The Linguistic Shaping of Thought: A Study in the Impact of Language on Thinking in China and the West

118 Pages·2014·3.308 MB·

by  Alfred H. Bloom

The Linguistic Shaping
of Thought:
A Study in the Impact
of Language on Thinking
in China and the West
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The Linguistic Shaping
of Thought:
A Study in the Impact
of Language on Thinking
in China and the West
ALFRED H. BLOOM
Departments of Psychology and Linguistics
Swarthmore College
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~~~~~~~~;?c~~p Press
NEW YORK AND lONDON
First Published 1981 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
This edition published 2014 by Psychology Press
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
and by Psychology Press
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Psychology Press is an imprint oft he Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
Copyright © 1981 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any
information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from
the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Bloom, Alfred H
The linguistic shaping of thought.
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
I. Psycholinguistics. 2. Thought and thinking.
3. Chinese language--Psychological aspects. 4. English
language--Psychological aspects. I. Title.
BF455.B562 401 '.9 80-27753
ISBN 0-89859-089-2
Publisher's Note
The publisher bas gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint
but points out that some imperfections in the original may be apparent.
fSBN-13: 978-1-315-80289-3 (ebk)
To my father
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Contents
Preface ix
Introduction
A New Infrastructure for Language and Thought 1
Overreacting to Whorf 2
Opposing Assumptive Frameworks 3
Cognitive Structuralism 9
I. The Distinctive Cognitive legacies of English and Chinese 13
Theoretical Extensions 33
2. Linguistic Initiatives in
the Shaping and Functioning of Thought 61
Language and the Shaping of Our Cognitive Repertories 62
Language and the Functioning of Our Cognitive Repertories 75
Cognitive Barriers to Cross-Linguistic Communication 84
References 86
Appendix 92
Author Index 103
Subject Index 1 05
vii
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Preface
Fourteen years of interaction with the Chinese language and its speakers
have alerted me to certain important differences between the Chinese mode
of speaking and thinking and that of speakers of English. These discoveries
are not only exciting in themselves. They increase sensitivity to what
Chinese speakers mean. They heighten awareness of the biases implicit in
the way English speakers speak and think; and they compel me to challenge
the assumption, currently lurking within the field of psychology, that
languages have little impact on the shaping of cognitive life.
The research reported in this book was supported by a grant awarded by
the Joint Committee on Contemporary China of the Social Science
Research Council and the American Council of Learned Societies for the
year 1978, by a stipend from the National Endowment for the Humanities
for the summer of 1975, and by research grants from Swarthmore College.
I would like to thank for their individual contributions: Margaret H.
Bloom, Susan Blader, Susan Campbell; Chen Ta-tuan, Sydney and Mimi
Chu, Pamela Crossley, Benjamin Elman, Joel and Arline Epstein, Lila R.
Gleitman, Gu Wan-ch'ing, Heng Hsiung-jeng, Doris and Jimmy Ho, Ron
nie Hsia, Herbert C. Kelman, Hugh Lacey, Cecilia Lee, Mei Guang, Mr.
and Mrs. Pi, Michael Posner, Harris Savin, Vincent Siciliano, Benjmin K.
T'sou, Urfie, Richard W. Wilson, an anonymous reviewer, my students at
Swarthmore past and present, and the subjects who participated in the ex
perimental research.
I would like to thank Winnie Vaules for her unfailing cheerfulness and
for her consistently fine work.
And, in particular, I would like to thank Roger Brown for his continuing
intellectual guidance and personal support.
ix
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