Relevant here I think:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapir%E2%80%93Whorf_hypothesis
Includes this quote:
Human beings do not live in the objective world alone, nor alone in the
world of social activity as ordinarily understood, but are very much at
the mercy of the particular language which has become the medium of
expression for their society. It is quite an illusion to imagine that
one adjusts to reality essentially without the use of language and that
language is merely an incidental means of solving specific problems of
communication or reflection. The fact of the matter is that the 'real
world' is to a large extent unconsciously built upon the language habits
of the group. No two languages are ever sufficiently similar to be
considered as representing the same social reality. The worlds in which
different societies live are distinct worlds, not merely the same world
with different labels attached... We see and hear and otherwise
experience very largely as we do because the language habits of our
community predispose certain choices of interpretation. (Sapir, 1958
[1929], p. 69)
Received on Wed Jan 24 2007 - 00:33:29 GMT