutch which is way too similar to English to notice any big differences. However, with French I feel that I do think slightly differently. And I've just started Mandarin Chinese which is just mind-blowing. So yeah, maybe if the languages are too closely related your way of thinking doesn't change. Or, your level is not high enough yet. It took me a very long time to actually be able to think in French..
I agree this, because I speak 4 languages, if I want to find some information, I can use 4 languages to search that.maybe that information is same but perhaps different culture will answer you different answer.
Learning a new language also helps keep your brain synapses healthy and fighting off diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.
I'm Iranian, he phrases this even more dramatically actually. he says: "quick! say something fresh and new, so that both of the worlds (material & spiritual) become fresh and new.. and even (both worlds) transcend greater than the limits of the world, and become sizeless and limitless .. "
This helped me understand a little bit more clearly things that I had intuited from comparing different languages I speak. Super interesting
This is the best show online. Thank you so much for loading. From your fan in Thailand.
When I speak my tone of voice changes in different languages. When I speak English, I'm more high pitched, Spanish is my mother language so that'd be neutral and French my voice lowers. I studied Japanese in college and my way of thinking had to "assume" too much from the abstract way Japanese is constructed. English is "red car", Spanish is "carro rojo" (car red), so even with basic grammar, you have to think differently.
Mon P. Ese es un buen ejemplo, of how langueges shapes the way we think..
almost everybody speak in more high pitched voice, when they speak foreign language, because our vocal cord and brain get more "stressed" and we try to pronounce right and speak grammatically correct, we are more tense when we have to speak, read or listen foreign language.
+Olne76 So, then why did his voice get lower when he spoke French which is also a foreign language for him.
Thytos , I will assume because French is from the same group of Roman languages. French and Spanish are like cousins, but English is from German group, like a estranged neighbor and you need to concentrate more.
Mon P. The same is happening to me. When I speak french my voice changes, but interesting is that I haven't realised until a colleague told me.
As a linguist, I have so many more questions! Like: 1. Does language affect intellect and intelligence? Are multi-lingual societies smarter than those who only speak one language? Is a person’s cognitive ability more developed if his/her language contains a richer selection of vocabulary? 2. Does language affect feelings and emotions? If a language doesn’t have words for “love”, can a person still feel it? Or if “I like you” is more acceptable than “I love you” because of their linguistic connotations, how does this affect relationships?
For the love part, I just felt like pointing out that the feeling of attachment that we call love is not dependent in any way upon the word itself. The feeling must have come first, otherwise what would the word "love" describe if not something that already existed (the feeling that we felt)? And the same with any other words, really. They are merely a means to describe reality/our perceptions, so reality must come first, then words afterwards that describe it.
I can add that in Spanish we dont go from I like you to I love you there is the " te quiero" i want you which is a step below love. The overuse use of the word love in English makes it lose its value for me as a native Spanishspeaker
I believe the answer to both questions is yes, although a basic feeling of love isn't necessarily correlated to language itself, still may be to some degree.
When it comes to the word love, in my native language (Polish) we use it much less than the English speakers. Mainly we never say we love chicken soup/comedies/some actor or actress etc. This word can only relate to other people and only those very dear to us at that. For example, we even rarely say we love our friends, I don't think I've heard anyone say that in over a decade. And that opens up another big topic, becouse we do not use the word friend as much too. We keep it only for a very few selected people we've known and trusted for ages. Having two of them is already a lot and to the rest of people we refer as mates/collegues whatever. I guess our word for a friend is much closer in perception to what most English speakers would call the very best friend. Wild. And it makes speaking English so much weirder too, becouse suddenly you are supposed to refer to a person you've known for like a year as a friend while internally it feels so wrong!
Interesting questions, which I think they may be true. However, it's really hard to "prove" them. Bilingual speakers can thinking things more differently, and also able to accept different cultures. As for intelligence, it is still unknown. Education knowledge seems to play a more important role.
Really interesting, I like how Lera explain her subject: with funny things, clearly, with pictures and pertinent examples... That's a presentation is obviously well prepared. In my native language, I'd like to say: "Une présentation parfaite"
Such an incredibly concise and impactful talk.
Someone in my Sociolinguistics shared this video and I'm happy I watched it. It was really interesting and easy to follow!
Showed this video to my Sophomore Language Arts classes! They absolutely loved it!
I like how humble she is, knowing there are a lot she doesn’t know about languages, despite her ability to see through any languages’ structures..
This is soooo good! Wow does the language we speak shape the way we think! That's huge!!
"what thoughts do you wish to create",this sentence made me to think again about learning language .
Arabic is my mother language, and I speak English and german fluently. I think every language has its own taste of something. For example Arabic is a very poetic and logical language. Every time I write an essay in Arabic, I automatically and unconsciously find myself shifting to using words which rhymes with each other. At the same time almost in every conversation between two arabs you will find a lot of general statements and sayings. We use sayings almost in every situation in our daily life. Also from an educational viewpoint you will find the students always trying to extract rules from inductive experiences. I understand this might be also an act of nonarabic students , but believe me in arabic we are sunk into generalizing anything. Not to mention the really logical grammer of arabic. Its complex, no doubt about it , but I believe it plays a huge role to lead arabs to thinking that way. On the other hand, I find English simpler than german. Maybe because I have much more experience with English than german. Still English is a really statical language. Its enormously easier to comprehend English text than german I think. I find german a more of a descriptive language than a logical one.
Hi ! I speak arabic , English and French plus a dialect . I’m trying to learn german and I’m finding really difficult , can you offer me any advice?
Rima Ry get the Rosetta Stone computer program lol
وحش
German is much more difficult than english if it isnt your Mothertoung. We have much more articles and so on. Our language has more grammar than the english do and we have mor vokabulary ^^ but i always find it interesting if someone lerns my language ^^ Greetings from germany
what do you mean by german as a descriptive language and what is a logical one?
Excellent presentation! Cultural differences through language is just incredible totally different conscious considerations.
Awesome thought pattern. Language is transferable by many medium. And It's like a time capsule. I'm glad that you have made this video so I can learn from it. Thank you.
I love this talk. As a speech therapist and as a learner of other languages, I revel in the bazillion aspects of language. I worked with hearing impaired kids in an area with vary little parental involvement. It was not unusual to sadly have deaf kids start school at 3 or 4 or 5 with absolutely no language...and because of their situations, you had to accept that they would never catch up. At the same time, I worked with a 4-year-old who had started on his own reading a 4th or 5th grade level book about animals. Then I have aging parent with dementia, so I see the loss of language and cognition. (Although my mom asked to have speech therapy, and is making great progress hanging on to a retrieving lost skills. Yeah, Mom!) Thanks for researching and sharing your research on a subject that is so close to my heart.
I believe language also has a great impact on emotions of a person .
not language......words only
Yes because it's directly linked to human senses..
That is true.. Just read poems from great poets and you will understand... Whitman, Nervo, Cesar Vallejos, José Santos Chocano, Moliere...
So clearly and beautiful pronunciation ! I'm not English native speaker, but I was able to get the contents of the speech!
Such an interesting lecture...and she has been so good and clear
This speech is amazing and so is she. Articulated beautifully!!
Very interesting and enlightening. My first experience with a change in how direction is considered was in 2008 in Beijing when the taxi drivers always asked me if I wanted to go to my destination by turning East or West... took me weeks to be able to answer correctly!
It's amazing! Language is an distinguished way of transmitting information. Exhailing words through the mouth, we send a signal to the brain of another person. What a huge difference in the perception of time and space in different linguistic cultures. Diversity of languages allows a person to expand the boundaries of thinking.
Have been wondering about this for more than a decade - fascinating and important!
A simply wonderful and crystal clear exposé. Beautiful stuff, thank you!
About the essence of this video. There is too much epistemological non sense in some presupposition about how deep a linguist could explain sociology based on the facts of some specific grammar use versus another use in other grammar . For instance, in Portuguese, bridge is feminine and we have a big bridge here in my town. My wife (who is a female) says it is a beautiful bridge. I am a male and I call it a strong bridge. Are we considering the same bridge under different gender point of views because the bridge is feminine? Or just because the speakers using the same grammar are male and female? There is also a worse case against this video central thesis: if we (male and female native speakers) talk about that bridge, we can conclude that it is indeed beautiful and strong without any problems if it is indeed a really beautiful and strong bridge *to our perceptions* not to our common tongue and grammar. Apparently lady Boroditsky is implying that people do think someway differently because they speak differently. I disagree. They do speak differently because they think differently. Language is just only an innate competence. So if she implies that any specific grammar as performance is capable to establish specific concepts (like race or gender) I should say that she is only defending an ideology not science. Brazil
When a famous Japanese writer from the Meiji era saw his students literally translate the English words “I love you,” he famously said “we Japanese don’t use such words. Just write ‘oh how blue the moon is.’” Just something I remembered when she mentioned the gender of sun and moon.
In Japanese, it's not common to say "I love you" (愛してる / Aishiteru). It sounds really intense. "I really like you" (大好き/Daisuki) sounds less intense.
Or how yellow the moon is.
@@lovestarlightgiver2402 same as French, more common to say I like you (je t'aime) despite general perception the French are more open/intense than English speakers on the subject of love!
@@aldozilli1293 just to readjust what you said, in french when you want to say " I like you", it's more often said as " Je t'apprécie" or " Tu me plais" :)
@@ladykosovarta True you might normally say tu me plais for a person to differentiate but the direct translation for aimer is to like, if it is an object like a car you would say je l'aime which is I like it in English.
This is one of the best TED talks I have listened to
Exploring the diversity of languages reveals how linguistic structures shape individual perspectives. Learning English, in particular, has broadened my worldview, prompting me to seek information globally and fostering an open-minded outlook. Each language unveils a unique cognitive landscape, influencing how we perceive and engage with the world.
Brilliant. Simply brilliant. I will use these thoughts in my own work.