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Being multilingual alters your experience of time (2018)

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Re: Being multilingual alters your experience of time (2018)

#11

Post by alpaca128 »

godelski wrote: post #9

I haven't read the paper but I did read the article. I imagine this is a case of reporter not understanding the research. This is clearly about linguistic relativism. There's a clear difference between how languages like Mandarin and English talk about time but the difference within indoeuropean languages is much smaller. I buy into Mandarin vs English shifting how one thinks about time (this isn't a new concept) but…

But the article was written by the researchers, at least that's indicated by the first paragraph: "My new study – which I worked on with linguist Emanuel Bylund"

Re: Being multilingual alters your experience of time (2018)

#12

Post by [deleted] »

whatshisface wrote: post #6
wodenokoto wrote: post #3

> For example, in Swedish, the word for future is framtid which literally means “front time”. It's the same in Danish, but if you have a meeting at 1pm and you want to change it to 2pm (moving it further in to the future, or further "front time", forward in time) you are moving the meeting back. Introductions to linguistics are littered with poorly translated examples and misunderstood grammar points from languages t…

I have heard that in far-off America where they speak a language called English, time is seen not as a straight line but as a round circle, because of phrases like "I've got your six" which refer to a circular clock. Truly, the words used in random phrases are the clearest window into the alien mind.

[deleted]

Re: Being multilingual alters your experience of time (2018)

#13

Post by nsomaru »

whatshisface wrote: post #6
wodenokoto wrote: post #3

> For example, in Swedish, the word for future is framtid which literally means “front time”. It's the same in Danish, but if you have a meeting at 1pm and you want to change it to 2pm (moving it further in to the future, or further "front time", forward in time) you are moving the meeting back. Introductions to linguistics are littered with poorly translated examples and misunderstood grammar points from languages t…

I have heard that in far-off America where they speak a language called English, time is seen not as a straight line but as a round circle, because of phrases like "I've got your six" which refer to a circular clock. Truly, the words used in random phrases are the clearest window into the alien mind.

I thought this was a way of indicating direction when you know the orientation of the person you are talking to?

Not sure if it has much to do with time per se.

Re: Being multilingual alters your experience of time (2018)

#14

Post by mrob »

nsomaru wrote: post #13
whatshisface wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have heard that in far-off America where they speak a language called English, time is seen not as a straight line but as a round circle, because of phrases like "I've got your six" which refer to a circular clock. Truly, the words used in random phrases are the clearest window into the alien mind.

I thought this was a way of indicating direction when you know the orientation of the person you are talking to? Not sure if it has much to do with time per se.

I believe whatshisface sarcastically gave an absurd example to criticize the article.

Re: Being multilingual alters your experience of time (2018)

#15

Post by goto11 »

wodenokoto wrote: post #3

> For example, in Swedish, the word for future is framtid which literally means “front time”. It's the same in Danish, but if you have a meeting at 1pm and you want to change it to 2pm (moving it further in to the future, or further "front time", forward in time) you are moving the meeting back. Introductions to linguistics are littered with poorly translated examples and misunderstood grammar points from languages t…

In English the term "before" literally means "in front of". So if you say "the time before today" you are (according to the same logic) actually referring to the past being in front of the present.

I'm also a bit skeptical of the conclusions drawn from these turns of phases. It seems a single language can have multiple inconsistent spatial metaphors in play at the same time. So I think it is a bit overblown to say a language "wires the brain" to think of time in a particular way.

Re: Being multilingual alters your experience of time (2018)

#17

Post by trilila »

loopbit wrote: post #8
trilila wrote: post #2

I am multilingual and i can confirm this is not accurate.

I'm also multilingual and can confirm that at least some aspects of the languages mentioned that I know, are accurate. For a few years I was also a language teacher and this article explains one of the things students have problems understanding.

Indeed, but it’s not because they “experience time” differently, it’s because they express time differently.

Re: Being multilingual alters your experience of time (2018)

#18

Post by ummm32 »

whatshisface wrote: post #6
wodenokoto wrote: post #3

> For example, in Swedish, the word for future is framtid which literally means “front time”. It's the same in Danish, but if you have a meeting at 1pm and you want to change it to 2pm (moving it further in to the future, or further "front time", forward in time) you are moving the meeting back. Introductions to linguistics are littered with poorly translated examples and misunderstood grammar points from languages t…

I have heard that in far-off America where they speak a language called English, time is seen not as a straight line but as a round circle, because of phrases like "I've got your six" which refer to a circular clock. Truly, the words used in random phrases are the clearest window into the alien mind.

I can confirm that from point of a spanish spoken viewer here in LATAM. We have had our share of time - decades - of a military fully controlled society, so now living in democracy many expressions or even words/verbs had subtlety changed their usual mean (as it appear in the dictionary), to something else.

I.E. the verb "to order", in spanish it is used more frequently to express the action to put things in their intended configuration ("to order the kitchen"). But in our formerly military controlled LATAM societies there's an extra meaning:

"to establish and enforce/assert a NEW set of rules"

So we use "to order" as a non-official synonym of those verbs (enforce/assert) plus the notion of NEW rules:

"Something different that what we were doing till now it is going to be implemented somehow".

Re: Being multilingual alters your experience of time (2018)

#19

Post by hrktb »

goto11 wrote: post #15
wodenokoto wrote: post #3

> For example, in Swedish, the word for future is framtid which literally means “front time”. It's the same in Danish, but if you have a meeting at 1pm and you want to change it to 2pm (moving it further in to the future, or further "front time", forward in time) you are moving the meeting back. Introductions to linguistics are littered with poorly translated examples and misunderstood grammar points from languages t…

In English the term "before" literally means "in front of". So if you say "the time before today" you are (according to the same logic) actually referring to the past being in front of the present. I'm also a bit skeptical of the conclusions drawn from these turns of phases. It seems a single language can have multiple inconsistent spatial metaphors in play at the same time. So I think it is a bit overblown to say a…

Conclusions are overblown(I guess it wouldn’t get wide appeal otherwise ?), but there is a kernel of truth in that the language at least introduces you to some visions of time you might not have.

From there, not every speaker uses every aspect of any language, people pick and choose the metaphors that makes sense for them, or create and share new ones wholepiece.

It reminds me of how tv broadcast handles late night time, and exposed me as a kid to lenient dates. It actualy had a long lasting impact I think.

Re: Being multilingual alters your experience of time (2018)

#20

Post by Kapura »

trilila wrote: post #17
loopbit wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm also multilingual and can confirm that at least some aspects of the languages mentioned that I know, are accurate. For a few years I was also a language teacher and this article explains one of the things students have problems understanding.

Indeed, but it’s not because they “experience time” differently, it’s because they express time differently.

Is it possible to know how another person experiences time? Or anything, for that matter?
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