The Oppressor's Language, Yet I Need It To Talk To You

[@Kathrin_yt]

What is your relationship to the oppressor's tongue? What words do we not yet have? How can we give name to the nameless so it can be thought? Have you listened to the lingua franca living planet? What verbal engineering is proceeding our social engineering?

[@kwullums]

this is a lot of what my video novel is about. it's in the playlists on my channel. great topic for a video

[@andersonrosa6645]

Words are the expression of human thought, which is the expression of a generational learning process amidst a series of social contexts produced by this same learning process. And all this comes from our brains. We're just a share of reality, and the changes we bring by acting upon our cognitive processes must be seen as just that. Fantasizing that we can be more than what we are may sound cool only while we don't realize that everything we've done through the last millennia came just from us, and that's an amazing fact by itself; more than detaching ourselves from what we've learned to mitigate the problems we created as a species. Reality shapes itself through specific and determined means; the fact that we'll never know each factor doesn't add feasibility to the impossible. Language is a tool that represents the social conception of human thought, and it can only determine our social context to the extent this conception allows. The words we don't have are glimpses of a comprehension yet to be developed. Depending on how our dominant ideology determines, it might be considered useful (dreadfully adequate term) or just be deemed exotic, wrong, or evil. Our new words are determined by how we use the old ones, and even by words we've never learned. Ok, I've blabbered enough, nobody's going to read or care to understand what I've written anyway. Have a nice one.

[@schniT_T]

For me, once the opressor forces a language on you, it is no longer theirs. I lived as a closeted queer person in russia from my early/mid teens to early 20s. Before I moved there, I lived in california, but didnt know english till I was in preschool, my frist language was russian. From around 13 yearsold, I was outspoken as a proponent for queerness and as an amab person, I was able to actually have a voice. Still, the queer bashing around me really strengthened the queerphobia that was forced on me in my religious life before my move to russia. My family was pretty strictly russian orthodox. It's taken me many years to even start to feel comfortable expressing myself the way I wanted to since I was a young child. A big part of this was seeing a lot of my other russian friends come out as queer. I felt I was queer and actually came out to some cis (many at the time cis) friends when I was still in russia, but the constant hypervigilance of trying not to seem unmasculine in front of the wrong people, which was most of them, became automatic. What helped me unmask was many years of seeing old friends coming out, exploring their identity, and discussing that experience with them. I watched russian queer theory form. Watched how queer language adapted itself in russian. Some of it was calques from other languages, but there were so many amazing ways that we would show our identities in a gendered language. For instance, the way you gendered yourself, even binarily, can interact with how you present. it's become very popular for nb and fluid people to refer to themselves, not in plural, which in russian to many sounds unnatural(tho to some it doesn't and they make it clear, their pronouns are respected), instead, they refer to themselves as the opposite gender to how they present. This is especially effective in a gendered language like russian, because when speaking even in first person, you are constantly gendering yourself not only in pronouns, but any words dependant on yourself, if you are the subject. That's one way. Another big thing I've been seeing is referring to themselves as neuter. My point is, I've seen people talk about how their first language was gendered, and that gave them a lot of discomfort, and english was a gamechanger. I understand, and they should be allowed to express themselves however they feel comfortable. That being said, I have seen so many incredibly linguistically interesting and beautiful things emerge from refusing to switch to the language of another oppressor and creating a home for yourself. There's also not always a choice to just go and learn another language. To me, there's something incredibly revolutionary in making that type of stamp on your language. Scuse the scroll

[@Kathrin_yt]

@@schniT_Tyess I do agree about there being something revolutionary about that stamp! Thanks for sharing your experience!

[@Authentistic-ism]

this instantly made me think of "She unnames them" by Ursula K. Le Guin

[@Pebleh]

This was beautiful, I really needed to see this. Recently, I've been mourning the loss of my great grandfather's tongue, my grandfather did not teach my father how to speak Tarumara due to shame, as was the case for many in Mexico. On tiktok, I saw a video of a man saying the word for the food we recognize as "tortilla", and I can't remember what it was. I want to speak the tongue of my ancestors, but it's difficult to connect living here in the states. I don't even know where to go, so grieving is where I began. I hope I'll one day be able to greet my ancestors in the tongue that my body resonates with. Spanish and English have always been difficult and alien to me, despite them being my birth languages. I often wonder if my body is feeling the dismemberment from the living world, and I'm so glad to have found a connection in my emotional awareness of the spoken languages I continue to struggle identifying with. Thank you for this insightful video! ❤

[@Kathrin_yt]

thank you for sharing your experience! It totally makes sense that you don't quite feel at home in English or Spanish, the memory of your ancestor's tongue must still be coursing through your veins

[@samaval9920]

1) Surprisingly, someone published Taraumara- English & English-Tarahumara dictionary in 1950s?! 2) There May be some Tarauumara language videos on You Tube &/or Internet websites- produced in Mexico gov universities publishers Tarahumara organizations Buena suerte! US Tarahumara organizations?

[@samaval9920]

1) Someone in 1960s in US published. giant Tarahumara- English? or Soanish dictionary. 2) There May be descriptive & instructional videos & websites 3) Books, etc. media may be in Spanish by Mexico gov (universities, Deps of Anthropology, etc.) Tarahumara organizations & ipro Tarahumara academics, activists, etc., 4) on line Tarahumara 1) conversation speaking clubs 2) other on line forums, discussion groups, etc. 5) on line Tarahumara media ? podcasts videos video games, etc.? 6)!printed media books on T. culture, language, people? etc. t shirts? posters ?m plastic place mats greeting cards board games? card games? Ojala que existan al menos unos de estos! Buena suerte!!

[@kiri101]

Sometimes we have difficulties with imposed languages even if we learn them from birth - I grew up with English, a language imposed on my parents' community, but grew up with my family and others in our community speaking English through the sounds of the old language. English is both intimately familiar but also alien. I can't understand much of that ancesteral language but the sounds are so familiar. If you still have the memories of the sounds of your grandfather, even in Spanish, you have enough to revive that language in you by learning it.

[@LadyRavenhaire]

I can relate to your loss. My mother's side was Italian and she made sure I spoke Italian by always speaking Italian. My father was German, yet never taught me German. He was made ashamed to be German because of WW2. I grew up in a Puerto Rican community in the NYC area. I could see growing up the differences in worldview due to the language people speak. Italian for example is a more active language (I did this) as opposed to Spanish (this happened to me). English is more active than Spanish as a language but not as active as English. In English you might say, "I was harmed by the law or by John", but in Italian you would say rather, "The law harmed me, John harmed me." The first emphasizes blaming the victim. It's the victim's perception of harm. The latter in Italian squarely blames the oppressor. However in addition to differences between different language, since the 1990's I see the Italian language has been altered by US/NATO. Unlike nations Puerto Rico where now everyone speaks English, the language of the oppressor as a second language. In nations like Italy, it is more subtle. I notice newscasts sound like Americans using a dictionary to translate into Italian. I see English word orders being used in the news and a move away from the poetry of the Italian language. The Italian language was very poetic, centered on imagery, and on the view of mercy and justice. One of the most important words in the Italian language for centuries was "Miserecordia". How do I translate this word? It translates into English as miserable heart. To describe the concept in English is nearly impossible. It refers to mercy and justice through the pain one feels in one's heart for others. In Italian every night in one's prayers we ask the Virgin Mary to have "misericordia" poorly translating to "have mercy on us." This word has disappeared from the Italian language just as perdonno (please humbly accept my apology or pardon) has disappeared and replaced by the more American word "scusi" (excuse me). Being in the US, I see the great shift in the Italian mind-set from a nation of people concentrated on the international suffering of others, on justice and mercy to a nation now that is indifferent to human suffering and war. I firmly believe that if the genocide of Gaza had taken place in the 1980's, there would have been a general strike, because the language forced people to see the misery of others and to act; whereas the disappearance of words like "misericordia" and others like "perdonna" have hardened Italian hearts to be like American hearts. When I'm in Italy, Italians sometimes struggle to remember certain words and often make fun of the words I use and say, "Oh no one has been using those words since the 1930's. HoHo." My parents came to the US in 1968 and I was in Italy in the early 1990's, so I'm aware this is nonsense. Cultural amnesia. Others on this thread mourn a native language and culture that they were denied the right to learn. I mourn the loss of words and concepts that have radically changed the mindset of a people through the colonization of the mind by the oppressor.

[@klettari]

i grew up in a country with a gendered language and then moved to an english-speaking one. as a trans/non-binary person, for me it was a massive improvement. even before i came out, talking to people was way less hurtful, and now i recognize it's because other than pronouns, most of english is gender-neutral (and often you can have a whole conversation where your "assigned"/assumed third person pronoun won't even come up). in a language i grew up with, everything is shoved into the binary boxes of masculine or feminine. back there, i was extremely quiet, and looking back (even though i was still an egg at that time) this was a big contributing factor as to why. i don't love english by any means, but in this particular aspect it made my life significantly better.

[@MrChearlie2]

I absolutely feel you! :*)

[@Kathrin_yt]

@@klettari that’s a great point!!

[@snowsetafire]

You reminded me of Mark Twain's "Tale of the Fishwife." Re-reading part of it, "'Ah the poor Fishwife, it is stuck fast in the Mire; it has dropped its Basket of Fishes; and its Hands have been cut by the Scales as it seized some of the falling Creatures; and one Scale has even got into its Eye. And it cannot get her out. It opens its Mouth to cry for Help; but if any Sound comes out of him, alas he is drowned by the raging of the Storm. And now a Tomcat has got one of the Fishes and she will surely escape with him..." Twain was mocking the German language, but I can very much understand how living around a less-gendered language can help your well-being. You keep being you :)

[@jensanruby]

As an english speaking person learning Mandarin provided a similar respite. Men and women are referred to with the same pronoun, tā 他 她。the only reason they are spelt different in mandarin was for the sake of translating foreign books, but they are spoken identically and lead to a gender ambiguity in conversation that i much prefer

[@TheHuester]

Chinese is also neutral

[@wokecommunist3095]

This validates how I felt in high school. It's why I got into a lot of fights in school and every time I got in trouble, I never explained myself, I just stayed quite for the most part.

[@Kathrin_yt]

I'm happy to hear this was validating!

[@Xujan5]

@@wokecommunist3095 your handle is interesting and i dig it ! I remember many Roma speaking about missing Communism because they all had jobs but after the fall they fell victim to the pan oppression by the dominant group. It’s mind boggling how groups can oppress and subjugate and then ironically hate the survival responses by the group they’ve oppressed.

[@KristenNicoleYT]

I’m surprised to hear people leave comments trying to help you improve the way you speak. I really enjoy your demeanor and the way you speak in your videos! I think you come across as empathetic and thoughtful

[@Kathrin_yt]

Thank you so much 😊

[@MonieThu]

I was raised by the wrong ancestors

[@goblinelemental]

I feel this so much

[@josephbelisle5792]

So was I. Well said.

[@EdwardRichardsonMorrison]

Si Or in the language indigenous to my home: togwayt(ü)

[@Broken_robot1986]

Kinda describes most of human society. Just getting eaten by the bigger fish. Our technology has just allowed the fish size to keep getting bigger. Pretty much every human has lived under an empire.

[@PumpkinMozie]

This is one of the best videos I’ve seen in a while. For the first time in a long time, I don’t feel like my time watching KZbin was wasted. This is the kind of content that we SHOULD be celebrating on the internet! Bravo

[@Kathrin_yt]

@@PumpkinMozie that’s a beautiful comment to start my day thank you ❤️

[@corysmith9975]

I remember when I was in highschool a friend from Ecuador was trying to explain how he felt about a classmate he was fond of and he said that "there isn't an English word for it, even if there was it just wouldn't mean the same." And I really struggled with that sentiment because I was deeply rooted in a white supremest perspective and genuinely felt that my language must be just as capable of- no- MORE than capable of expressing any feeling or concept than his language. I'm thankful I've been challenged in that perspective.

[@Kathrin_yt]

thank you for sharing your experience and I'm happy to hear the video resonated 😊

[@josephbelisle5792]

Thank you for changing..

[@RethinkingNormalYT]

This was so good! I remember thinking about this a lot after reading Braiding Sweetgrass - I'm so glad you brought in Robin Wall Kimmerer's work, and also many other theorists whose work I did not know. As a teacher, I've been trying for years to come up with a simple and engaging activity that would help students grasp this concept but I haven't found a great one... I often ask students who speak more than one language to share a word or an expression that exists in their other language but not in English (or French). Watching them struggle to explain it always leads to an insightful discussion about the limits of language. Thank you for making this!

[@Kathrin_yt]

I love and respect your work so much, so it's sooo encouraging to hear this from you!! Thank you ❤

[@MalditoSeasEstadoDelsrael]

This video activated the Wittgenstein in me like a sleeper agent

[@Kathrin_yt]

Apparently even Wittgenstein changed his views over time, no longer believing that language had fixed structures/rules

[@Broken_robot1986]

Let's us confuse their language! I'll need to do some reading on this is so interesting. It's crazy noticing how much more I'm dismissive of softer feminine style speakers like you once you start noticing. Love the way you end words drawing out vowels, reminds me a lot of this other YTer who covers economic theories, forgot her name. I'm so bad at language, English class was my worst subject and barely got passing grades in Spanish and French while learning nothing. I love being around non native English speakers, their phrasing of stuff, by grafting English words into their OG language structure is so cool and creative.

[@hannahhulbert5323]

"/Magic/ is another word that makes people uneasy, so I use it deliberately, because the words we are comfortable with, the words that sound acceptable, rational, scientific and intellectually sound, are comfortable precisely because they are the language of estrangement." - Starhawk [Dreaming the Dark]

[@Kathrin_yt]

@@hannahhulbert5323 I LOVE this ❤️

[@hannahhulbert5323]

@Kathrin_yt I found the quote in Soil and Soul by Alastair McIntosh. If you haven't read it yet I very highly recommend it. It's challenging so many of my paradigms

[@Kathrin_yt]

@ oh this book sounds so up my street!

[@DrustZapat]

With Sapir-Whorf it’s always important to consider the weak version and the strong version. The weak version states that language influences perception to some degree. The strong version states that language determines perception. I tend to look at it like free will vs determinism: there are elements of free will in any given individuals life and we all fall on some part of the spectrum between the two based on our life circumstances. Does that make our life circumstances highly deterministic? Yes, but we have tons of small opportunities to make choices within those confines. Some restrictions apply, your mileage may vary.

Fascinating video. I think you're absolutely right about the languages of colonisers being seen as economically more useful. I also think that there's more than a touch of British exceptionalism that means that native born English speakers from the UK have less incentive to learn any other languages, the extreme example of this being the stereotypical British tourist (or ex-pat for that matter) refusing to have the vaguest stab at the local language or absorbing anything of the local culture. Over the last few decades there's been a common Mandarin tongue that has evolved alongside China's embracing of global capitalism. I'm a musician from the UK, some of the musicians I've worked with who settled here from Zimbabwe tell me that there are hip-hop artists from Zim where the beats are definitely home grown but they rap in the common Mandarin tongue. On the subject of British accents and their relationship to the class structure, it's interesting to note how television, radio, and specifically advertising have used accents. If you go back to the 1950's there was only received pronunciation, also known as the Queen's English, you heard nothing else. By the 1980's advertising agencies had cottoned onto the idea that regional accents could be used to depict certain things. Cockneys were perceived to be crafty, streetwise types who knew the score, and so the Cockney accent was used in adverts to make people believe they were buying a product before all the non-streetwise types realised it was a good product. Later on the Yorkshire accent would get used to make the product seem no-nonsense and value for money, and down to earth, etc, etc. The West Country accent was used to depict anything rural, even if it came from an urban factory. Very, very occasionally a Scottish accent would be used to depict utter parsimoniousness to make it clear that the product could not be any cheaper. The Midlands accents, especially the Birmingham or Black Country accents were avoided like the plague, as were Scouse accents. Much later on, the Geordie accent got used because there is a perception that Geordies are open, friendly, fun loving simpletons without the ability to fool you in any way who just want a drink and a laugh. I don't think it's a coincidence that there are so many call centres in the North East of England. Primarily it's for the pool of cheap labour, but there's also the idea that if you get through to someone with a Geordie accent you can immediately feel superior to them if you're from down South, and some sort of kinship with them if you're Scottish, Welsh, Irish or Northern English. I realise that's a hugely sweeping statement but it wasn't me that put all these call centres up here. Sorry for the rambling comment but it really was an interesting video.

[@Kathrin_yt]

this is SO interesting! I also have been thinking about how the Queen changed her accent over time to suit what the people would most want, in the past the posher the better, but over time a certain kind of ''relatability'' is expected from the royal family which is reflected in their speaking I think

[@gota7738]

Mae yn werth cofio bod sawl iaith frodorol o fewn yr Teyrnas Unedig, a oedd yn cael eu siarad cyn datblygiad y Saesneg yn Lloegr, ac sydd wedi goroesi hyd at heddiw. Interestingly prior to the 16th century, Briton was most often used to describe those that spoke the Brythonic languages; Cornish, Welsh, Breton and Cumbric speakers. English and British being viewed as synonymous is a little more recent than some might expect, and in a lot of ways hints at the history of how our modern identities and relationship to our languages developed.

[@crashb800]

I think one of the things to remember is that no one chooses what their first language is. I'm American, and I only speak English, but English speakers do not make up the majority of my European ancestors. I have very little connection to those languages, and I feel like there's something missing in me because of this. I also say this knowing that I am favored as a man with this language and how the other languages in my ancestral past are oppressor languages in certain regards. I still feel as though something is missing, but on the other hand, I'm glad that I can talk to people all over the world because of the prevalence of English. I don't entirely know what to make of this whole situation. Sometimes, it feels as if English isn't the language I should've grown up with, but no one else arounds me seems to get it.

[@Kathrin_yt]

I think so many people can relate to that feeling of a language not being the language they should have grown up in, like you feel the language of your ancestors in you somewhere!

[@SparklyCoconut-le3fu]

This was a beautiful video essay so thank you. It brought me to tears and gave me chills. There are times where I feel confused in conversations like these because my brain has trouble conceptualizing the abstract. And now I’m realizing, maybe it’s not my brain. Maybe it’s the language’s limitations in conveying the ideas to me that gives me trouble. That’s probably not the case but it’s possible. You’ve got me thinking about how language can shape culture and limit or expand our understandings.

[@Kathrin_yt]

Thank you so much ❤

[@sjh3217]

This is a bit of a digression from your main point, but the topic of Part 5 brought back the memory of a time that a dear old friend took me to a wood near her childhood home. She told me numerous times that it was her safe space growing up and that those trees "raised" her. And as she led me among the conifers and aspens, it's like she knew each individual tree along the path as if by name. She touched them and talked to them as if they talked back to her, even being moved to tears when she said that one was supposedly angry at some of its neighbours being cut down, to make way for construction nearby. That friendship is sadly ended now, but she was very smart and no fool, nor prone to delusion. Watching her speak to those trees was like....watching an interaction take place out of another world, or in a language older than words. It makes me think - do other lifeforms speak to us, and can we possibly understand them? But even if it's possible, she evidently was raised "bilingual" in a way, as that wood was her haunt from when she was a little girl; I spent most of my childhood in front of a TV or on a computer. Even if that was an ontologically "real" interaction between separate beings, I feel totally shut off from ever entering such a conversation myself, sadly. With that plus my OCD, I wouldn't be able to suspend disbelief enough to convince myself that it wasn't all in my head. The lack of animacy in English may not help, but it's honestly incidental. Another side note: our culture believing that we are the only voices that speak (or worth listening to) on this Earth is a large part of the reason why we spend billions scouring the sky for any trace of life or intelligence beyond the Solar System. We no longer believe there are any other beings on Earth to talk to. Read Ted Chiang's "The Great Silence" for a heartbreaking SF story about this same topic.

[@Broken_robot1986]

Basic curiosity is why we study the celestial sphere. "How does this universe work?" "What is that?" It has nothing to do 'there's nothing to talk to on earth'.

[@josephined.griffin7297]

Thank you for mentioning The Great Silence. It was incredibly moving

[@Scarlett-jq4cj]

Great video essay. When I learned a new language in my 20's it was a true transformative experience. It was a whole new way to see the world, to express the world, and what came with it was the culture that taught me so much more than my North American english speaking culture had ever taught. I learned Haitian Kreyol, which is just full of history and resistance, joy, and gestures/sounds that I've never found with my native English. Also, there is so much to be said about how colonization stole from our world as a whole and from so many tribes and peoples by taking away their language. I loved that the word Zwazou (bird) was something that didn't get taken away from the people who were stolen and made to work as slaves in Haiti. As I learned more Kreyol I learned to love the words that managed to stay defiant, African words, the most. There was so much freedom and resistance in them. Anyways, this is just a small offering of what I've learned and yet there is so much more than can be learned from language and cultural exchange with others who speak that language. I could explore this topic all day long for the rest of my life.

[@andybalbuena2771]

I really like the subtle discussion of what usually remains a je-ne-sais-pas that's so difficult to articulate. As a Caribbean hispanophone who often feels a profound allegiance to his mother tongue (especially in comparison to English), sometimes I think about our history, I experience the sense of a profound loss and effacement at its heart that's impossible to shake. That feeling, together with the fact that I and my civilization are the result of a process of violent miscegenation and imposition of a European standard to the absolute ravishment of what existed in America before, especially of our pre-colombian languages and cultures, feels like an absolute loss, irretrievable and permanent, that haunts me from time to time. Sometimes it even manifests as a profoundly envy that my wife, who's of Cambodian heritage, can still chant the prayers of her ancestry as they did and still has her Khmer which her people kept away from the threat of an irresistible French linguistic colonization.

[@kelliehollington]

I genuinely love this thinking. Being able to describe what is wrong with goings on and the effects that occur is the only way to start discussion on solutions.

[@Kathrin_yt]

Thank you ❤

[@AM-pleistocene]

Years ago I read Straw Dogs: Thoughts on Humans and Other Animals by John Gray, I can't really remember much about it but since then I always make a point to say 'other animals' instead of simply animals. Another thing I do is use the word person for all animals, instead of reserving it only for humans. I started doing this after I watched some talk show with a nun who is a hermit, when asked if she would want a cat or dog, she said something like "no i couldnt live with another person", something like that. It wasn't really commented on, but you could tell others thought this was strange. I thought how my need for space, and how sometimes the presence of my family dog was too much, or how her presence would soothe loneliness the same way a human's presence would. We can't have a conversation in English, but we can through other ways, and besides I have human friends I can talk to about history and others I can't talk to about it.

[@Kathrin_yt]

This is beautiful thank you for sharing ❤

[@ChrisLeeW00]

There’s this wonderful little language called Toki Pona by Sonja Lang that has a very small vocabulary on purpose. The goal of the language is to convey ideas in a straightforward way, which grounds the speaker in a simple, happy outlook. The discord community is a place where people can practice having conversations, too.

[@Kathrin_yt]

Interesting thanks for sharing!

[@leg912]

I know this isn't related to the topic, but I've recently been thinking about a story with Three Languages, One Person. What sort of languages is included I'll leave it up to your imagination, but my focus is particularly on how to communicate with differences as well as the influence of culture on an individual. Note: Individual. One person can have many different personas according to the language they speak. In this story I made each language into their own character, and thus individual, however they still share a common theme which is that they are the same person. Simply put, this story is set in an individual's mind with each language having their own personality and experience. If I'm repeating myself, I apologize. My point is, one of the main characters is English. I haven't been able to characterize her so far, but watching this video gave me the idea that she holds guilt for the language and culture she has and wants to desperately apologize to what she (her culture, ancestor) has done to them. At this point I hadn't been thinking of them as characters, just symbols. But at that moment I decided to change the characters into... well, humans. I think that's satisfying to me. Sorry for rambling off, but I really do like this video. I hope you stay well and keep on creating.

[@KH-lq1lj]

great video, please never delete it! I've bookmarked for future reference. I've been fascinated with this topic ever since I first learned of Hélène Cixous's idea of "l'écriture féminine," or woman's writing, as a response to phallogocentrism in literature. this vid was a great exploration of the relationship between language and oppression

[@Kathrin_yt]

Thank you, and don’t worry I won’t delete it 😊

[@Nanninganitis]

I’m at 13:30 and I literally yelled out loud in awe, kathrin, you are so inspiring and insightful and an absolute joy to watch, thank you for sharing. It means the world 🫶🏻

[@Kathrin_yt]

wow what a beautiful comment to receive, thank you ❤

[@emilyleaf9857]

Beautiful beautiful video essay. So happy I found your channel. If you're ever interested, I would really love it if you had one-off videos that go over some of the key texts and authors you cite. (I'm not much of a reader but am so intrigued to hear all about those books!)

[@Lycandros]

I have a really hard time learning languages. Probably more so now because of my age and mental health. When I was younger though I found it excruciatingly difficult to learn new languages cause they always tried to teach it by pairing it with English words. My brain does not want to link a symbol to a symbol to a subject. If it uses a symbol it wants it linked directly to that subject. As I've learned new words from other languages and even this one they have always stuck when they had examples without trying to bind it to English words.

[@Kathrin_yt]

super interesting, thanks for sharing!

[@Dave102693]

So most non European languages and their scripts (if they haven’t been colonized out of the population) would be more your style.

[@Nanninganitis]

I’m so excited for this one!!!

[@Xujan5]

Me too!

[@Kathrin_yt]

thank you!!

[@gangstaberry2496]

This is one of the best videos I've ever seen with all my favorite subjects... and extremely poignant. Keep up the good work 👏

[@Kathrin_yt]

Thanks so much ❤

[@LadyRavenhaire]

I can relate to the loss many indigenous people on this thread feel for never having been taught their native tongue. My mother's side was Italian and she made sure I spoke Italian by always speaking Italian. My father was German, yet never taught me German. He was made ashamed to be German because of WW2. I grew up in a Puerto Rican community in the NYC area. I could see growing up the differences in worldview due to the language people speak. Italian for example is a more active language (I did this) as opposed to Spanish (this happened to me). English is more active than Spanish as a language but not as active as English. In English you might say, "I was harmed by the law or by John", but in Italian you would say rather, "The law harmed me, John harmed me." The first emphasizes blaming the victim. It's the victim's perception of harm. The latter in Italian squarely blames the oppressor. However in addition to differences between different language, since the 1990's I see the Italian language has been altered by US/NATO. Unlike nations Puerto Rico where now everyone speaks English, the language of the oppressor as a second language. In nations like Italy, it is more subtle. I notice newscasts sound like Americans using a dictionary to translate into Italian. I see English word orders being used in the news and a move away from the poetry of the Italian language. The Italian language was very poetic, centered on imagery, and on the view of mercy and justice. One of the most important words in the Italian language for centuries was "Miserecordia". How do I translate this word? It translates into English as miserable heart. To describe the concept in English is nearly impossible. It refers to mercy and justice through the pain one feels in one's heart for others. In Italian every night in one's prayers we ask the Virgin Mary to have "misericordia" poorly translating to "have mercy on us." This word has disappeared from the Italian language just as perdonno (please humbly accept my apology or pardon) has disappeared and replaced by the more American word "scusi" (excuse me). Being in the US, I see the great shift in the Italian mind-set from a nation of people concentrated on the international suffering of others, on justice and mercy to a nation now that is indifferent to human suffering and war. I firmly believe that if the genocide of Gaza had taken place in the 1980's, there would have been a general strike, because the language forced people to see the misery of others and to act; whereas the disappearance of words like "misericordia" and others like "perdonna" have hardened Italian hearts to be like American hearts. When I'm in Italy, Italians sometimes struggle to remember certain words and often make fun of the words I use and say, "Oh no one has been using those words since the 1930's. HoHo." My parents came to the US in 1968 and I was in Italy in the early 1990's, so I'm aware this is nonsense. Cultural amnesia. Others on this thread mourn a native language and culture that they were denied the right to learn. I mourn the loss of words and concepts that have radically changed the mindset of a people through the colonization of the mind by the oppressor.

[@Kathrin_yt]

wow this was beautiful and fascinating to read - I love to learn of words I didn't know existed. Thank you for sharing!

[@josephbelisle5792]

I spent the first half of this video expecting at some point what you say at 18 minutes. What a master class video. Presenting such salient information on language in how we percieve ourselves and our world, how we present ourselves, speaking in the baby voice the patriarchy wants women to use to express what they perceive as female inferiority. Well done. The gobal panopticon. Well stated. One of the things life has taught me is that everyones world, language and presentation has great value. Not all work to the betterment of humanity but all have value. I have spent my life dissappointed in the English language. It is a poor medium to express the world as it really is. For example the word 'pet'. As if you own an animal. You are in a symbiotic relationship. We may be responsible for the well being of what we call a pet, but we cant own them. We dont have a word for this relationahip which is why some people call themselves pet parents. At least they recognize they are part of the family though it falls short as it still doesnt respect their autonomy. Ive had other species organisms in my life. I never viewed them as pets. I could never find a word that expressed what they really are in English. Sadly, BTW, I was also sexually abused, assaulted and raped. Repeatedly. My abusers still walk free. Two are dead. Of old age. None have never received justice. I hope your friends, family, people you work with understand just how brilliant you are. I would love to have someone so well rounded in understanding their world in my life. Sadly, I have MAGA types. I am in a vast land of mental and moral desolation. People who were never taught to connect with anything except fallacies.

[@tooSocktastic]

Damn. I can only be jealous with how well this was put together and how articulate you are - hopefully my videos can be of this quality one day. Thank you for the perspective; I learned a lot. But I also know how much effort must have gone into this, so nice going. I wish you much algorithm

[@Kathrin_yt]

Thank you so much ❤

[@shiachan2644]

I love your discussion of this topic and your linguistic capital, it is a joy to listen to you developing your point(s)! What I must admit I noticed first, however, is the sharp and clear nature of your voiceless alveolar sibilant! :3

[@Kathrin_yt]

I had to google what that was, but thank you!

[@MalditoSeasEstadoDelsrael]

Like Caliban said to Prospero on the tempest, "You taught me language, and my profit on’t is I know how to curse"

[@cindyjames1326]

This is why I became a musician and once wanted to stop talking and only play music. There are no words for what is in my heart. Have you read "The Alphabet Versus the Goddess" by Leonard Shlain?

[@Kathrin_yt]

I don’t think I’ve read it, I will check it out thank you! And yes I think it’s so true that non-verbal expression can often be much more powerful than any words can convey. Sometimes think my over-reliance on language cuts me off from my non-verbal perceptions of the world!

[@josephbelisle5792]

Wow, that was beautiful. Your family and friends are fortunate to have you.

[@Turquerina]

I come from a Vietnamese-American family and so I speak it on a daily basis, but even with my second-generation relatives, English seems to be the preferred mode. In a way, that makes me sad because it feels so inpersonal and professional. Even when you look at V-Pop, the fact that you see English phrases and words sprinkled in the lyrics show just how prevalent the influence of the Anglosphere is. It's truly ubiquitous. When you look historically, Vietnam has played a role as both the oppressed (through Chinese invasions, as well as those of the French, Japanese and American) and the oppressor given its nation state status having conquered Cham and Khmer lands. You can't help but notice how, in the world, we truly live and function in a complex hierarchical superstructure. Cảm ơn bạn đã chia sẻ câu chuyện của mình!

[@UC241]

I appreciate your insights. Thank you

[@Kathrin_yt]

Thanks for watching!

[@RogueNinetails]

Excellent video! So lucky that it was suggested to me just as I've been thinking more about language in my research work. I'm very curious how to open up this way of thinking in education spaces, as both an educator and education researcher. I work at a university in the US, and for the past few years I've helped teach a class for pre-service elementary school teachers on how to teach science. The main professor has a project trying to integrate Indigenous ways of knowing into science and climate education, so it's something she talks about in the class. We specifically use Braiding Sweetgrass by Kimmerer. The students, who are mostly white, middle class, cishet women, rarely fully get it because they won't open themselves up to it at all. It's not that they're incapable of understanding, but they seemingly refuse to even entertain the ideas. I read a lot of homework submissions about Kimmerer's writing that say something like "that's an interesting idea, but it seems unnecessary to me because it's a bit ridiculous to say English changes how we think or that it's a language that centers humans and ownership. It's not necessary to treat plants and animals linguistically like people because they're not people." Indigenous perspectives on things like species classification and ecosystem structure also are similarly dismissed out of hand. I would love to hear your (and others') perspectives on how help people expand their epistemic range and think critically about language and perspective, as you and the scholars you feature here have.

[@GaasubaMeskhenet]

When mad at me for not being able to communicate my thoughts and feelings clearly, my ex would demand i make a word up as if that would fix the problem. I'd basically need a whole conlang bro 😭

[@indricotherium4802]

A slightly different angle. I've come to think over the years that English lends itself to being used sloppily, imprecisely and ambiguously. These characteristics then act as a tool for "colonising" us, its own users, by keeping us guessing, shifting the goalposts and generally fomenting a state of impotent confusion, yet making us think that we are achieving forthright clarity and sophisticated nuance.

[@Kathrin_yt]

Super interesting take! Has given me some things to think about!

[@indricotherium4802]

@@Kathrin_yt : I can give an example or two of what I'm getting at, if you _are_ interested.

[@TaliaTurner-d6t]

Great quote selection! Your videos are super well crafted, just found your channel yesterday.

[@Kathrin_yt]

thanks so much!

[@scottdouglass2]

This also applies to political philosophy. When I was in school, time was devoted to learning about liberal institutions and ideas, but very little was devoted to what the underlying assumptions of liberalism are, and how that impacts it's ideology. Liberalism was assumed. Liberty was trotted out as the selling point for the whole thing without examining how liberalism's other commitments affect the definition of liberty used. Some time was devoted to socialism and communism, but largely in the context of the cold war from a liberal perspective. Anarchy was even more demonized than communism. At least with communism they were willing to admit that there was an intellectual tradition that it was based on, even if they straw manned it and weren't willing to engage with it in any meaningful way. Anarchism wasn't acknowledged at all. If the only words we have for an alternative to capitalism have been undermined, how can we work towards something better?

[@josephbelisle5792]

Well said. How we can work for something better is to understand socialism. We are socialists. Everyone. Since the first humans worked together to make life more secure, in whatever way, socialism was born. Governments, military, police, fire, DPW, etc... are all socialism. Everything we have that makes the world function with any security and safety is socialism. The problem is the oligarchs and fascists don't want people to understand that. To the point most people are averse to understanding it. We live in a socialist world with a capitalist infection that is killing us. People just need to understand this dynamic. But as it cuts into the wealth of the most sick among us, they have used their influence to poison minds as they poison our bodies and our biosphere. It's really not that complicated yet incredibly difficult to get closed minds to understand this.

[@Kathrin_yt]

such great points!!

[@leticia_oliveira42]

i really liked the video, it's the first time i see your channel, and awareness on the linguistic aspect of colonialism is something we deeply need. though im not a linguist, i do wish you had detailed the discussion on the Sapir-Worf hypothesis further, at least by mentioning that many of the arguments used in favor of it are heavily contested as having been made in a place of exaggeration of the "exoticness" of indigenous cultures (for instance, by claiming that just because an indigenous language does not express an idea in any way an european would, it must not exist in that culture's language and/or reality. Hopi time is the most famous example of this), and that the most literal interpretations of the hypothesis are not that popular in linguistics.

[@Kathrin_yt]

I think that's a very valid point, sometimes for the sake of concision I leave out things that may have enhanced the overall argument, it's always a delicate balance that I find hard to navigate between concision and enough context/information to make the points as best I can

[@leticia_oliveira42]

@@Kathrin_yt fair enough. again, i really liked the video, keep it up!

[@pairadeau]

the legendary warrior strikes again. you know how good you are so i'll just say thank you.

[@Kathrin_yt]

Thank you so much 😊

[@samaval9920]

Long live comrade Kathrin!

[@Kathrin_yt]

❤

[@SuperBari2009]

This is incredible work. Truth. Thank you.

[@Kathrin_yt]

Thanks for listening

[@heirapparent8217]

Bless ya. Keep it up!

[@Kathrin_yt]

Thank you!

[@goblinelemental]

I was just wondering when we'd see another Kathrin vid!! A banger. I remember learning about the sapir-whorf hypothesis in college and having my mind blown, and further still when studying quantum physics and realizing we're all chemical reactions and the movement of particles, nothing solid and fixed; thank you for bringing these ideas to more people.

[@Kathrin_yt]

thank you!! 🥰

[@fra604]

Did you learn it in class?

[@raffacasting]

Remembering that Columbus Renamed all places he Conquest with European names. Not different than changing the Gulf of México name.

[@Kathrin_yt]

💯

[@josephbelisle5792]

Well said. Trump, MAGA, conservatism is all just perpetuating colonialism.

[@KenCunkle]

Thanks much for a really interesting and thought-provoking video essay. I would note, howeverk that while English and European languages might in some sense be "imperialistic," at the same time a mastery of them allows us to understand/interpret the world in some extremely useful ways. Granted, thinking in such languages may indeed alienate us from other and in some ways "better" relationships to the world. But besides learning other languages, there's a different way in whcih we can slip from our linguistic straitjacket: it's called "poetry."

[@Kathrin_yt]

oh yes i so agree about poetry as a way of slipping out of some of the problems with linguistics!

Psychology of Philosophy + Psychology of Consciousness. The evolutionary experience of Human Consciousness+ evolutionary psychology. Remember the Mind talks but the body knows. Mind is in Past Present Future or all at once. The body no choice but the Present where all change happens. Physiology is just as important as a healthg body for a sound mind.

[@frederickthorne2496]

thank you

[@Authentistic-ism]

this instantly made me think of "She unnames them" by Ursula K. Le Guin

[@Kathrin_yt]

ooh I love Ursula but hadn't heard of this, I will definitely check it out!

[@saithrenslot]

The timing of this video is really helpful for me. I have been exploring how English seems designed to sever the causal nature of reality/interrupt the interconnectivity of the world. As an example, I see "blame" as one such word in which its use seems to absolves us from the intellectual responsibility of seeing things as related to a greater context. It's as if the word permits us to understand something as arising from nothing. "You are to blame!' Which so often seems to be the end of understanding... Anyways, it is nice to hear others explore language as a tool which shapes our ability to perceive reality as the endeavor can feel very isolating. Thank you very much.

[@Kathrin_yt]

@@saithrenslot that’s so interesting, o hadn’t thought about that in relation to the word blame!! Thanks for sharing!

[@saithrenslot]

​@@Kathrin_yt Because you replied; shame is another word that I have been exploring. I have been trying to understand how people see "shame". It seems the word often acts like a prison in which people hold themselves. Some people who have been abused often feel shame and the way we collectively understand this word seems to keep people imprisoned in this wounded state without the communal healing that seems so necessary to return a person to wholeness again. Does shame ever really belong to just one person? Don't we all share in that responsibility? Those of us who can?

[@chelseashurmantine8153]

This was a great video that I’ve been thinking about since I watched it yesterday.

[@Kathrin_yt]

So glad to hear it!

[@EayuProuxm]

First Kathrin upload of 2025! Excited!

[@Kathrin_yt]

Hope you like it!

[@Husgum]

Oh boy, what a great video, thank you for that one! I love playing with words, especially making puns, but they rarely work translated. They use the letters and how they sound in conjunction, just chains of alphabetical building blocks given meaning, but totally different in different languages. A lot don't even use the same symbols. I think that also shapes how humor is different all over the globe. Another thing I often observe is that I have difficulty expressing my ideas that are very clear in my head. It doesn't matter how much I explain them, others misinterpret a lot and I always feel dumb afterwards (I heard a lot of fellow ADHD folks have the same issue). One of my biggest problems with German (Another Austrian, servus!) is that my non-binary sibling has so many unnecessary hurdles expressing themself. We don't have genderneutral pronouns like they/them, that's why some people of the german community use the pronoun xier, which I think is cool, but practically noone knows or uses it. All our english friends had no real troubles switching to they/them, but learning a totally new word is hard (no hate on people who don't get it right the first few times, the lack of a preexisting word is the problem). There isn't even really a german word for sibling, only the gendered variants. Technically "Geschwister" is correct, but that is also the plural form and again, noone uses it. (If anything I wrote is incorrect or sounds rude to people who experience this, was not on purpose, I am still learning.) Other than that, I always had trouble learning other languages (except english, since it is everywhere). Even after four years of Italian in school and having a 1000+ day streak on Duolingo (I know, not a very effective method), I just didn't feel like really knowing the language. I didn't even learn Finnish, even though it is my mother's tongue and she tried teaching us as children. Then, a few years ago a friend of mine took me to Serbia and I really enjoyed learning a bit of the language there. And after announcing last year that I want to learn Serbian after I finish my studies, people just asked me why I don't learn a useful language? So I can't do it for fun, it is only a good thing as another tool? I have no idea what I am going to do with it, I just know I want to do it. I always feel like the person I understand the most is my cat, no language barrier there. And yeah, she is definitely not an "it". Okay, enough of that, hopefully my ramblings made sense. Whoever is reading this, have an amazing day, love to you all!

[@Kathrin_yt]

thank you for sharing your experience, it's super interesting to hear the experience of another Austrian!! And yes the gendered language is a real struggle! I so relate to feeling like the communication/understanding with animals, and in my case with trees too, is far easier than with humans a lot of the time! How sad our over-reliance on language can cut us off from these other ways of knowing!

[@Husgum]

@@Kathrin_yt In my experience communicating with nature always relies on feelings and they transcend written or spoken language. But accidentally use one wrong word (that maybe even has another meaning for you personally) and people can hate you for it. Weird world we live in.

[@Kathrin_yt]

@@Husgum maybe we fixate so much on people's words because we've forgotten how to trust our non-verbal perceptions of the world

[@Husgum]

@@Kathrin_yt Definitely, and I think we are taught to be like that as a byproduct of a world that goes faster every day. Language is used more as a tool and less for expression. Less and less people take the time to cultivate their forms of perception and that makes them duller to non-verbal communication. Words have clear meanings in their own head though, so that's what they jump on. Putting a frame of their own making on another person's picture without realising how much of the original they cut off with it. That's why I usually love artsy people more. I hope that makes sense.

[@johnwalsh9839]

Really cool video. This subject is a niche corner in everyday discourse, but the closer you get, the more it shows itself to be a hole, a door into something else

[@Kathrin_yt]

Thank you ❤

[@aymanhasan-2991]

الحمد لله اتكلم لغة اجدادي المصريين ❤

[@charleswilkie2097]

From Aotearoa. Hey Kathrin - that's very cool. Let's call them posh pommie accents - wot certain Brits round these parts use to express their superiority. Painful. Lost in status and language. Now the trees where I live are way more fun. Don't bung on accents or use big words. Don't need to pretend or big note themselves. Just happy transpiring away.

[@aspidoscelis]

Regarding your voice-the first thing I noticed, not having heard you before that I can recall, was that your voice is very soft and breathy-enough to stick out as unusual, a kind of voice I don't hear very often. I didn't even catch the Britishness until you mentioned it, to me your voice is not very localizable beyond the general "probably from a mostly-white, English-speaking country" level. Since you mention that your voice is feminine, as a trans woman my immediate response is... well... some us train hard for that! Having a feminine voice is a disadvantage if you want to be perceived as having traits associated with masculinity-including authority-but those traits aren't inherently desirable.

[@Kathrin_yt]

yes that's a great point, to have a feminine voice is a privilege for sure in some contexts! And I think maybe because of having been born and raised in Austria the first years and not living in England for the part decade may have made me lose some of my accent unknowingly :)

[@70_Sense]

First I want to say that I am sorry about what happened to you, and it is good to know that your abuser was held accountable for his actions. English is a language that lacks nuance when compared to other languages, both ancient and modern. For example, in Greek there are four words that translate into the word "love" in English. The English translation looses all shades of meaning in the original language. And for a prime example of using language as a tool of oppression, look at what happened to indigenous children who were forced to go to boarding schools in order for them to assimilate into the dominant culture. What were the first things to be prohibited, speaking their native languages, and using their native names, which have meaning as well. I'm a first time viewer, and a new subscriber 👍

[@Kathrin_yt]

yes a great point about lacking nuance! thank you for watching and subscribing!

[@xtieburn]

I think Babel by R. F. Kuang may be of interest to people who like this video.

[@SuperBari2009]

Exactly. I think you have a beautiful cadence and incredible depth of knowledge and verbiage. The flow of words has a sweetly spoken word feel. Yet it is the content of your speech that has caught my heart. Powerful truths.

[@Kathrin_yt]

Wow thanks so much ❤

[@Israelpwn]

First of all, just sorry for what you've gone through in regards to SA and everything related to it. Secondly, I'd like to share a short story of language revival success despite oppression: The Hebrew language, despite it being functionally dead outside of the context of prayer for 2 millenia On that note, there's a word that I don't think can be replicated in English. Leonard Cohen's last song "You like it darker" uses it, and I'm copying one of the comments from there: " Hineini (biblical Hebrew for “here I am”), it is more than just a word. It is a Jewish concept that has been discussed and debated for thousands of years. While in modern Hebrew, most would say “ani poh” to say “I'm here,” hineini carries a deeper connotation of physical, mental, and emotional presence. Here i am my lord. I am ready to step on the other side. "

[@darkestlight660]

To me, no doubt based in my experiences with the church, spirtuality is a language of abuse. Spirtiuality refers to non tangible, purposely vague and abstract notions to distract from material reality. So its kinda hard to move past that for videos like these. Because, in a sense, i DO think humans are more important than the things that surround. If there was only the chance to save one, people or nature, i think i woild choose people every time. On the other hand, i agree with you and these thinkers- that putting it as a dichotomy is, in and of itselr, manipulative. Without nature there are no people. I guess theres a dilaectial lesson to learn there, but im not quite sure what to do about it. Thank you for reminding me of this conflict, its another thing that, regardless of where i land, i must be aware of

[@Kathrin_yt]

Church/spiritual trauma is very real and unfortunately common, but thank you for being open to hearing other perspectives, in my view there's absolutely ways in which spirituality can be used in liberatory and beautiful ways, though I totally think it's totally valid to decide it's not for you

[@darkestlight660]

​@@Kathrin_yt you channel has been a really awesome resource for me, finding someone who uses spirituality like you do, even if I don't use it- I'm definitely able to stomach a lot more of it than I used to be. Thank you

[@ZhTra]

Another amazing video! Living in the UK and speaking English as a second language, at some point I realised that my English is not going to be perfect and I’m allowed to make mistakes, even to create my own words 😅 and it’s ok 😊

[@Kathrin_yt]

thank you!! I've come to a similar realisation with my Spanish too, my favourite thing is just to make sentences with a mix of Spanish and English starting in one and ending in the other, language as play is so great!

[@ZhTra]

@@Kathrin_ytI think for me it was the result of a longer process of my own decolonisation. But it’s so true that the language in the UK is a very class related characteristic. My partner might correct my English with a remark that only working class people ate making such mistakes.

[@keirapendragon5486]

I've wanted to make a language that had ingredients and structures that empower both precision and extreme almost systemic creativity - not as a replacement for other languages, but as kind of a laboratory of ideas. Too big of an idea for just one person, even if it made sense, but it's still something I'm still poking at as an 'art project' 😅

[@Kathrin_yt]

What an incredible project idea ❤

[@REMHOLDINGS]

That was brilliant 👏 illuminating. It's a pleasure to meet you I adore a brilliant mind and your gentle soul authentic self. You know I had to subscribe. Devine Wisdom you have it. REM HOLDINGS CC33 SIGMA RENOVATION ANNO 970.

[@Kathrin_yt]

thank you!

[@samaval9920]

1) What a philosopher!! 2)Subordinate peoples need to reform or to revolutionize even dominant language. For example, colonized non Europeans & rebellious Europeans in 18th & 20th centuries adapted their own versions of dominant W Euro origin languages. The subordinate groups developed their own versions of struggle for liberation that those languages did not originally promote. Also, 20th century non Euro movements vs. W Euro empires only succeeded after they learned & reformedW Euro languages & used them as weapons of liberation!, uniting their own multilingual peoples & being able to seek foreign political, economic, religious, & military aid.

[@Kathrin_yt]

oh fascinating how they adapted and reformed Euro languages, thanks for sharing!

[@callusklaus2413]

I feel this deep despair and loss when I think about Irish. Be it that you live on the island or in the diaspora around the world, we are locked out of our history because of English. Imagine if Shakespeare was only accessible via Russian. Imagine if the history of your culture only had two hundred years of memory without being twice translated. I miss something I have never had. I miss the three thousand year old transmission of meaning that I am only all too aware of abruptly stopped with my grandparents. I feel untethered. Groundless.

[@Kathrin_yt]

thank you for sharing your experience! I think that deep despair is something a lot of people can relate to!

[@Jamhael1]

We cannot imagine what we do not know. And without imagination, there is no way to even start to conceptualize. Besides, what would be the point into naming things we don't know? Why would anyone want for tools that an individual will not even use? That is a worry common in Humanity: we worry about tommorows and yesterdays, but always forget that "today" is only LIVED - akin to breathing, you do not notice it, you just DO. And the fact that we are in a time too worried about feeling because thinking demands accountability, is another angle of this debate: no one wants to be the one who raises a mirror of culpability and see one's self reflected in it! So, censorship is not an option, and until we can imagine things that we do not know, we are in a predicament of having an unfit tool for a reality that does not care if we live or die. Maybe it is this demand for others to "know" what "we know" is what keep us separated - we see "doubt" as a "weakness"! Maybe we should stop putting Humans in this position of "great actor" - actors pretend to be what they interpret, but they are not the characters they interpret. They tell a story that we know to be false, filled with wisdom and color, but it is - as Shakespeare says - "a play, made by a fool, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing". Until we accept that 95% of the people die unmourned and unremembered by the books of History, we will still see ourselves as this insufferably arrogant beings that complain that the Universe owes us something for the mere fact that we exist, but lets be real: What is the other alternative for EXISTENCE? Please, stop looking for "purpose", for TOOLS have "purpose". Humans are NOT tools.

[@bluepapaya77]

As an American who is interested in world English accents but can't say he's actually studied them, until you said you had a higher status accent it was unclear to me if your accent was low or high status for England. I suspect I would have known you had a high status accent if we changed you had a more male sounding voice. Interesting.

[@Kathrin_yt]

it's definitely interesting to hear how my accent is perceived!

[@Littlebeth5657]

I think there's also value at looking at the different parts of the English language. Many of the most "crass" words considered swear words are the remnants of anglo saxon and thus were deemed lower class. There's oppression within the language itself

[@Kathrin_yt]

yess great point!

[@G1gaChan]

"Speak like a woman" maam i hate to tell you this but you speak like a steampunk robot from the 18th century, maybe its my american ignorance but most women's speaking voices are nowhere near this soothing. You definitely don't need to improve, i think humanity needs time to adjust. Your voice is so beautifully gracious i think it makes normies jelly or uncomfortable.

[@Kathrin_yt]

Wow thanks so much ❤

[@desu38]

Data but fancy

[@nightwingphd8580]

Thank you for this. Hand over my heart for all conscious spirits and all our deep relationships that we can't even fathom

[@Kathrin_yt]

thank you 😊

[@marksharman8029]

Yes yes yes. This is significant.

[@Kathrin_yt]

thank you!

[@jeremywalsh5177]

This is why I like math. it's limited still, but those limitations don't come from society (at least not from the current regime). Math won't help you capture your experience, but it will create a system of value and truth which is invariant to whatever rules have been made from existing power structures. It's only limitations are A. your assumptions B. your access to memory/compute C. your willingness to work for it Some people interpret Godel's incompleteness theorem as saying that math is always incomplete. You could alternately interpret it as saying, for anything you may want to find out, you can always make up some math to describe it, and find out if it's true or not (given some assumptions). The oppressors can change our language, but they can't change math.

[@user_unsub2553]

I think this idea is easily debunked with a look at science history

[@andrewphilos]

I'm reminded of an essay I read a little while ago: "2+2 doesn't always equal 4. If you take two piles of sand and push them together with two piles of sand, you will have one pile of sand. If you take two apples, put two apples next to them, and come back in a week, you might have four apples, or you might have no apples and a rotten mess. Math only applies to the real world if the real word adheres to particular assumptions."

[@LadyRavenhaire]

Math is a language with strict rules. Ask nearly everyone what 2+2 equals and they will say 4. But in nature 2 raindrops and 2 raindrops may make 1 big raindrop. When I say this to people, most become baffled at first. Why? Because language shapes our viewpoints and perceptions.

[@LadyRavenhaire]

Mathematics is called the universal langauge. Modern mathematics is taugth all iver the globle. Hiwever like all language. It has its strict rules. 2+2=4. Yet in nature 2+2 sometimes equals 1. For example, 2 raindrops plus 2 raindrops can form 5 smaller raindrops or 1 big raindrop. When l tell people this, all look at me baffled for a moment. Its like a whole new view has been open to them that once didn't exist. The fact this concept baffles everyone I've ever mentioned this too shows a modern societal disconnect from the natural world. Very sad. It explains why bees have disappeared from our landscape and most have barely noticed. Like mathematics, language has the same effect. It can limit our understanding of the physical and metaphysical world.

[@ninja8flash742]

Math can handle that it's more precise to say that math is the study of structure, 2+2=4 is only true from a certain set of axioms and you could easily come up with others where it isn't true

[@scottmcmillen3015]

Terrific essay! Thank you for sharing this. It’s fascinating, well researched, insightful, and potentially empowering stuff.

[@Kathrin_yt]

Thank you so much ❤

[@Aidan-e9p]

The languages we have are bloody brilliant for all I can tell!

[@frogtrenchcoat]

even in europe there are languages that are more animist than english. though only 0.35% of estonia's population identifies themselves as believing in our local animist religion* and 58.43% identify as not part of any religion, in speech all animals are "ta" (the same pronoun as is used for all people) and any plant or inanimate object can be referred to with "ta" as well, and it will not come across as strange, (in any given sentence at least. if it's all you ever use some people *might* eventually notice and think you a bit eccentric,) though for those "see" (it) is also normal. which is preferred depends heavily on what exactly you're referring to, the context in which you are doing so, what you're saying, and just which you feel you want to use. i don't know if it's factually accurate that older people use "ta" more generously, or if i just have that impression due to all my grandparents and other older relatives that i see more than once every few years still living in farmhouses and/or actively doing a lot of work with plants in the earth. *though there is apparently a 2010 survey that found that 51% of estonians "consider the native heritage of their ancestors and nature to be holy and follow old folk religious customs when possible" and confirmed the result of a 1994 survey that 65% of estonians believe a tree has a soul. and on a personal note, i don't consider myself to be part of this religion because while i could certainly be in that 51% i am very picky with which customs i actually am interested in following an completely uninclined to follow any sort of orthodoxy. and a lot of the "old customs" described have a distinct christian influence, due to there literally being no pre-crusade writing in existence. and while i do believe there is still merit to these practices and traditions, if they don't appeal to me i will not engage in them. not to mention the fact that the in-group seems, from the outside, to be very cishet. i have yet to actually really try to go to one of their events, but frankly i don't know if i want to, given the known points of contention between me and my impression of them, with the added fact that i don't like to go anywhere, certainly not any predominantly cishet space without a friend, and their seeming non-welcoming of non-estonians greatly limits who i could ask to come with me. and with their definition of someone eligible to be part of the religion also containing the clause that you have to be raised by estonian parents i'm not quite sure how much i qualify either. i mean, i very much technically do, but with the fact that since age 11 most of my meaningful social interaction and emotional learning has happened in english with no real "being raised by parents" happening... i don't think i'd feel much belonging there. not to mention the fact that im not really an animist anyway. i find my general worldview to be very similar, but i don't believe in anything metaphysical. i just feel that since everything having 0 souls and everything having 1 soul both mean that everything has an equal amount of souls, there is not really so great a difference between our beliefs. and since i do feel a lot that can only be described as spiritual and since i feel it in a way that i see reflected in animism, i feel a spiritual closeness to it. and while i've never met an individual animist that found this to be anything less than a fascinating discussion, i'm not particularly inclined to go express it to an organized group that i already have reasons to distrust. i did not mean for my personal note to turn into a lengthy diatribe, in fact i did not plan on it being a part of my comment at all, i hope you don't mind.

[@Kathrin_yt]

fascinating thank you for sharing!

[@bernardheathaway9146]

🙏🏾🙏🏾

[@mcrumph]

I agree, for the most part, with your video. So, do you have an idea that can lead to a solution? Ninety percent of the fiction & all of the the Buddhist & Bon books on meditation I read have been translated. You will often see websites with articles talking about words that cannot be translated into English. I always have to chuckle because the beauty of the English language is that it will steal words outright from other languages. That comes mostly from the fact that English is not controlled by linguists or writers, but by the hoi polloi. We have no Academie Francais to judge what can & should be used. Those grammarians poopooing prepositions at the end of sentences are no longer about. Frankly, I do think we need more words; purportedly, some number of years ago, English hit the million word mark. Despite this, people's vocabulary seems to be diminishing. So it goes. I can remember a number of Wordsworth's poems extolling what it is we can learn if we only listened to nature. But we don't. While your video created a surge of thoughts, ideas & feelings, I will end with this: your accent is fine (I'm a yank), your diction is understandable & pleasant, & your rhetorical style is well balanced. However, I would say that my favorite British dialect is that of the Geordies. I can't really understand it sometimes, but I love the way it sounds. Keep up the good work. I have pressed all the appropriate buttons. All hail the Mighty Algo.

[@abyssaldision8272]

Cool 😎

[@kongspeaks4778]

As a linguist, this was so interesting to watch. I do want to say though that the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis has been contested for decades, with the current consensus being that language does not shape reality but rather influences it. Different linguistic communities may live in different SOCIAL realities, but we all share the same material world. English does not have verb modifiers for the future - but this doesn't mean that English speakers don't understand the concept of the future or take the future seriously. Many indigenous languages may put humans and animals within the same noun classes, so that they are referred to with the same sets of pronouns, for example, but this doesn't necessarily mean that those indigenous people view humans and animals as equal. English speakers can speak poetically about the earth and nature just as the speakers of indigenous languages. Challenging the way we think about the world is important, but it doesn't have to come with a sense that some languages are inherently more wise or anticapitalist than others.

[@LadyRavenhaire]

I beg to disagree. The worldview of most people is narrowed by language and certain languages are less imperialistic than others.

[@carno.5911]

​@@LadyRavenhaire This is purely a opinion now, & a useless one for us here without any exampels for it like op who listed quite a loot of things that back his point.

[@mastersquinch]

y'all should look into the game Dialect.

[@DaveDandelion]

Thank you! 🙏🏻

[@CYI3ERPUNK]

always great to hear from Alan Watts =] Kathrin are you familiar with the Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows? you video immediately reminded me of it ; and 100% agreed that the Logos is a tool to be used and ofc that also implies that it has been against many in the past and continues to be used against many in the present , to be aware is one thing , but it is quite difficult to escape the chains of your mind if/when the only tools that you have been given have all been intentionally compromised ; this also reminded me of vesperance , we are truly living in interesting/dynamic times and ofc there are likely no accidents/coincidences here , much of these linguistic anomalies were/are quite intentionally designed , a sort of internalized propaganda , psychological/sociological sabotage ; George Carlin's critiques on euphemistic language also comes to mind here

[@Kathrin_yt]

ooh I've added it to my reading list thanks! I also hadn't heard of George Carlin so I'll be sure to check him out!

[@TaliaTurner-d6t]

If language is a battleground and I continue to speak my native colonizer language, am I fighting on the wrong side?

[@donHooligan]

use the master's tools against him...that's where i'm at. my big problem is most people beLIEve a bunch of ridiculous stuff.

[@mcrumph]

Yet another comment; since you mentioned accent in your video, I would like to direct you to Dr Geoff Lindsey's video about phonemitization kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y5DanqyYrJKFgpI . (Specifically American English.) You mentioned a number of times how pronunciation can affect one's interaction, comprehension, & understanding of other speakers of the English language. I think that Lindsey's video (as well as all of his videos) could help you expand your argument. Would that make it more palatable to utube viewers? I doubt it. Regardless, I thought this might interest you, so I'm passing it along.

[@Kathrin_yt]

thanks for sharing, I'll check them out!

[@johnkintree763]

The liberator's language is building an open source global platform for digital democracy so we can vote for principles and policies instead of personalities and political parties, and ratify the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Earth Charter.

[@dannyd4339]

this is why people say to repeal the 19th

[@andrewphilos]

...Do you mean "because smart women scare them," or "because women shouldn't have visible power?" In other words, do you... agree with these so-called "people?"

[@dannyd4339]

@andrewphilos you are such an "ally" and they still don't want you

[@desu38]

@@dannyd4339 "surely you should only care about others if you expect to get something out of it" completely unhinged. barely even human

[@digitalclown2008]

I am 6 minutes into the video and you continue to throw questions at the wall which desperately attempt to paint a picture of a language constructed with conscious malicious intent. Yet, you have not given a single example of this. The closest you get, is trying to spin the cultural taboo of speaking up about sexual assault as a failure in our language. Magic words that mean just what you want them to wont fix patriarchal power dynamics. Culture, and more specifically our perception of it will fix that dynamic (allowing women to speak their experiences without giving an uncomfortable, demeaning or pornographic connotation.) I am now 8 minutes in, and am absolutely baffled by the strangeness of the point you are trying to make. You have used a GERMAN word as an example for a "more accurate" descriptor of an idea. Not only is this entirely subjective based on cultural understanding, but you are clearly conflating convenience for conciseness. "Blurry" is perfectly understandable in many contexts. You do not NEED single words to communicate a concise point/idea when multiple words work just as well. The convenience of having a word carry connotation you needed to make a point isnt indicative of a "superior word" or "more accurate meaning". I am 13 minutes in, and this hypothesis (which was posed not by an anthropologist, not by a scientist, but by a linguist ofc) seems to be a more convoluted version of the "what if the green you see isnt the same green I see?" conundrum. Some strange catch 22 where we process the world through a cultural perspective, and through this perspective we learn languages and make additional associations (Languages including our own. We learn culture before language.) I am 16 minutes in, and find the concept of "possessing a language" to be quite hilarious. Its not possible. Parameters for a language, and the definitions of words can be set. But these are still subject to the interpretation and usage of the individual. There is a kind of "control" that is implied here, that is more of a conspiracy than anything. The very expression of many of the ideas in this video, Baldwin, Watts etc are examples of this (though Baldwin would never admit this, as antagonizing eurocentricity was his brand. But english served him quite well, and was the specific language he needed to help the specific group of people he was speaking to.) At 18 minutes, you give us the idea of linguistic capital. This does not exist. This is important for you to understand, as you are using it to explain your own privilege. Your linguistic capital did not grant you those privileges. Your words and voice did not grant them. Who you are, is what granted them. Your identity. 21 minutes in. Oh stop. Please. Code switching to speak to men? By not using the word "like"? Littering your language with interjections is not the language of woman. Its the language of people who have bad speaking habits. 25:14 neurospicy! Mm. Born in the wrong dimension! Mm. 28:03 Im starting to get upset with how many different ways you keep convoluting convenience for conciseness. No, not everything is an it when its not human in English. Thats not a limitation of our language. Its simply a cultural perspective. One which can easily be side stepped with the SIMPLEST of thinking and writing. 31:24 Ah yes. Classic "white lady finding some way to spin the appropriation of indigenous cultures as a good thing". Ive made it to the end. Im disappointed. You failed to give any examples whatsoever of the English language being structured in a conscious way to subjugate and oppress minority groups. Im sure there really are a few examples as well, which is what really shocks me. You conflated taboo for failure of a language. You conflated convenience for conciseness. You conflated language, for culture. This is my ultimate take away: You have fallen into a hyper romantic way of perceiving the literal written word and seem to be leaning towards this idea of appropriating other cultural practices and perspectives to amend what you see as a failure in language. This screams liberal arts assignment. The desperate notion that English is this horrifying cage placed around minorities preventing them from being their true selves is a complete fallacy. Its a lie that distracts from more tangible social issues. You don't code switch. You weren't born in the wrong dimension. YOU arent trapped in "the mans" language. Youve stranded yourself by climbing to the logical top of the self victimization ladder and must find a way down to move forward.

[@fylhuic1853]

ok, i have to ask this : i see you commending books like braiding sweetgrass, a book about the indiginous experience, in a way, a book about religious approachment, you talk about activism, about environment...and in the language of the western oppressor, i have to ask : why do you not speak out for the Palestinians?

[@Kathrin_yt]

I absolutely support Palestinian's and firmly stand against their genocide, I co-write the PLN's, a channel in which we've talked a lot more about the Pro-liberation struggles, and have been doing in-real-life activism around this. I just rarely ever post on social media twitter/insta etc and this channel isn't a current events type channel, though I think you're right perhaps I could/should be doing more to be vocal around what's going on!

[@fylhuic1853]

@@Kathrin_yt PLN? is that name of the channel, cos i can't find it back, and i'm always delighted to hear another voice on that subject. Also, if you're already doing that, kudo's on you. And thanks for the friendly reply, i was kinda scared to get a not-so-friendly-reply :p

[@Kathrin_yt]

Oh sorry I'm so used to just saying PLN, it's called Positive Leftist News @positiveleftistnews! And thank you for your understanding and friendly reply too, I think your question was totally valid!

[@connerblank5069]

Absolutely not the place I expected to hear Rosenkreutz today. Kind of crazy there's enough overlap there!

[@melancholya9043]

I wonder why people are ready to see oppression, colonialism, and lingoucide talking about the relation between so called white Europeans and people of colour, but completely ignore the same tendencies if two groups look more alike. And the nation could even be easily accused in nazism or fascism for laws in support of their mothertongue.

[@psikeyhackr6914]

Language does Not Shape REALITY! REALITY is Not in your head! Your PARADIGM of Reality can be affected by Symbols received from other people, directly or indirectly. Reading a book can affect your paradigm of reality. Everyone must keep in mind that REALITY and the Paradigm in their Mind are two different things. Of course this means that Your Paradigm and anyone else's Paradigm will be somewhat different.

[@finnb-anarchy]

Did you watch the video?

[@Celinealienboo]

2:31 2:43 3:08

[@Celinealienboo]

20:11

[@Celinealienboo]

20:49

[@Celinealienboo]

26:33

[@Celinealienboo]

28:51

[@Celinealienboo]

29:36

[@jimdotcom1972]

i thought this was very thought provoking but also verged on orientalism and comes across a bit self loathing.

[@DarkWoodsPresents]

This is full of shit.

[@desu38]

Okay, but don't let me catch you talking about "Newspeak" then