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Languages give us categories to define an otherwise messy world, says linguistics professor Panos Athanasopulos. As these categories change depending on the language we speak we can say that language shapes the way we see the world. This can largely explain why things are done culture in a certain way in different cultures.

One of the earliest definitions of culture was written by Sir Edward Burnett Tylor in 1871: “culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society”. This definition mentioned ‘knowledge’: it is through language that we gain knowledge of what the world is and how everything works in our context.

Almost one hundred years later Ruth Benedict spoke about “what binds men together”.  It is very clear how a language can bind people together inside a country, a tribe or an ethnic group. We can also find many examples of how conflict arises between communities that are artificially bound together when they don’t share the same language.

A 1973 definition by Clifford Geertzpattern mentioned “a […] pattern of meaning […] by means of which men communicate, perpetuate, and develop their […] attitudes toward life”. Going as far as saying that the language one speaks influences our attitudes towards life wouldn’t be going too far. In fact, a person’s mother tongue makes up a major part of who they are. As cognitive scientist  Lera Boroditsky (2017) explains, one’s vision of the world will have been shaped by the language(s) we speak. 

A person who speaks several languages will easily find many practical examples of Slobin’s (1987, 1996) thinking-for-speaking hypothesis.

For instance, a day can be structured in a very different way for a speaker of English, Spanish and French. This is not just due to slight differences in the times at which things are done, but also due to what we call the different parts of the day. For an English and a French person, the day will be divided into four main parts: morning, afternoon, evening and night. Some of these can even be broken down into ‘early’ and ‘late’. 

Something similar happens in French. Someone might agree to come and visit ‘fin de matinée’ which is roughly around 11 am. Using the words ‘fin de’ can come with the connotation of lateness and of something else approaching which is lunchtime.

For a Spanish speaker this would be relatively early in the morning, however, there is no fixed expression for talking about this time. In fact, in Spanish the day is divided up into: morning, evening and night. There is no afternoon. The hot weather in many parts of Spain and for a long part of the year possibly made it necessary for the morning to last longer. When more jobs were done outdoors, people probably needed to make the most of the cooler part of the day. This led to stretching the morning all the way to lunchtime which tends to happen somewhere between 14 pm and 14.30 pm. For this reason, although ‘la mañana’  (morning time) officially finishes at 12 am, it’s normal to hear people from Spain referring to morning time until they’ve had lunch.

Meals and mealtimes are somewhat of a ritual in some cultures. Someone from the UK or Ireland can have a quick lunch during the week and then dinner or their tea when they get home. Depending on how copious this last meal is they might or might not have supper. Some people don’t use the word lunch if this meal is a big one and will say dinner instead. Additionally, there tends to be a main meal that can take place at very different times during the week and at the weekend. Very often a person will have a few small bites around this big meal.

For Spanish or French people, meals happen at a fixed time every day. Although the schedule might be slightly more relaxed at the weekend, meals still happen roughly at the same time. These two cultures try to avoid snacking between hours in order to reach mealtime with an appetite.

Therefore, if two French people are trying to arrange a dinner it will be very clear for both parties that they’re implicitly talking about apéro, entrée, plat (possibly fromage), and dessert at around 7.30 pm – 8 pm. However, when it’s two British people trying to share a meal at the weekend they will need to use more words to define the what and the when of the event.

Languages give us categories to define an otherwise messy world, says linguistics professor Panos Athanasopulos. As these categories change depending on the language we speak we can say that language shapes the way we see the world. Some languages like Iberian Spanish have ways of grading the intensity of love. One will more often use ‘te amo’ with a lover or even their baby, but ‘te quiero’ with siblings and parents. 

The place we live in will define how many words we need for a certain item. For instance, due to Ireland’s landscapes, the Irish language has 32 different words for the concept ‘field’. Himba speakers in the Namibian plains can recognise shades of green that are not encoded in the English language. 

Languages of places in which it rains a lot, such as Galician in the north of Spain, have a much higher number of words to refer to different types of rain meaning that their speakers are able to perceive the difference as well.

Multilingualism can result in greater perception of these differences. Being aware of potential differences in perception between cultures can lead to a higher inter-cultural competence and to more successful relationships in an ever more globalised world.