Study of obscure Amazon tribe sheds new light on how language affects perception (fwd)

[Susan D Penfield]

Matthew, Myra and all,
Thanks for this discussion...it is a good reminder of how flexible and adaptable
human language is. The communities I work with are busy developing new
vocabulary to meet the demands of science and technology -- new words for
computers, cameras, digital anything, etc. It is an effort to 'own' the present
time in the unique language/cultural environments represented by indigenous
communities. The language will follow the people's needs to the extent that the
people choose to use it for that purpose. Hebrew is a great example and one we
should revisit from time to time. The struggle to save indigenous languages
rests, it seems to me, on making them as much a part of the present as the
past...simply another version of language shift. Much depends on how a given
group envisions the language being used.

Here is a real aside, but maybe still a good example:
  The Pope's Latinist recently revised all the ATMs within Vatican City--all
screen options are written in Latin.... (just food for thought!)


Susan

Susan D. Penfield, Ph.D.
Department of English
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721


Quoting Matthew Ward <mward at LUNA.CC.NM.US>:

> No doubt, languages reflects the world view of the cultures that use
> them.  However, all languages must also function as practical means of
> communication and survival--and all languages do in fact serve very well
> in this way, in the context of the culture that the language is found
> in.  As cultures change, languages change with them, and although some
> things are always lost, the fact remains that all languages represent a
> treasure trove of shared cultural history--of not only the present, but
> the past as well.
>
> What a lot of people fail to grasp is the amazing adaptability of the
> human language.  As I said before, it's not difficult for me to believe
> that some cultures have little need to do extensive counting, and that
> their languages reflect this.  What I DON'T believe is that these people
> are imprisoned by their languages--that their languages, as the article
> states lack the "right" linguistic resources.  Those resources can and
> will be developed as needed, even if it involves linguistic borrowing,
> which is a perfectly natural and legitimate form of language evolution.
>
> The deficit view, which depends partially on denying the adaptive
> quality of human language, and which is refuted by the vast majority of
> research on language, in my experience is one of the biggest enemies of
> language preservation.  "They are all right in the bush, but you can't
> possibly expect them to deal with the modern world."  Nonsense, I say.
>  If the Israelis can take Hebrew from being a nearly dead ceremonial
> language to the lingua franca of a fairly high-tech society, any
> language community can do the same.  There is no such thing as a
> "primitive" language, no matter how dearly some people seem determined
> to discover one.
>
> Myra Shawaway wrote:
>
> >Interesting?  the idea of having an exacting concept to numbers and time in
> >a scientific sense, has created difficulties in preservation of our
> >languages.  As I work with our speakers of languages, I believe that the
> >concept of numbers is a seen thing, or sense of duty to cultural
> >environment,  as is the sense of time when spoken about in past events that
> >have occured.  As our oral traditions are diminishing, so is the ability to
> >grasp the skills needed for passing on our languages.  We are moving from a
> >natural way of understanding needs and environment, to enjoying the comforts
> >of science and the outcomes.
> >
> >----- Original Message -----
> >From: "Matthew Ward" <mward at LUNA.CC.NM.US>
> >To: <ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU>
> >Sent: Friday, August 20, 2004 7:02 AM
> >Subject: Re: Study of obscure Amazon tribe sheds new light on how language
> >affects perception (fwd)
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >>I particularly like this sentence:
> >>
> >>"What these experiments show, according to Gordon, is how having the
> >>right linguistic resources can carve out one's reality."
> >>
> >>The "right" lingustic resources, eh?  I suppose that this study is seen as
> >>
> >>
> >evidence that some people just don't have the right stuff--gotta get those
> >Portuguese-speakers in there to right the situation.
> >
> >
> >>I'm curious to see if, in 20 years, we are going to read an article
> >>
> >>
> >showing that the claims made about this tribe are about as accurate as
> >Whorf's claim that Hopi had no words for time...
> >
> >
> >>
> >>phil cash cash wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>>Public release date: 19-Aug-2004
> >>>http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-08/tccu-soo081804.php
> >>>
> >>>Contact: Diane Dobry
> >>>dd173 at columbia.edu
> >>>212-678-3979
> >>>Teachers College, Columbia University
> >>>
> >>>Study of obscure Amazon tribe sheds new light on how language affects
> >>>perception
> >>>
> >>>Controversial linguistic hypothesis is supported by Teachers College
> >>>(Columbia University) professor's observation of tribe whose language
> >>>contains no words for numbers beyond 'one,' 'two' and 'many.'
> >>>During the late 1930s, amateur linguist Benjamin Lee Whorf posed the
> >>>theory that language can determine the nature and content of thought.
> >>>But are there concepts in one culture that people of another culture
> >>>simply cannot understand because their language has no words for it?
> >>>
> >>>No one has ever definitively answered that question, but new findings by
> >>>Dr. Peter Gordon, a bio-behavioral scientist at Teachers College,
> >>>Columbia University, strongly support a "yes" answer. Gordon has spent
> >>>the past several years studying the Pirahã, an isolated Amazon tribe of
> >>>fewer than 200 people, whose language contains no words for numbers
> >>>beyond "one," "two" and "many." Even the Piraha word for "one" appears
> >>>to refer to "roughly one" or a small quantity, as opposed to the exact
> >>>connotation of singleness in other languages.
> >>>
> >>>What these experiments show, according to Gordon, is how having the
> >>>right linguistic resources can carve out one's reality. "Whorf says
> >>>that language divides the world into different categories," Gordon
> >>>said. "Whether one language chooses to distinguish one thing versus
> >>>another affects how an individual perceives reality."
> >>>
> >>>When given numerical tasks by Gordon in which they were asked to match
> >>>small sets of objects in varying configurations, adult members of the
> >>>tribe responded accurately with up to two or three items, but their
> >>>performance declined when challenged with eight to 10 items, and
> >>>dropped to zero with larger sets of objects. The only exception to this
> >>>performance was with tasks involving unevenly spaced objects. Here, the
> >>>performance of participants deteriorated as the number of items
> >>>increased to 6 items. Yet for sets of 7 to 10 objects, performance was
> >>>near perfect. Though these tasks were designed to be more difficult,
> >>>Gordon hypothesizes that the uneven spacing allowed subjects to
> >>>perceive the items as smaller "chunks" of 2 or 3 items that they could
> >>>then match to corresponding groups.
> >>>
> >>>According to the study, performance by the Piraha was poor for set sizes
> >>>above 2 or 3, but it was not random. "Pirahã participants were actually
> >>>trying very hard to get the answers correct, and they clearly
> >>>understood the tasks," Gordon said. Participants showed evidence of
> >>>using methods of estimation and chunking to guess at quantities in
> >>>larger set sizes. On average, they performed about as well as college
> >>>students engaged in more complex numerical estimation tasks. Their
> >>>skill levels were similar to those in pre-linguistic infants, monkeys,
> >>>birds and rodents, and appeared to correlate to recent brain imaging
> >>>studies indicating a different sort of numerical competence that seems
> >>>to be immune to numerical language deprivation. Interestingly, Gordon
> >>>noted, while Pirahã adults had difficulty learning larger numbers,
> >>>Piraha children did not.
> >>>
> >>>While the Pirahã words for "one" and "two" do not necessarily always
> >>>refer to those specific amounts, Gordon also found that members of the
> >>>tribe never used those words in combination to denote larger
> >>>quantities. In the study, they also used their fingers in addition to
> >>>their verbal statement of quantity, but this practice, too, was found
> >>>to be highly inaccurate even for small numbers less than five.
> >>>
> >>>The Pirahã language has no word for "number," and pronouns do not
> >>>designate number--"he" and "they" are the same word. Most standard
> >>>quantifiers like "more," "several," "all," and "each" do not exist. In
> >>>general, while containing a very complex verb structure common to many
> >>>Native American languages, the Pirahã language does not allow for
> >>>certain kinds of comparative constructions. For example, it was not
> >>>possible to ask participants whether one group of objects "has more
> >>>nuts than the other" because of the lack of that construction in the
> >>>Pirahã grammar. Yet, the word they use for "many," which in that
> >>>language was derived from a form ob the verb meaning "to bring
> >>>together," is distinct from a word that means something like "much."
> >>>
> >>>###
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>Details of the study will appear in the Thursday, August 19, issue of
> >>>the journal Science.
> >>>
> >>>Teachers College is the largest graduate school of education in the
> >>>nation. Teachers College is affiliated with Columbia University, but it
> >>>is legally and financially independent. The editors of U.S. News and
> >>>World Report have ranked Teachers College as one of the leading
> >>>graduate schools of education in the country. For more information,
> >>>please visit the college's Web site at www.tc.columbia.edu.
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >
> >
> >
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