Through the Language Glass

June 28, 2010
This fascinating pop-linguistics study contends that how we talk influences how we think about the world, from the way we give directions to the colors poets see. Drawing on everything from classics to anthropology and brain scans, linguist Deutscher (The Unfolding of Language) abjures the crude notion that language makes Italians frivolous or gives Hopis a mystical disregard for time. Rather, he insists that linguistic conventions subtly alter basic perceptions. The examples he highlights are delightful and thought-provoking: speakers of languages, such as French and German, in which inanimate objects have gender actually associate gendered qualities with objects; speakers of the Australian Guugu Yimithirr language denote spatial relationships by cardinal points—"‘look out for that big ant just north of your foot'"—and therefore develop an internal compass that puts a GPS to shame. The author upsets a few linguistics apple carts, challenging both Noam Chomsky's theory of an innate human grammar and Steven Pinker's view of language as a cognitively neutral system for representing the environment. Deutscher's erudite yet entertaining arguments (and cunning illustrations) usually stick; they make for a fascinating exploration of culture's ability to shape the mind. Photos.

June 1, 2010

The author of The Unfolding of Language (2005) returns to address questions about how our languages shape our perceptions and ideas.

Deutscher enjoys himself in this romp through research and theory. Although Hebrew is his native language, he uses English artfully—and playfully—to make points, provide examples and slay sacred cattle, nowhere more entertainingly than in his systematic dispelling of the airy theories of American linguist Benjamin Whorf, who argued (but could not prove) that languages prevent their speakers from having certain thoughts. Deutscher begins by showing that the nature-vs.-nurture argument, though it has long raged in his discipline, is a straw dog—the reality is that nature and nurture shape language. To illustrate, he examines three major concepts: color (why are Homer's color descriptions so odd?), orientation (some languages identify locations that are egocentric, others geocentric, others both) and gender (some languages employ gender heavily, others little or not at all). The author swiftly summarizes the theory and research in each area, then shows that for each, current thinking seems to have settled on a fundamental principle: "culture enjoys freedom within restraints." He does not accept the notion of "universal grammar" fiercely advanced by Noam Chomsky, nor does he believe that culture determines all. He also takes Steven Pinker to task, declaring that his "facts are hardly quibbleable with [but] his environmental determinism is unconvincing." Of great interest is Deutscher's explanation of Guugu Yimithirr, the language of the Australian aboriginal tribe that contributed kangaroo to English. Guugu Yimithirr is completely geocentric in its orientation, meaning that speakers offer even the simplest of directions with compass references, not with personal ones—i.e., the chair is not on your left; it is in the northwest corner of the room. Deutscher also writes about how all languages are manifestly not equally complex, about what sorts of information a language compels its speakers to communicate (verb tenses in English) and about how gendered nouns can supply poets with richer metaphors.

Entertainingly executed with a near-erotic passion for language.

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Starred review from August 1, 2010

Do the French have more esprit simply because they have a word for it? Or is it the other way round? Did Homer never describe the sea or sky as blue while mentioning violet sheep and green honey because he was colorblind? The explorations that Deutscher (former fellow, St. John's Coll., Cambridge; The Unfolding of Language) takes you on here are marvelous. He combines erudition, wry humor, and serious interpretation in this elegant and charmingly accessible study of the relation among language, culture, and thought and of how we have engaged in and reflected upon language over the years. Importantly, Deutscher takes issue with today's linguists who consider language as universally coded and inviolately distinct from culture. Deutscher's narrative introduces philologists, anthropologists, and linguists--beginning with William E. Gladstone!--and is rich with insight. Readers will find themselves enchanted by topics heretofore not even in their purview. Highly recommended for all who love accessible books on the history of thought and who love the warmth of writing that makes them think.

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