Language and stuff

[Adam]

Blackbird posted related to the late Alexei Kondratiev and his assertion that to understand any culture you must first understand the languages and the worldview revealed by them... I thought in the light of that statement that some folk may find this article interesting

www.newscientist.com/article/mg20627621.000-language-lessons-you-are-what-you-speak.html

[potia]

Fascinating stuff

[Adam]

It makes total sense to me that in order to understand, for example, the significance of relationships within a culture, you have to understand not only the words for those relationships, but the way in which they are used in day to day linguistic commerce... I thought the triangular kin terms of the Indigenous Australian language, Bininj Gun-wok, fascinating. Not only do they apparently have many such, but the terms are only learned and used from the twenties onwards. Kin terms I have always felt to be important "ins" to a culture... but I'm rubbish at languages... so have to rely on translation which is a poor reflection