If we spoke a different language, we would perceive a somewhat different world.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Language structures thought so changing how we speak changes how we experience reality.
- In plain terms
- Speaking a different language makes the world look different.
- What can you take from it?
- Language limits and shapes perception.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Does language limit what you can think?
- How does translation change meaning?
Another view
Human experience shares common biological traits across languages.
More from Ludwig Wittgenstein
If there were a verb meaning 'to believe falsely,' it would not have any significant first person, present indicative.
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