Language as a Lens of Our Perspective (Introduction)
Linguistics of Leadership
Language Training & Consulting "It all comes down to language – let's work on it together."
Did you know that Russian speakers see the rainbow differently?
Allow me to explain... What English describes as tones of the color blue, Russian differentiates with two separate terms. A darker blue is referred to as синий (sinij) and lighter blue, sometimes called sky blue, голубой (goluboj). As a result, the Russian representation of the rainbow contains these two colors, whereas English has just one, blue.
What is so exciting about it? Well, the rainbow is a fluent spectrum of light waves. It doesn’t physically have boundaries between the colors. It is our brain that creates them, based on our perception and – as presented – our language.
The lesson here is not that one should learn as many languages as one can. It could be even counterproductive. After all, the vast majority of any communication occurs via a single language. The rare exceptions are so-called diglosias where a certain group of people uses more than one language, more and less interchangeably, or multilingual families...
The bottom line here is the following: the word creates reality. We perceive what we can name and name what we perceive. The words you use, their connotations, and corresponding concepts, shape the reality of people in your surroundings and that of yourself.
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You are not simply only calling a day beautiful. You associate it with beauty, you manifest and convey the notion of awe to your fellow human beings. It is both a great responsibility and a mysterious privilege to own up to the task of creating your reality. Every day, every single one of us sews the world with the linguistic spindle. Your idiolect – which is a word linguists use to describe one’s vocabulary and way of speaking – shapes your reality.
By the way, if you still doubt that language influences thought, do me a favor: don’t think about a pink elephant riding a unicycle.