Linguistic Relativity: Evidence Across Languages and Cognitive Domains

by Caleb Everett

This book introduces the reader to the current findings on linguistic relativity, and in so doing helps to answer one of the most vexing questions in the cognitive and social Does the language you speak affect how you think?

Genres: Linguistics, Nonfiction, Philosophy

306 pages, Hardcover

First published September 15, 2013

Reviews

[Nuno · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not an academic in the linguistics or cognition field. I read about the interesting notion that the language you speak may affect how you think in non-linguistic ways. I chose this book on the subject instead of other alternatives because it seemed to me it could offer more insight despite its smaller popular science appeal.
The book is not an easy read, it is basically a review by the author on the state of the art on linguistic relativity, complete with descriptions of experiments, statistical significance references, control groups and so forth. It offers a lot in return for one's time and perseverance. It's fascinating to discover the differences in colour identification, perception of time and space, the ability to identify quantities, etc., on groups speaking different languages. Even though Everett is careful in not flatly attributing those differences to language alone, it does leave a lot to wonder about the diversity and complexities of human thought.