Judaism
The words that define us as a people
In an extract from his new book, Rabbi Mendel Kalmenson shows how language shapes our thinking
June 1, 2023 15:38
In an extract from his new book, Rabbi Mendel Kalmenson shows how language shapes our thinking
June 1, 2023 15:38British author Adam Jacot de Boinod spent five years researching more than 700 dictionaries from different languages, culminating in a book titled The Meaning of Tingo and Other Extraordinary Words from Around the World.
His findings suggest that a nation’s dictionary says more about its culture than does its guidebook. Indeed, you can tell a lot about a people by analysing the prevalence and prominence of certain words in their language.
For example, Hawaiians have 65 words to describe fishing nets, 108 words for sweet potato, 42 for sugarcane and 47 for bananas, all staples of a Hawaiian diet.
Notably, in the same way that Inuits have many words to describe the subtle differences between different types of snow, the Talmud employs a wide range of words to describe different categories of inquiry, reflecting the centrality of asking questions in Jewish culture and tradition.
Which brings us to a question debated over millennia: does the language we use merely express our worldview and values, or does it shape them?
Do the words we use merely convey our thoughts and emotions, or do they influence the way we think and feel?
As a growing body of research suggests, language does more than communicate our perception of reality, it creates it.
Indeed, according to Professor Lera Boroditzky, a cognitive scientist who specialises in the fields of language and cognition: “It turns out that if you change how people talk, that changes how they think.
“If people learn another language, they inadvertently also learn a new way of looking at the world.”
In the words of Charlemagne: “To have a second language is to have a second soul.”
Boroditzky offers numerous examples to showcase just how vital a role language plays in shaping the way we interface with the world around us.
For instance, in Pormpuraaw, a remote Aboriginal community in Australia, there are no words for “left” or “right.”
Instead, indigenous Australians speak only in terms of cardinal directions (north, south, east, west).
If one wants to tell a friend that they have an ant on their pants, one would say something like, “There’s an ant on your South West leg.”
“Hello” in Pormpuraaw translates more accurately as, “Which direction are you going?”
If you don’t know which way is which, you may find yourself stuck, both conversationally and physically.
Ultimately, the patterns and words used in each language not only offer a window into a culture’s sensibilities and priorities, they help shape them as well.
Hence the title of a book I recently co-authored, People of the Word: Fifty Words that Shaped Jewish Thinking, which provides insight into 50 key Hebrew words and the big ideas embedded in their etymology that have helped shape Jewish thought and values, and, in many instances, have led to measurable real-world impact.
