Languages and Diverse Perspectives of The World

1. Languages and Diverse Perspectives of The World Isyana Adriani, BA, M.Si

2. Two questions pertaining to languages • Does a language influence the way its speakers see the world? • Does a language influence the way its speakers think?

3. Example I KuukThaayorre, an Aboriginal language in Australia spoken by the Pormpuraaw community, uses cardinal direction terms (e.g. west, north, etc. instead of left, right, etc.) The Pormpuraaw people have a better ability to keep track in unfamiliar environments than English-speaking people.

4. Example II Mandarin speakers refer to time vertically (e.g. this month is “the down month” and last month was an “up month”), while English speakers refer to time horizontally (e.g. the best is ahead of us, the worst is behind us.)

5. Example III When speakers of Spanish and German were asked to described the word “key” (feminine in Spanish and masculine in German), German speakers described it as “hard”, “heavy” and “metal.” The Spanish speakers, on the other hand, described it as “shiny”, “lovely” and “little.”

6. Something to think about Indonesian English No English match. ‘Privacy’ The word ‘I’ should be in capital. • ‘Gengsi’, ‘gotongroyong. • No Indonesian match. • ‘Saya’, ‘daku’ and ‘aku’ are usually in lowercase.

7. Discussion How do you think Indonesians perceive the world through Bahasa Indonesia?