How Words Shape Our World Shapes Our Words

Words shape our world. Hopefully by now you’ve heard of the brilliant linguist Lera Boroditsky, but in case you haven’t, let me pose for you one of her quick examples of how language impacts reality. 

Spanish vs German

Both the languages above utilize grammatical gender meaning that every noun is assigned a gender (often) masculine and feminine. 

In Spanish the word bridge is masculine - puente, however in German it is feminine- Brücke. Linguists compared how speakers of these languages described the same bridge, and found that Germans used more stereotypically feminine words, whereas Spanish speakers used more masculine. 

Example: 

Spanish German

Strong Sleek

Hard Elegant

The effect of language is not secluded to physical perceptions either. In English our measly ‘love’ is meant to encapsulate emotions we hold for family, friends, and even our extreme fondness for foods (afterall, who doesn’t love french fries?). But, what is English love, in the face of Greek’s: agápē, érōs, philía, philautía, storgē, and xenía? For the Greeks, there is not just a need to distinguish between different likes, fondness, and attractions, but a refined vocabulary to do so. Their emotional awareness is guided by systems in their semantics. So, if even love can be altered by our ability to communicate it, or rather our language’s inherent structures for it, what nerdy linguistic fun fact can I surprise you with? Have you considered the hellish loop that is language shaping reality shaping language? No? Ha!

If you are chronically online you might notice the new guard rails that are being placed across social platforms to ensure safe community interactions or deter speech about sensitive subjects. You may also notice the savviness of users to effortlessly find loopholes to this flawed filtering. 

Example: 

In Real Life Online

Kill Unalive

The system can’t flag a post with the word Unalive, as it hasn’t been trained to connotate this made-up word as a synonym for the very real verb kill. Something real, a social media platform, is shaping our language— we now have the tiktok filter-safe word: unalive. Wait! The magic hasn’t yet ended, how many times have you heard internet specific slang used in-person? Did it ever occur to you that you don’t have to use the word unalive in a face-to-face conversation? There is no algorithm deleting your vocal chords to stop the word kill from entering actual chit chat, yet many of us drop these filter-safe words into everyday conversation as if there were. Next time you ask chat, maybe think about how life is being lived instead of streamed. 

Semantics aside badumsh the beauty of words really does lie with the wielder. We have the power to endlessly shape our world and our perspective, the more we learn and understand language. I find myself asking: 

How have I grown up to perceive the world around me? 

How might my language influence my perception of the world? 

How does the world influence my words, writing, speech, self-talk, inner-monologue?

And even more importantly:

How do my words influence the world?