The polyglot 16th century emperor Charles V is said to have once declared :
« I speak French to my diplomats, Italian to my mistresses, Spanish to God and German to my horse ». This probably apocryphal witticism suggests that some languages apply better than others to some areas of thought.
In other words, the language you speak would influence the way you think resulting in a given language being more appropriate for expressing a particular thought. This is what is known as the « linguistic relativity theory », also known as the « Sapir–Whorf hypothesis », which is a principle suggesting that the structure of a language affects its speakers’ world view or cognition, and thus people’s perceptions are relative to their spoken language.
The hypothesis of linguistic relativity consists of two different approaches:
- The « strong version » or « linguistic determinism », which most linguists today believe to be false, says that language determines thought and that linguistic categories limit and determine cognitive processes.
- The « weak version » says that linguistic categories and usage only influence thought and decisions.
Back in the mid-twentieth century, the very idea that differences among languages might matter for world construction or for cognitive processes was in conflict with universalistic cognitive science and the innatist linguistics of Noam Chomsky and was therefore considered misguided and absolutely discreditable.
However, the last few decades have seen an abundance of new research in cognitive sciences aimed at restoring the credibility of linguistic relativity. Sapir and Whorf’s hypothesis has been rethought in the light of cognitive linguistics and is now experiencing a new life.
As far as I am concerned, I do believe (all scientific theories aside: this is nothing more than a feeling, a diffuse perception) that language affects my thought and vice versa. I always feel like I am a bit of a different person when I speak English: my voice changes, my behaviour changes. I am more straight to the point and, at the same time, I use a more visual language. Even my sense of humour is different. Long live English sarcasm!
But I will let Stanford Professor Robert Sapolsky tell you more about linguistic relativity:
