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Steph Smith • Gaining Perspective Through Untranslatable Words

Moreover, groundbreaking work conducted by Stephen C. Levinson of the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, and John B. Haviland of the University of California, San Diego, over the past two decades has demonstrated that people who speak languages that rely on absolute directions are remarkably good at keeping
... See moreThe German polymath Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767–1835), brother of the famous explorer Alexander von Humboldt, likewise tried to develop a universalist and philosophical approach to the study of languages. The central fact of language is that speakers can make infinite use of the finite resources provided by their language. Though the capacity for
... See moreBill Mayblin • Introducing Linguistics
Lera Boroditsky • How Language Shapes Thought
“Language exerts hidden power, like the moon on the tides." — Rita Mae Brown
If you’re bilingual or ever had to “code switch” based on your social context, you know Rita is right. This isn't just about swapping words; it's about inhabiting a completely different reality. This phenomenon, which linguists call the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis or "linguistic