The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis theorizes that if a language has no word for a certain concept, then the speakers of that language cannot understand that concept. Though this has been disproved, it’s still pretty interesting. How do words shape our behavior given the inherent differences between different languages?
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Douglas Hofstadter’s Le Ton beau de Marot: In Praise of the Music of Language is absolutely fascinating on the subject of translation and the differences in meaning.
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