From language to perception

 Say the colour of each word:

Read the following:

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae.
The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt ... '

What happens? Why?

Now look at this video:

The history of English

Are invented languages real languages?

The language in Nazi Germany

Language and thought

Does your language shape how you think?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/magazine/29language-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Can a concept exist without words to describe it?
http://www.economist.com/node/3104346 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13452711

After reading these articles, can you identify the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis and its limits?

The issue of translation

As Chomsky points out, 'dictionaries do not begin to provide the meanings of words'.

How would you translate into English the Urdu 'takallouf', the Spanish 'duende' or the French 'dépaysement'?

Check out these lists of 'foreign words' that give translators headaches:

http://matadornetwork.com/life/10-foreign-words-we-just-cant-translate/

http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/20-awesomely-untranslatable-words-from-around-the-world/

http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/20-more-awesomely-untranslatable-words-from-around-the-world/

And if you are a francophile, see here the worst possible translations into French:

http://www.topito.com/top-traductions-merde-francais

Txtng=effective communication?

What distinction is made between written and spoken speech? Why is texting seen in a positive way?

Minor differences

 
What happens when language is not spoken?
What connections can you make between language and emotion?

What form of the language is higlighted here?
How does it affect the transmission of the message?

Joey speaks French

 

How does Phoebe know that Joey doesn't speak French?
Why does Joey think he speaks French?

Language and humans

What functions of the language does Pinker highlight in his talk?
What conditions make communication effective between two speakers of the same language?

Language and values: war rhetorics

 http://www.visualthesaurus.com/cm/wordroutes/of-pinpricks-and-slam-dunks-the-rhetoric-of-the-syrian-conflict/

In the example of foreign policy, how does word choice have an impact on the message conveyed?

Language and meaning: the map is not the territory

http://www.george-orwell.org/1984/4.html

Read Part 1, chapter 5 until 'It is written in his face. '


Why is the ruthless totalitarian regime, described in Orwell’s novel purging Oldspeak and imposing Newspeak? What assumptions are being made about the relationship between language and thought?