Do we think differently in different languages? | BBC Ideas

There are more than 7,000 languages in the world so does that mean there are more than 7,000 ways of seeing it? The Whorfian hypothesis is the idea that the language we speak affects the way we think and even how we see and structure the world around us.
If you love language or geek out over grammar then this playlist is for you: • LANGUAGE 🤓
Subscribe to BBC Ideas 👉 bbc.in/2F6ipav
____________________________
Do you have a curious mind? You’re in the right place.
Our aim on BBC Ideas is to feed your curiosity, to open your mind to new perspectives, and to leave you that little bit smarter.
So dive in. Let us know what you think. And make sure to subscribe! 👉bbc.in/2F6ipav

Visit our website to see all of our videos: www.bbc.com/ideas
And follow BBC Ideas on Twitter: / bbcideas
#bbcideas #language

[@artilleryhill]

To have another language is to possess a second soul. Charlemagne.

[@marekgalteestaff7087]

From my personal experience, I can say that the language I use at a given moment does not change how I think, but each language I use is related to specific social situations. For example, at home I speak Polish (my native language), at work I speak English (I live in an English-speaking country), and in the bar I often speak Spanish because my friends speak this language. I have noticed that it is very difficult for me to talk about topics related to my work in a language other than English or to joke in a language other than Spanish, but this is more a matter of certain habits than the language itself

[@sophiejackson4748]

Absolutely! Different attributes and associations are made/given through phrases. I even find myself assigning different emotions to objects depending on the words used to describe them!

[@melissasalasblair5273]

Do focus groups because they'll love you lol

[@sharonkaysnowton]

I totally agree that with different language I "see" the world differently. I speak English and I see the world more analytical. I speak Spanish and I see the world more emotionally and religiously. I speak Portuguese and I see the world more romantically. I speak some French and I see the world more abstractlly. My perspectives are different depending on the language I am using.

[@melissasalasblair5273]

Yes, seee, listen, research, etc. Also, definition-speak vs understanding the actual concepts (both best etc), 'feelings/sentidos', etc, etc

[@rahulranjan9013]

It's almost like each languages have a unique dominant meta emotion that colors everything else we experience & express.

[@petertraudes106]

Gossie pietje en als je Nederlands spreekt is het alsof je een keelontsteking hebt

[@beto4857]

​@@rahulranjan9013You nailed it. The culture a language was formed in influences the emotions its vocabulary is covered by.

[@bluetortilla]

I think that's an attitude-based perception. You can be just as emotional or rational in either language. It's coming from you, not the language. No language can traverse the bounds of universal human experience.

[@Prof_Gege]

Congratulation for this interesting documentary. Learning a new language is always good for our brain.

[@Romalvx]

Illuminating, as always-and excellent.

[@tanyavenables7483]

I don't disagree that we 'think' differently in different languages. I wonder though, whether that is innate to language or more attributable to the issue that language is imbued with an accompanying culture. Is it the culture that uses the language as a channel, which is actually the reason for the difference in thinking? Just an idea I'm interested in

[@Sprachliebhaber-Languagelover]

The options "innate" vs. "due to culture" are not mutually exclusive, since languages are a product of culture, in fact, they are part of culture. That is why the "same" language spoken by different groups (countries, regions, social classes, professions, age groups, etc.) has from subtle to huge differences from one group to another.

[@gf4453]

You nailed it. It's not the language per se.

[@muskduh]

thanks for the video

[@shahinsmovielist721]

Very informational video ) Nice to watch facts about Uzbek language!

What I notice solely based on the Eurovision song contest, singers tend to sing with more emotions in their own language vs. in English. For example, Tix's song "Fallen Angel" vs. "Ut Av Mørket". Ut Av Mørket has more emotions than Fallen Angel so Languages can affect not just the way of thinking but also feeling. I also prefer saying "I love you" to my boyfriend instead of "Ich liebe dich" (even though I'm also fluent in German), because I feel it more in English.

[@ritvarsrolis5734]

Thank you!Bedankt!🙂👍

[@joshcoxmusic]

The dude wearing the Rush shirt is awesome. Great taste 🤘

[@toucheguimaraes3175]

Totally agree: expressing emotions or any kind of ideas can be very easy in some languages and veeeeery difficult in others!

[@Awesome_Aasim]

When you learn a language you do not just learn the language - you also learn a lot of the social etiquette surrounding it.

[@lunainezdelamancha3368]

I totally agree that we speak, think, and react differently when speaking different languages. At least I do..... unconsciously..... I speak 3 languages....I tell people that it's the closest thing to being bipolar 😅.

[@elianesantoscabral3271]

Excelente!

[@annafolega4364]

Great material, such a shame that the background music is in the foreground. Makes it really hard to focus on what the speakers are saying, even with the subtitles on. It would be great if you could make the videos a little bit more inclusive for the neurodivergent viewers just by turning the music down a little.

[@Sakura-zu4rz]

Hello Lovely, I have a frustrating experience. Not knowing where to begin or hitting a plateau can feel demoralizing and make it hard to hit the books and study like you know you should…Having friends from other cultures makes me more creative. In fresh ways about space and how people create their own world and environment. It is best way to connect between creative thinking and cross-cultural relationships.

[@adelabrouchy]

Hasta cierto punto puede ser cierto, pero creo que es más importante el número de palabras que uno domine de su propio idioma. Pensamos con un lenguaje y cuantas más palabras tengamos para hacerlo más posibilidad de expresar lo que vivimos y entendemos. Generación a generación se pierden palabras en el habla cotidiana, es un proceso rápido, a mí me parece negativo. Yo recuerdo como hablaban mis abuelos y mis padres. Por ejemplo, las palabras vehemente, cautela, esforzarse, discrepar, propósito, se usaban en el lenguaje cotidiano, hoy es muy difícil escucharlas en una conversación común. 💙

[@howardcohen7784]

El cambio es inevitable. El español es la forma en que la gente cometió errores en latín.

[@laseixd492]

Portuguese is Beautiful ❤️

[@gangstersayfock]

Hele gezellige video en het brengt heel veel connectie en brengt heel veel verbinding.

[@JoeyBlogs007]

Interesting idea

[@pahkk]

From my experience, my answer is that the way you think expands beyond the line that one language usually can provide. It is simply because additional language provides one more different tool you can use with additional channel that you can get information from like radio channels. So it is not simply because we think differently but because you can have one more power tools on you r belt.

[@luisguilhermeoliveira5794]

I think more important than the language itself is how you aquire it. I was an only child who didn't have many friends at school, and I learned English mostly by watching sitcoms every day after doing my homework. And I think because of this, I'm actually more instrospective in my native language and funnier when I speak English.

[@rayz.rodriguez2901]

Conversing in different languages affects the flow of my thoughts. My primary language is Filipino but I find English more expressive and technically more precise when I'm describing abstract concepts. Humor also comes across differently between these two. Something I find hilarious when I hear it in one may not translate as funny in the other.

[@travelswithted]

Love the professor wearing a RUSH shirt. Rock on!

[@Sheerspeechcraft]

The CRT monitor that guy has is awesome

[@drumking300]

lol , antique!!

[@FlatStella1]

subscribed

[@ivorfaulkner4768]

Each language is a different way to ‘describe’ the world. A simple example from Gaelic( Irish): the word for ‘old’( for a person) is ‘críona’. It has two meanings, ‘old’ but a second meaning ‘wise’, apt in most( not all!) cases. I’m Irish.

[@hcm9999]

It is difficult to think of something when you have no words to describe it.

[@alexi9108]

I'd say, there is no so much difference among languages of the same group in the way they shape the speakers' perceptions of the world, but of course, if the distance between the languages in question is vast, like between English and Cantonese, for instance, then the statement about differing perceptions of the world will be valid.

[@suki998]

YES WE DO!!😛

[@yannnavarro1553]

I completely agree with what has been explained in the video; I think differently when I speak English. My mindset goes in a different direction and I tend to use more descriptive words while speaking English rather than in French ! I believe speaking another language and being able to switch from one to another allows the brain to function in a very interesting way. I might also try to be more technical in English whereas I just go with the flow in French without specifically trying to use synonyms or a wider range of vocabulary

[@douglasmulvaney5537]

Sporting that Rush shirt!

[@grantbartley483]

I get from this that languages influences thoughts in various accidental minor ways. I don't get the impression that an idea expressed in one language can't be expressed in any other, nor that the basic way we perceive reality is different because of different linguistic assumptions..

[@gemmeldrakes2758]

I had a Japanese student ask me "What colour is the sun?" He was fasvinated that Westerners described the sun as "yellow" while in Japan it was described as "red".

[@martinstent5339]

We can translate pretty accurately from one language to another, but when we speak, we are using a lot of “poetry”, by that I mean all these extra things that aren’t just information, like alliterations, puns, references to cultural stereotypes, little pauses ( to indicate a reluctance to say a word, or to accentuate something etc). And all this non-informational “stuff” is out of the culture from which the language evolved. All languages have evolved and added words or changed their meaning according to what was socially important at some time in the past. Poetically, I say I have 2 souls, one for each of my languages, but really I am the product of 2 cultures.

[@lennybars8639]

Yes

[@Danny30011980]

In Hungarian like in the English there are neither masculine nor feminine articles, they just have one neutral one. Less hassle :-)

[@begabrielanunez7326]

Per me L’italiano e’ un pianeta meraviglioso! English allows me to express myself in a simpler way. Español es mi lengua madre. Pero pienso en tres idiomas simultáneamente mientras hablo uno de ellos:)

[@sangeetabhatnagar5572]

Just like french, most indian languages are gendered too! There are masculine and feminine characteristics that may define a particular perspective better but that does not have to do anything with thinking differently i feel. Its just ideas better presented!

[@alonespirit_1Q84]

Appearances and Reality...

[@angelabender8132]

I speak Italian, which has roots on 2 of the greatest epics: Aeneid by Virgil and The divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri and I can express infinitely better the nuances of things compated to other languages. English is rapid, clear, no nonsense. Spanish is comical. French is the closest to Italian but with a painful pronunciation. German is tough. Slavic I ignore but my mother in her own way loved it and she prayed in Slavic

[@CloverMind]

If we speak Bangla, then we can easily recognize gender spectrum, because a) no gendered pronouns b) very few gendered nouns, in fact only the actual gender identifiers are gendered boy/girl father/mother etc. Random nouns such as bridge, house are not gendered. Also if we speak Bangla, we must recognize everyone's religion. a) No non-religious greetings exist b) Certain nouns are religion specific e.g. Water, Mother, Father, Brother, Sister etc. have different Bangla words used by people of different religion (main differences exist for Buddhists, Christians, Hindus and Muslims, Bangla speaking people of other religions may reuse a word from one of these primary variations). Also e.g. an atheist must greet in formal situations using the correct greet word respecting the religion of the person they're greeting, lest they be ridiculed or completely ignored / shunned.

[@goerbeach6652]

IMHO it could like using different sieves for thoughts 🧐

[@user-sv6rx4lb5e]

Не в других языках, а "на разных языках мы мыслим (думаем) по разному" я бы так перевела эту фразу. სხვადასხვა ენაზე სხვადასხვანაირად ვაზროვნებთ (ვფიქრობთ).

[@inga9659]

That sounded strange to me too, like trying to translate The frase to Russian

[@thefakecroat]

Wow that guy from uzibekistan i could understand but never heard or met someone from that country🇺🇿😅

[@charlie_56]

Me from there, Uzbekistan🇺🇿😅

[@charlie_56]

and the guy is right, most agglutinative languages are faster than fusional languages at least in a way the sentence is structured

[@faresgharbi]

Maybe there is an optimal language for each personality/history/vision ?

[@nigoraortiqova5591]

3:52 🇺🇿 🔥🔥

[@deniorafael7334]

The background music is too loud, hindering the understanding of the lines.

[@Jas_V010]

Yes it hindering

[@jeremyhodge6216]

Of course we think very differently certain words could have so many meaning for example for what what you saying in English could have 3 or 4 different meanings in Arabic, French or Spanish 🤔

[@johnmurray8454]

Up to a point, but for the important questions it does not, consider hate and war

[@Bill0102]

I'm lost in this content. I read a book with similar content, and I was completely lost in its world. "The Art of Meaningful Relationships in the 21st Century" by Leo Flint

[@alanwhiplington5504]

A grammatical error in the video: "given to thinking" not "given to think." A gerund is involved, not an infinitive. I wonder if that caused him to think in a different way? English is a very "nouny" language. I think this is significant myself.

[@veloro7]

The eyes speak louder than the voice. Because the eyes are the windows to the soul. The voice does not always follow the soul. Because sometimes the voice utter things that lead the soul to suffer.

[@artugert]

Culture, which includes language, is an accumulation of the way people thought in the past. Obviously it has a major influence on the way we think, but as people's thinking changes, culture and language also change. Thinking changes culture, and culture changes thinking. Both are constantly changing. And of course, that includes language. However, the whole idea presented in this video of grammatical gender affecting how people view objects has no basis in reality. People do not view a bridge as masculine simply because their language assigns it a masculine grammatical gender.

[@letingrad]

I speak Spanish and English, and its easier for me to express emotions in English than in Spanish, even when Spanish is my mother tongue, its funny, in Spanish my way to speak is more direct and emotionless, but English is the other way around.

[@wynduu2]

I believe culture is what influences our thinking. The language is only used to communicate that culture.

[@soumenshit6770]

In my opinion: Yes !!

[@itchyPoncho]

being an native english speaker I NEVER think about gendered words in other languages .. for lack of a better expression "i just learn the words as they are used" so a word being fem or masc even if it changes depending on the noun, really doesn't mean much, same with numbers in other languages expressed with different values tied to the words, you just learn what sound means what value.. I hope this makes sense and does not sounds arrogant

[@jonathanjollimore4794]

Yup and pretty much no one on Earth that is exactly the same even identical twins

[@bluetortilla]

No. I speak Japanese fluently, Mandarin so-so, and a smattering of Spanish. Grammar is universal, that is a fact, not an opinion. Language is multiferous and emergent, meaning that semantics precede phrase rendition, which is a technical way of saying that meaning does not change, nor does the desire to express it change. The only things that change when switching languages (which is not easy btw) are syntax and phonetics. Both can be very challenging, and make how you think of yourself as a speaker to be different but have no effect on the actual task of conversing.

[@cauwenberghsroeland8607]

Languages can stucture and reduce natural capacities. Deaf people still think. In their culture. Not in he culture of the deaf. But of their social-affective envrironment. And learning other languages brakes down those walls of words. Best is learn a secind language related to a very different society, it will open your mind.... and learning several languages will help you too to go to stand in their shoes....to experience their "lock of words". Lack of words dosn't mean lock of words.....it educates emotions, makes them raffined in stead of rough and brutal....

[@Bob-my6jy]

the movies “arrival” really goes into this topic; like if aliens exist and they have a language, they probably think completely differently

[@pong5466]

Absolutely, in addition, when you switch languages, you need to switch your demeanor as well. It is awkward otherwise. The way you act and move your body have to match the language you speak.

[@avinashrogye]

As a thought experiment. If a newborn was raised without any exposure to any language.Does it mean that the new born would be incapable of having any thoughts (in maybe 5-10-15 years) ?

[@User-jr7vf]

I think he/she would have thoughts which would be composed of patterns and associations made in his/her brain.

[@rubixcube9859]

Nope definitely not. Think of early humans, they weren't exposed to any kind of language, their basis of expression was sign language, which I think is not an organised one. So maybe they weren't capable of organising their thoughts too well. And according to history, when languages came that's when true development in human history initiated.

[@mxMik]

Actually there were several "mowgli" cases. I don't remember details, you may look up

[@sajjadali-zo8wr]

It's a natural phenomenon you can't get the same emotional feel or satisfaction when speaking another language than your own.

[@bfdbuff9296]

Disagree bro. Topic is different it's not about own language or not. It's about language itself

[@sidthomas7319]

Thats because its your so called 'first language'

[@nicoleellis6794]

Yeah, when i speak my mither tongue i feel every emotional aspect of every word, but when i speak any other languages everything feels slightly emotionless, even the word like "nasty" or "beautiful", these words just don't have the same emotional power as same words in my language It's logical but sometimes it blows my mind when i think about that kind of stuff hahah

[@dimitrijmaslov1209]

Hm.

[@oreogirlz]

Whats the oldest language still spoken now ??? Anyone knows

[@anonymousbiblebeliever]

Hebrew

[@diyorabobobekova1711]

Uzbek ❤

[@Sokail87]

No. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is only good for movies. However such questions aren't without merit.

[@jonathanjollimore7156]

Not a single person on earth is the same even identical twins

[@sofiya6695]

Language is like blinkers. It limits our vision and doesn't allow us to think in another way.

[@greenman80]

language relates to culture somehow, but rather culture as a whole makes us think differently IMHO

[@KittySnicker]

Why is that Uzbhek guy speaking Russian? I’m confused...

[@hilolaxonsayyidaziz9818]

KittySnicker the same question😅 why??

[@hilolaxonsayyidaziz9818]

he spoke in russian, but wrote in uzbek😅3:57

[@urannnaru]

Because basically all Central Asia was a part of the USSR and back then Russian was the main language. Youth in our countries mostly prefers Russian and most people in post-soviet countries are bilingual. Or idk... For example, I struggle to name my native language as I am Kazakh and I know Kazakh language but Russian I know waaay better so idk... 2 native languages??

[@user-qx2zk7gb6i]

Because USSR,I'm from Ukraine )))

[@thatomofolo452]

🤔🤔🤔

[@maurbentein4716]

"Language is culture and culture is language". But is that also true for languages that have no written form (oral only)?

[@mjolninja9358]

Yes, the indigenous peoples of Australia have a really unique view of the world and they never wrote their language down. I believe it only happened recently.

[@ericswain4177]

Of course we we think differently in different languages why do you think it's so difficult for everyone to get along on planet Earth.

[@ashkenaze]

english talking people (particularly american) very accustomized to lying, because what's written and how they pronounced it, is almost always different.

[@davidharvey4433]

I’m no expert, but have heard that English has more words than most other languages. Someone with a grasp of all these English words would probably get their point across more precisely than someone that has to settle on choosing a word from a language with less words, that is closest to what they really mean.

[@edwardkloczko5301]

" heard that English has more words than most other languages" No idea who told you that, obviously someone who wanted to put English on a soapbox. The precise word count in a language is something that is impossible to know in natural languages because new words appear and old words disappear all the time.

[@maratselihov8371]

I am a native Russian speaker and (as it seemed to me) very polite. But when I speak English to people who don't speak Russian, I feel like I'm rude

[@Vrey662]

I think the same in spanish or english, cant see the difference.

[@your_average_joe5781]

Do you think the table is feminine? I don't. In Spanish you have a feminine table. In French you have a feminine bridge. In English, it's just a bridge, because it is not a person it is neither male nor female. So why does Spanish have gender for inanimate objects?.

[@your_average_joe5781]

@@lunainezdelamancha3368 very interesting 🤔 Thanks for the reply 👍

[@luizbotelho1908]

I have the personal experience of being somewhat forcefully to being exposed in varied degrees to 6 (six ! argh )languages in its structured form (Grammar) ! (English , Italian , French , Germany , Spanish , Portuguese) . Believe me , European Languages are like wines (Red, White , etc...) ; with slightly and sometimes sensible variations of taste or smell on its core aspects .By all represent our humanity and Cultural habits ("Tribes" ) . PS I have a dream : A single international accepted and easy Language for the entire Planet!!.

[@christopherellis2663]

😂😅 which of the many candidates do you suggest?

[@luizbotelho1908]

I can only suggest ...you !!@@christopherellis2663

[@parlormusic1885]

Yes, there are differences between languages that show up in experiments, but those differences are so tiny they amount to nothing. Imagine that a person is skilled in football and they learn another sport. It’s no surprise that they would use metaphors from football and apply it to the new sport, but it would be odd to say that they think differently about the other sport when compared to another who only knows the other sport. Language use is a skill, a very complex skill. Do we think differently in different languages? Of course. But only in the details. If people really did think differently, in a concrete fundamental and interesting way, depending on the language they speak, how could we translate ideas from one language to another? The obvious answer is we couldn’t.

[@edwardkloczko5301]

"but those differences are so tiny they amount to nothing. " = You are lying and you know it, even if you only know/speak one language (English). Perhaps you are trying to promote Chomskian theory? Either way, the obvious answer is = you are a liar. Like Chomsky are you are afraid of general entropy (the lack of order in the Universe)? Not everything “makes sense” no matter how hard you try. Ah these little 'details'!

[@medusagorgon8432]

Not at all! We are human so in most cases it is very much the same. Cultural is what causes the differences.

[@alonespirit_1Q84]

Same goes for Myths...

[@xDporrada]

and language is part of culture :3

[@alonespirit_1Q84]

Not interested in adding cultural differences, i just see things as they are. Reality is one and Appearances are many, as The essence is one where its representations are many, although it's fun.

[@christopherellis2663]

In some ways, but not in the manner put foreword by the gender benders. Castilian and Basque are quite different in word order. How does this affect the bilingual inhabitants? The same can be said for Hungarian and Romanian. I can attest that gender neutral languages don't have gender neutral cultures. Whorf was not the sharpest blade in the drawer.

[@jomolololo4398]

Its only obvious , we all dont even think the same .

[@muhammadisaac07]

I don't think so

[@ParagPandit]

There is hardly any thought without language, is there?

[@clairedepretre6544]

Great video, but still the shame that at the end of it that Uzbek guy speaks Russian and not his native language:(

[@dariuszszumczyk9162]

I speak two languages perfectly and two others imperfectly; I do not agree at all with a notion that language shapes thoughts. Language is a tool allowing thoughts to be expressed. Quite honestly, the longer humanity exists, the poorer the languages are becoming. The earlier languages were a lot more expressive and, therefore, better tools of communication between people. Real studies of languages were being done by multiple great people; nowadays, we don’t have actual studies done, we have materials of indoctrination being spewed out of the supposed institutions of learning.

[@jeffreykalb9752]

Well... duh. How else could a culture be transmitted? How we conceive the world also influences the language we use to describe it. Language is the lagging factor, being literally rooted in tradition, which means a handing down. While great thinkers may want to escape the confines of the language, the average person cannot live, grow, and learn without it. That is the undermining of language is an attack on the common man.

[@raymarkromay1450]

Who's here for the assignment?

[@alexersabanal3685]

Me paps HAHAHA

[@paopaocf]

me lol

[@charlie_56]

O'zbekistondan kimdir bormi?🖐🏻

[@dipankarmallick5543]

no way...

[@clarapvalente]

Brazilian language is not "Português", by the way. :) If I talk vernacular, that lady will get totally lost.

[@carol8390]

If I talk vernacular English with you, you'll be totally lost too, but that doesn't mean it's not English. Perhaps you should study more about linguistics.

[@abrahamjaimehernande]

Sure! That's why Germans are great musicians, arguably the best!

[@Tjalve70]

I would say that thousands of people, probably tens or hundreds of thousands of people have died, because English doesn't have a word for volksgeist. Volksgeist means "the spirit of the people", just like the more well known zeitgeist means "the spirit of the times". With "people" in this context being the singular of "peoples", and not the plural of "person". Specifically, volksgeist implies that peoples are different. As in Germans are different from Americans, who are different from Japanese, and so on. We all know and accept that this is true. Otherwise stereotypes would not have existed. Everyone "knows" that Germans are structured and follows the rules, while Spaniards and Italians are more free flowing, and see rules as suggestions. American foreign policy since WWII has been centered around exporting democracy to the world. And Americans seem to think that everybody would WANT democracy, because they themselves can see no better form of government for the people than democracy. So if there is a rebellion against an autocratic ruler in any country, and a group of rebels call themselves "The Democratic Front" or something like that, Americans will assume that these people actually want to turn their country into a democratic country. And so USA would support that rebel group. And Americans would be equally surprised every time it turns out that this "Democratic Front" just wanted a different form of autocracy. The fact of the matter is that very many peoples have a volksgeist that is fundamentally undemocratic. And so the people in that group do not understand democracy, and do not really want democracy. They just want a form of government where THEY are not being oppressed. And if English had had a word for volksgeist, it would have been easier for Americans to understand and realise this. And they would not have started or gotten involved in so many wars. And thus a lot fewer people would have been killed in wars and rebellions these last 80 years.

[@sterlingmoffett2008]

English> most. My coffee table doesn’t have a gender

[@user-ie7on4cm3q]

I was a bit surprised when I heard my native Russian language in the beginning of the video :)))

[@mvnorsel6354]

Russian my favourite sounding language. Greetings from Australia😅.