Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id PAA17754 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Thu, 21 Feb 2002 15:41:15 GMT X-Originating-IP: [199.183.183.3] From: "Grant Callaghan" <grantc4@hotmail.com> To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Subject: Re: Debate opens anew on language and its effect on cognition Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2002 07:35:47 -0800 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed Message-ID: <LAW2-F101B4ltFlmmlQ0000787d@hotmail.com> X-OriginalArrivalTime: 21 Feb 2002 15:35:47.0984 (UTC) FILETIME=[6F443100:01C1BAED] Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
>(5) Any group of people working in a particular field or sharing a
>certain set of circumstances will develop a specialized vocabulary for
>describing their everyday experiences, and no doubt this tells us
>something about the shared mental constructs by which they comprehend
>the world. But you know what (and here I concur with Geoffrey Pullum)?
>
I think this states the case best. Every society develops as many words as
they need to talk about the environment in which they live. The shared
vocabulary is in constant flux and words come and go as the activities of
the group demand. The eskimos in north alaska now have a large number of
words about oil and oil drilling in their vocabulary. They are also
familiar with ecology now and global warming. Television and radio reach
every part of the earth these days and every language has a method of
adopting words from other languages. The whole of English was created in
this way. Language of origin is a standard notation in all English
dictionaries that I use. There's hardly an entry without one.
Grant
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