Language and Worldview

1. Language and Worldview

3. The Details • 4,000 unique human sounds • 400 of these appears in the world’s languages • Usually around 50 per language • http://www.uiowa.edu/~acadtech/phonetics/ • Phonemes = smallest units of sound that make a difference in meaning • C-A-T • Morphemes = the smallest units of sound that have a meaning • Dog –s (plural) • Kiss –ed (past tense)

4. The Details • Phonology = Analyzing the language sounds • Morphology = The study of the patterns or rules of words formation in a language (Example: tenses, grammatical structure, pluralization) • Syntax = The order you put the words in phrases or sentences • “I ran to the store” – English

5. The Details • Phonology = Analyzing the language sounds • Morphology = The study of the patterns or rules of words formation in a language (Example: tenses, grammatical structure, pluralization) • Syntax = The order you put the words in phrases or sentences • “I ran to the store” – English subject

6. The Details • Phonology = Analyzing the language sounds • Morphology = The study of the patterns or rules of words formation in a language (Example: tenses, grammatical structure, pluralization) • Syntax = The order you put the words in phrases or sentences • “Iran to the store” – English subject verb

7. The Details • Phonology = Analyzing the language sounds • Morphology = The study of the patterns or rules of words formation in a language (Example: tenses, grammatical structure, pluralization) • Syntax = The order you put the words in phrases or sentences • “Iran to the store” – English subject verb Direct object

8. The Details • Phonology = Analyzing the language sounds • Morphology = The study of the patterns or rules of words formation in a language (Example: tenses, grammatical structure, pluralization) • Syntax = The order you put the words in phrases or sentences • “Iran to the store” – English • “Ich bin zum Geschäft gelaufen“ - German subject verb Direct object

9. The Details • Phonology = Analyzing the language sounds • Morphology = The study of the patterns or rules of words formation in a language (Example: tenses, grammatical structure, pluralization) • Syntax = The order you put the words in phrases or sentences • “Iran to the store” – English • “Ich bin zum Geschäft gelaufen“ - German subject verb Direct object subject

10. The Details • Phonology = Analyzing the language sounds • Morphology = The study of the patterns or rules of words formation in a language (Example: tenses, grammatical structure, pluralization) • Syntax = The order you put the words in phrases or sentences • “Iran to the store” – English • “Ich bin zum Geschäft gelaufen“ - German verb subject verb Direct object subject

11. The Details • Phonology = Analyzing the language sounds • Morphology = The study of the patterns or rules of words formation in a language (Example: tenses, grammatical structure, pluralization) • Syntax = The order you put the words in phrases or sentences • “Iran to the store” – English • “Ich bin zum Geschäftgelaufen“ - German verb subject Direct object verb Direct object subject

12. Other Communication • How do two people from different cultures communicate without verbal or written language? • Body language • Over 10,000 facial expressions alone! • Most body language is universal

13. Other Communication • However, some is not universal • Head non v. shake • Proxemics = the cross-cultural study of humankind’s perception and use of spaces http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeNGSZK01Hs

14. The Role of Language • Why have humans evolved to be able to use language? • Benefit? • Disadvantages? • Language shapes identity • Wouldn’t it be great if everybody spoke… • Who is ready to start speaking ESPERANTO?!?

15. Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis • Basically, language shapes thought and action • But how much is the question • Eskimos have more words for snow than people in the tropics • But not too many more

16. The Power of Words • Do we mean what we say? • We speak of love in many ways: as a fluid (filled) as a natural force (swept off her feet) etc. • Perhaps we ought to rethink metaphors like, "I'm falling in love," or "I'm falling out of love," and create love instead. • Falling in love implies that we have no control over our situation. http://www.sil.org/lingualinks/lexicon/MetaphorsInEnglish/WhatIsAMetaphorForLove.htm

17. The Power of Words • Metaphors of love. • What is it? • How do we perceive it? • If we go through life hoping to "fall in love", what does that mean for us? • Could we "Create" love? • What if we created love everyday instead of hoped that love would stay? • What about ourselves? Do we create ourselves?

18. “I need to get away for a while” “I need to find myself” “What do I do now?” Find Yourself “I feel like I am lost” “Where do I go from here?”

19. “Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.”  ~Henry David Thoreau “If you don't get lost, there's a chance you may never be found.” ~Proverb Lose Yourself http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgg04EekxIc

20. Create Yourself People often say that this or that person has not yet found himself.  But the self is not something one finds, it is something one creates.  ~Thomas Szasz, "Personal Conduct," The Second Sin, 1973

21. Notecard O’ the Day • How much do you feel the language you use shapes who you are as a human being?