I am extremely fascinated by the idea that languages shape the way we think. I speak seven languages, among which 5 almost on a daily basis, but I still struggle to fully understand this concept. Maybe because the languages I speak are too close to each other. I am aware of the fact that some concepts, expressed by words, exist in a language but not in another one. I am thinking for instance about the word enjoy; a similar word exists in German and Dutch, but doesn’t have an equivalent in Latin languages (which is curious, because enjoy comes from a Latin word). I believe that being able to express that concept in words does have an effect on my way of experiencing and processing that action in my brain. However, there are more significant differences in structure or semantic between languages that are further apart from each other than those that I speak.
Why am I talking about this? For a few reasons, one being that I recently read 1984, a book that describes a world dominated by a dictatorship that invents a new language with a reduced vocabulary and forbids certain words to limit people’s cognitive capacity. The idea is that if you cannot express an idea in words, you will not be able to process it either, so that idea becomes unthinkable. In case you haven’t seen it, I recommend the movie Arrival, which portrays an interesting example of linguistic relativity, also known as the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis (here you can find my review of the movie Arrival – in Italian).
I write about this also because there are a lot of ongoing debates about political correctness when we speak about gender and race. What I want to say is that if you agree with the concept of linguistic relativity, then we should continue the conversation about the best words to use. For instance, I don’t like to use people of colour, which was once considered politically correct, because it defines people for not being white, and it means that white is a non-colour. Similarly, calling someone a pussy for not being brave, reinforces the idea that women are weak. Well, there would be much more to say about this topic, which is as fascinating as complicated. I will continue to reflect on this, and if you feel like sharing your thoughts, let me know what you think.
To be continued….
Blabbering of a millennial 
The philosopher Igor Sibaldi always says that if you speak only a language, the language speaks you… To really speak a language, you have to know al least two.
I humbly agree with him, thanks for sharing