I expected more from this book, not realizing that what I hoped to find has not yet been proven to be true. The author attempts to show that language can, indeed, influence how one thinks. Unfortunately he has to address the age-old questions of nature vs. nature. He gives a somewhat irreverent, and very entertaining history of the controversy of nature versus nurture in regards to language. The history he provides and how he debunks once sacred linguistics notions makes the book worth the read.
He uses the exploration of space, color and gender as the topics to make his claim that there is a slight significance to support the theory that language can influence the way we think.
His concluding paragraphs in the book are awesome! ( )

"Through the Language Glass: Why the World Looks Different in Other Languages" is a book written by linguist Guy Deutscher, published in 2010. The book explores the relationship between language and perception and how it can shape our understanding of the world.

Deutscher argues that the structure and vocabulary of a language can influence the way its speakers perceive and think about the world. For example, some languages have a larger number of words for different shades of color than others, which could potentially affect how speakers of those languages perceive and describe color. Other languages have grammatical structures that require speakers to specify certain details about time or location in their sentences, which could shape the way they think about these concepts.

Deutscher also discusses the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which proposes that language influences thought and that speakers of different languages will have different ways of thinking and perceiving the world as a result of their language. This idea has been controversial in the field of linguistics, and Deutscher examines the evidence for and against it in his book.

Overall, "Through the Language Glass" is a thought-provoking exploration of the relationship between language and perception and how it can shape our understanding of the world around us. ( )

Bisschen dünn, was da rumkommt. ( )

يحاول الكتاب الإجابة على السؤال: هل تتأثر الثقافة باللغة أم اللغة بالثقافة؟
إن العادات الكلامية المتمثلة باللغة تخلق عادات فكرية ومنهجية عقلية تجعل إدراكنا للواقع يختلف باختلاف لغاتنا، وتجعلنا نربط المفاهيم المستمدة من ثقافة البيئة المحيطة بكلمات قد لايوجد لها مقابل في لغاتٍ أخرى. كما يلعب مستوى تعقيد اللغة دوراً في الحكم على تطور الحضارات.

محفّز، ممتع، ومفاجئ. ( )

Really interesting overview of some key questions in linguistics. The section about language and color perception was fascinating, and the chapter about the Guugu Yimidhirr's use of cardinal direction instead of relative direction was extremely cool. ( )