How language influences behaviour and culture

It is a question I have been thinking about a lot: How does language influence how people in different countries think? Do people change when they switch to another language? How closely is language connected to culture and mentality?

The Wall Street Journal has published a very interesting article on this topic, proving that languages and the way we think are depending on each other, even though it is not clear if languages influence behaviour or if our behaviour influenced the creation of the different languages.

In my 4 1/2 years in Sweden I have made the experience that the Swedish language is pretty limited in the amount of words available, compared to the very complex and versatile German language. The consequence is that Swedes have much less possibilities to differentiate themselves by using language, unlike Germans who pretty much can make everybody understand to which part of the society (or class) they belong by only saying two sentences (note that I don't claim that the Swedish language does not allow for differentiation at all). And having a look at the two countries, Sweden is much less divided into classes and social groups than Germany. Could language (among other factors) be responsible for that?

I also find that Swedes have the great skill of simplifying complicated context by removing all the unnecessary information and keeping its core. My perception is that Germans generally don't have this skill. Now I'm asking myself if the (or one) reason could be the limitations of the Swedish language, which simply does not seduce people to say more than necessary? From my own experience I can tell that this is not the case with German: You can vary the German language in a way that allows for talking for 10 minutes without actually saying anything.

Maybe all this is too far-fetched. But it is worth to think about and to do some more research on.

Let's for one second assume that in culture and behaviour are strongly connected to the language spoken in a country - the conclusion would be that some countries could have serious disadvantages in adapting to specific situations as long as they keep their language... Germans would always remain complicated and the German society would always be fragmented, in the same way the language is.

via

Aug 09, 2010

bcurdy said...

Welcome to the the world of cognitive linguistics :) There have been extensive research on this topic. As often, Wikipedia is a great place to start: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linguistic_relativity
You might also be interested in "International Marketing" which is dealing extensively similar questions. There are loads of funny examples of brands who forget to take cultural references into consideration when launching/promoting their products : http://www.i18nguy.com/translations.html (it's a bit superficial compared to what you're writing about though)
I guess we all agree that culture and language impact significantly how we see the world or how interact with others but personally, I don't think they *limit* our ability to adapt to any given situation.
Anyway, I used to work a bit on this theme a few years ago and you made me want to read again about it. Starting now with the WSJ article :) So thanks!

Martin Weigert said...

Well, thank you too, I'm gonna read a bit about it, appreciate the links.

Aug 10, 2010

Linus Boström said...

I think we all feel restrained whenever we try to express ourselves in a non-native language. And the amount of words availible in a language doesn't say anything about the words being used or the amount of combinations.

That being said, I do think you have a point. Language is thinking, and constantly reflects and creates the way we percieve reality. In Sweden this became evident in the seventies when the strong socialist movement abolished the formal "You" (Ni). That's why today you'll only hear real estate brokers use that form ;-)

Good point, I forgot to mention that - that's another aspect which people in some languages (like German or French) can use to create context and emotional distance or closeness, which Swedes (and English speakers) usually can't.

In fact, what I meant with my experience was that I can easily understand the most sophisticated Swedish texts/articles - mainly because they actually are not that much more sophisticated than what Tabloids are publishing or what people say when they have a coffee break. Which is different in German or even in the English language.

Regarding the combinations, I dont agree with you. In German for some meanings you have 5-10 different words, depending on the size of your vocabulary. That means that you can talk and talk and talk without repeating yourself, but still focussing on the same thing. That's not really possible in Swedish. At least I have never experienced any Swede doing it (old expressions that nobody uses anymore do not count).

But it is also simple math. The more words belong to the common vocabulary in particular language, the more combinations are possible. Or am I wrong?

Jan S. said...

Hi Martin,
very good thoughts and really interesting analysis on how people are put in classes due to their quality of language. This indeed is a big thing in Germany.
Languages and their influence on culture, behavior and workflow is actually a topic I think about quite often. I have very similar experiences with being abroad and learning different languages, since I spent 2.5 yrs in Japan and some other decent time in Poland, South Africa, France and the UK.
I love the German language for its variety and complexity. It is just fun to express yourself. But like you, I also believe that it hinders us Germans from doing simple things. Once again, this is the very significant detail about a lack of of naivety in German culture.

Very interesting article by Lera Boroditsky on WSJ, too...short ad: she is also editor in chief at frontiersin.org, a publishing company my sister founded! ;)

I don't think there's an easy answer to this, but I think it's more about ways of expressing yourself than the actually amount of words or combinations. From what I've heard English is the language that contains most synonyms.

When it comes to ways of expressing yourself, while at the same time defining your relationship to the person your communicating with, I think Japanese has most levels, something like 8 or 9 different levels of politeness.

But does any of this make a language "richer"? I don't know. In scientific texts you'll still need to define the expressions you use by giving them relation and context in order to create and share meaning. And this goes for every language.

Yeah, the only answer I can give is that my personal perception is that that the German language is much richer than the Swedish. And here I focus on how Swedes speak and communicate, not my own way of expressing myself in Swedish.

And while this might sound like an offense, in fact I see it as an advantage rather than a disadvantage.

@ Jan
You have lived in Japan. Do you see any similarities between language and culture?

Aaah, starting to realize that this is an entire subject of research.

Just a last note, just of curiosity: How come then that Germans, at least when they're speaking another language, often come out as informal, very direct and sometimes even rude? I mean when the German language obviously supports the opposite?

Being direct and having a huge vocabulary are two different things in my eyes. Germans simply are pretty direct when they speak German, so they don't change that in other languages. Combine that with the limitations and lack of words one has when expressing him-/herself in a foreign language and you have an explosive mix ;)

Mh, I could have simplified my answer by saying that Germans say "yes" or "no". Swedes say "yes" or "yes, but" which is why Germans can be percieved as rude. "no", the forbidden word in Sweden :D

Well, talking about a language's complexity... the level in politeness make Japanese indeed a really difficult language to learn. This also affects how an outsider or immigrant is able to assimilate to the Japanese culture. Japanese hide a lot of messages behind the words they use. Even though I am capable of speaking and understanding good Japanese among friends, I totally fail in a business environment, just because the language is so different there.

With Japanese it is very similar to German. A Japanese can easily identify classes due to the quality of spoken language. By the way...a normal 16-18 year old high school student cannot read the newspaper because of the level of characters and vocabulary that are used. Dig that!

And with saying "yes" it is the same in Japan as in Sweden maybe. A Japanese would never say "no", even if he would love to. There have been a zillion situations, where my school teacher or boss would have loved to say no to me ;)

There is this saying which just fits too good: "A German is too honest to be polite, an English too polite to be honest" Probably you could change "English" to whatever origin you want, except "German" :D

Although I would add the Swedes are very honest as well (in my opinion even more than Germans), except during communication with others, when they prefer to be polite.

Martin Weigert's thoughts on the social web. And life.

How language influences behaviour and culture

Comments (13)

Leave a comment...