multilingualism_ johnson_ do different languages confer different personalities_ _ the economist

2562016 Multilingualism Johnson Do different languages confer different personalities | The Economist

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Nov 5th 2013 1206 BY RLG | BERLIN

Multilingualism

Johnson Do different languages conferdifferent personalities

LAST week Johnson took a look at some of the advantages of bilingualism These includebetter performance at tasks involving executive function (which involve the brains abilityto plan and prioritise) better defence against dementia in old age andmdashthe obviousmdashtheability to speak a second language One purported advantage was not mentioned thoughMany multilinguals report different personalities or even different worldviews when theyspeak their different languages

Itrsquos an exciting notion the idea that onersquos very self could be broadened by the mastery oftwo or more languages In obvious ways (exposure to new friends literature and so forth)the self really is broadened Yet it is different to claimmdashas many people domdashto have adifferent personality when using a different language A former Economist colleague forexample reported being ruder in Hebrew than in English So what is going on here

Benjamin Lee Whorf an American linguist who died in 1941 held that each languageencodes a worldview that significantly influences its speakers Often called ldquoWhorfianismrdquothis idea has its sceptics including The Economist which hosted a debate on the subject in2010 But there are still good reasons to believe language shapes thought

This influence is not necessarily linked to the vocabulary or grammar of a second languageSignificantly most people are not symmetrically bilingual Many have learned one languageat home from parents and another later in life usually at school So bilinguals usually havedifferent strengths and weaknesses in their different languagesmdashand they are not always

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About ProsperoNamed after the hero of Shakespearersquos ldquoTheTempestrdquo this blog provides literary insight andcultural commentary from our correspondents

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best in their first language For example when tested in a foreign language people are less likely to fall into a

cognitive trap (answering a test question with an obviousshyseeming but wrong answer) than when tested in their native language

In part this is because working in a second language slows down the thinking No wonder people feel different when speaking

them And no wonder they feel looser more spontaneous perhaps more assertive or funnier or blunter in the language they

were reared in from childhood

What of ldquocribrdquo bilinguals raised in two languages Even they do not usually have perfectlysymmetrical competence in their two languages But even for a speaker whose twolanguages are very nearly the same in ability there is another big reason that person willfeel different in the two languages This is because there is an important distinction betweenbilingualism and biculturalism

Many bilinguals are not bicultural But some are And of those bicultural bilinguals we should be little

surprised that they feel different in their two languages Experiments in psychology have shown the power of ldquoprimingrdquomdashsmall

unnoticed factors that can affect behaviour in big ways Asking people to tell a happy story for example will put them in a better

mood The choice between two languages is a huge prime Speaking Spanish rather than English for a bilingual and bicultural

Puerto Rican in New York might conjure feelings of family and home Switching to English might prime the same person to think

of school and work

So there are two very good reasons (asymmetrical ability and priming) that make peoplefeel different speaking their different languages We are still left with a third kind of argumentthough An economist recently interviewed here at Prospero Athanasia Chalari said forexample that

ldquo Greeks are very loud and they interrupt each other very often The reason for that isthe Greek grammar and syntax When Greeks talk they begin their sentences withverbs and the form of the verb includes a lot of information so you already know whatthey are talking about after the first word and can interrupt more easily rdquo

Is there something intrinsic to the Greek language that encourages Greeks to interruptConsider Johnson sceptical People seem to enjoy telling tales about their languagesinherent properties and how they influence their speakers A group of French intellectualworthies once proposed rather selfshyflatteringly that French be the sole legal language of theEU because of its supposedly unmatchable rigour and precision Some Germans believethat frequently putting the verb at the end of a sentence makes the language especiallylogical But language myths are not always selfshyflattering many speakers think theirlanguages are unusually illogical or difficultmdashwitness the plethora of books along the lines ofOnly in English do you park on a driveway and drive on a parkway English must be thecraziest language in the world What such popshyWhorfian stories share is a (natural)tendency to exoticise languages We also see some unsurprising overlap with nationalstereotypes and selfshystereotypes French rigorous German logical English playful Ofcourse

In this case Ms Chalari a scholar at least proposed a specific and plausible line ofcausation from grammar to personality in Greek the verb comes first and it carries a lot ofinformation hence easy interrupting The problem is that many unrelated languages all around the world

put the verb at the beginning of sentences Many languages all around the world are heavily inflected encoding lots of

information in verbs It would be a striking finding if all of these unrelated languages had speakers more prone to interrupting

each other Welsh for example is also both verbshyfirst and about as heavily inflected as Greek but the Welsh are not known as

pushy conversationalists

NeoshyWhorfians continue to offer evidence and analysis that aims to prove that differentlanguages push speakers to think differently One such effort is forthcoming ldquoThe BilingualMindrdquo by Aneta Pavlenko to be published in April Ms Pavlenko speaks to FranccediloisGrosjean here Meanwhile John McWhorter takes the opposite stance in The LanguageHoax forthcoming in February Well return to this debate But strong Whorfian arguments

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Copyright copy The Economist Newspaper Limited 2016 All rights reserved

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do not need to be valid for people to feel differently in their different languages

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best in their first language For example when tested in a foreign language people are less likely to fall into a

cognitive trap (answering a test question with an obviousshyseeming but wrong answer) than when tested in their native language

In part this is because working in a second language slows down the thinking No wonder people feel different when speaking

them And no wonder they feel looser more spontaneous perhaps more assertive or funnier or blunter in the language they

were reared in from childhood

What of ldquocribrdquo bilinguals raised in two languages Even they do not usually have perfectlysymmetrical competence in their two languages But even for a speaker whose twolanguages are very nearly the same in ability there is another big reason that person willfeel different in the two languages This is because there is an important distinction betweenbilingualism and biculturalism

Many bilinguals are not bicultural But some are And of those bicultural bilinguals we should be little

surprised that they feel different in their two languages Experiments in psychology have shown the power of ldquoprimingrdquomdashsmall

unnoticed factors that can affect behaviour in big ways Asking people to tell a happy story for example will put them in a better

mood The choice between two languages is a huge prime Speaking Spanish rather than English for a bilingual and bicultural

Puerto Rican in New York might conjure feelings of family and home Switching to English might prime the same person to think

of school and work

So there are two very good reasons (asymmetrical ability and priming) that make peoplefeel different speaking their different languages We are still left with a third kind of argumentthough An economist recently interviewed here at Prospero Athanasia Chalari said forexample that

ldquo Greeks are very loud and they interrupt each other very often The reason for that isthe Greek grammar and syntax When Greeks talk they begin their sentences withverbs and the form of the verb includes a lot of information so you already know whatthey are talking about after the first word and can interrupt more easily rdquo

Is there something intrinsic to the Greek language that encourages Greeks to interruptConsider Johnson sceptical People seem to enjoy telling tales about their languagesinherent properties and how they influence their speakers A group of French intellectualworthies once proposed rather selfshyflatteringly that French be the sole legal language of theEU because of its supposedly unmatchable rigour and precision Some Germans believethat frequently putting the verb at the end of a sentence makes the language especiallylogical But language myths are not always selfshyflattering many speakers think theirlanguages are unusually illogical or difficultmdashwitness the plethora of books along the lines ofOnly in English do you park on a driveway and drive on a parkway English must be thecraziest language in the world What such popshyWhorfian stories share is a (natural)tendency to exoticise languages We also see some unsurprising overlap with nationalstereotypes and selfshystereotypes French rigorous German logical English playful Ofcourse

In this case Ms Chalari a scholar at least proposed a specific and plausible line ofcausation from grammar to personality in Greek the verb comes first and it carries a lot ofinformation hence easy interrupting The problem is that many unrelated languages all around the world

put the verb at the beginning of sentences Many languages all around the world are heavily inflected encoding lots of

information in verbs It would be a striking finding if all of these unrelated languages had speakers more prone to interrupting

each other Welsh for example is also both verbshyfirst and about as heavily inflected as Greek but the Welsh are not known as

pushy conversationalists

NeoshyWhorfians continue to offer evidence and analysis that aims to prove that differentlanguages push speakers to think differently One such effort is forthcoming ldquoThe BilingualMindrdquo by Aneta Pavlenko to be published in April Ms Pavlenko speaks to FranccediloisGrosjean here Meanwhile John McWhorter takes the opposite stance in The LanguageHoax forthcoming in February Well return to this debate But strong Whorfian arguments

Free exchange | Jun 24th 1552

Polls versus prediction markets Whosaid Brexit was a surpriseGraphic detail | Jun 24th 1528

A splintering union As Europersquos scepticscheer Brexit its enthusiastsEurope | Jun 24th 1405

Economist asks EU referendum reactionspecialInternational | Jun 24th 1328

More latest updates raquo

Most commented

Economist blogsBagehots notebook | British politicsButtonwoods notebook | Financial marketsDemocracy in America | American politicsErasmus | Religion and public policyFree exchange | EconomicsGame theory | SportsGraphic detail | Charts maps and infographicsGulliver | Business travelProspero | Books arts and cultureThe Economist explains | Explaining the world daily

Products and events

Test your EQ Take our weekly news quiz to stay on top of theheadlines

Want more from The Economist Visit The Economist eshystore and yoursquoll find a rangeof carefully selected products for business andpleasure Economist books and diaries and muchmore

Britain and the EUA tragic split

Gun control Senators fail the American people(again)The prime minister resigns David Cameronquits Downing Street with a ruined legacyEU referendum polling Beware theldquoBrintrovertsrdquoBritain and the European Union After the votechaos

1

2

3

4

5










Previous


Next







bull



bull

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Contact us

Help

My account

Subscribe

Print edition

Digital editions

Events

JobsEconomistcom





















Previous


Next







bull



bull

Sections



Contact us

Help

My account

Subscribe

Print edition

Digital editions

Events

JobsEconomistcom












multilingualism_ johnson_ do different languages confer different personalities_ _ the economist

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