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Re: does conlanging change your sense of reality?

From:Paul Kershaw <ptkershaw@...>
Date:Wednesday, April 1, 2009, 17:55
----- Original Message ----
> From: Jim Henry <jimhenry1973@...> > To: CONLANG@listserv.brown.edu > Sent: Wednesday, April 1, 2009 11:26:03 AM > Subject: Re: does conlanging change your sense of reality? > > On Wed, Apr 1, 2009 at 10:15 AM, Lars Finsen wrote: > > after all. But from a practical point of view it really would have been much > > better if we all used the same language - unless the different > > manifestations of language do have the ability to enrich our communication > > and understanding in practical ways.
Define "practical." As previously discussed, there are multiple ways to express something in a single language; the selection between these is based somewhat on what group membership the speaker wants to claim, what mood they want to express , and so on. A primary function of language is communication, but another very important function is personal and group identity management, and that's more difficult if everyone has the same language.
> The strict > Whorfian idea that some ideas can only be > expressed in certain languages is almost certainly > false
Especially with English, where when we find a notion that's hard to express in our language but easy in another, we just grab the word and make it our own. ;)
> (On the other hand, if certain ideas can only > be expressed in a certain language by coining > a lot of new vocabulary, then is the resulting > expanded language still the same language?
I'd say yes. -- Paul