Hallo!
Andreas Johansson wrote:
> I've become involved in a discussion with a strong Sapir-Whorfian, who is making
> some rather outlandish claims.
Well, the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is quite an outlandish claim to
start with, no wonder the Whorfians come up with really wild ideas.
> The one that really sends the ol' brain reeling
> is this; Chinese languages treat spacetime as five-dimensional, and Chinese
> speakers therefore perceive their world as five-dimensional. Apparently, four
> spatial and one temporal dimension are implied, but he's not exactly expressing
> himself with perfect clarity.
This is the very first time I have heard any such claim about Chinese.
> That his claim, as stated, is wrong seems clear,
Yes.
> but I was wondering if any of
> our Chinese speakers here can think of any feature of Sinitic grammar or
> vocabulary that might, thru exaggeration or misunderstanding, give rise to such
> a claim.
I wonder what kind of psychotropic drugs that fellow is on.
Greetings,
Jörg.