Futured
Languages: These languages like English, distinguish between the past, present
and future. e.g. IF THE BOY GETS THE MONEY, HE WILL BUY A PRESENT
FOR THE GIRL.
Futureless
Languages: These languages like Chinese,
use the same phrasing to describe the events of yesterday, today and tomorrow.
e.g. IF
THE BOY GET THE MONEY, HE BUY
A PRESENT FOR THE GIRL. (ofcourse said in Chinese )
It is found that huge economic differences accompany this linguistic
discrepancy. Futureless language speakers are 30 percent more likely to report
having saved in any given year than futured language speakers. (This amounts to
25 percent more savings by retirement, if income is held constant.) When we
speak about the future as more distinct from the present, it feels more distant
— and we’re less motivated to save money now in favor of monetary comfort years
down the line.
So, Now the
question arises: Did the culture and way of
thinking of the community inform the language they created or does the language
they use create the way of thinking?
To answer it, Both co-construct each other equally. People create a
language as a tool and that tool begins to shape them. As a professor of
communication studies I don’t think you can separate notions of culture and
language, they are intertwined together.
But that’s
only the beginning. There’s a wide field of research on the link between
language and both psychology and behavior.
So, The
moral of the article is keep speaking in the way in which you want to mould
your personality. Your personality is the reflection of the way you use to
speak.
