Containment and Division

Language matters. It’s as much about the words we use, as it is about what those words reveal about how we think. This is because a language is a culturally transmitted system (Tomasello, 2014). No speaker can ever possess, or even know, the entire code that makes up the system. Instead, speakers h...

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Main Author: Terry McDonough
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Liverpool John Moores University 2018-12-01
Series:PRISM
Online Access:https://openjournals.ljmu.ac.uk/prism/article/view/295
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author Terry McDonough
author_facet Terry McDonough
author_sort Terry McDonough
collection DOAJ
description Language matters. It’s as much about the words we use, as it is about what those words reveal about how we think. This is because a language is a culturally transmitted system (Tomasello, 2014). No speaker can ever possess, or even know, the entire code that makes up the system. Instead, speakers have access to the parts that they use the most. Even then, there can be a lot of variation between speakers. There is a good deal of variation between languages, too. Different languages conceptualise the world in different ways. For an English speaker, time moves horizontally from left to right; for a Chinese speaker, time moves vertically from the top down (Boroditsky, 2000). Wherever we look, time is always associated with space. It seems we can’t even think about time without also thinking about space.
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spelling doaj-art-c33ae20d0eba47f9beacfdad68e2400d2025-02-03T03:18:13ZengLiverpool John Moores UniversityPRISM2514-53472018-12-0121Containment and DivisionTerry McDonough0University Centre at Blackburn College Language matters. It’s as much about the words we use, as it is about what those words reveal about how we think. This is because a language is a culturally transmitted system (Tomasello, 2014). No speaker can ever possess, or even know, the entire code that makes up the system. Instead, speakers have access to the parts that they use the most. Even then, there can be a lot of variation between speakers. There is a good deal of variation between languages, too. Different languages conceptualise the world in different ways. For an English speaker, time moves horizontally from left to right; for a Chinese speaker, time moves vertically from the top down (Boroditsky, 2000). Wherever we look, time is always associated with space. It seems we can’t even think about time without also thinking about space. https://openjournals.ljmu.ac.uk/prism/article/view/295
spellingShingle Terry McDonough
Containment and Division
PRISM
title Containment and Division
title_full Containment and Division
title_fullStr Containment and Division
title_full_unstemmed Containment and Division
title_short Containment and Division
title_sort containment and division
url https://openjournals.ljmu.ac.uk/prism/article/view/295
work_keys_str_mv AT terrymcdonough containmentanddivision