By jcapobia
When I was in Lisboa, one of our tour guides told us about a Portuguese word that has no equivalent in English or Spanish. The word is Saudade, a word which describes the feeling of depression that one feels when they think about the “good old days;” the longing for something that cannot exist. Our tour guide described it as the feeling you get when you see your Ex walk by and you remember the old days, but simultaneously realize your life can never be like that again and that you may never feel that same happiness. (In Portugal, they express this sadness through music, most notably in the melancholy music of Fado)
This encounter made me think of a linguistic hypothesis I heard a couple months ago in a movie. The hypothesis, recently popularized by the movie Arrival, is called the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis. This hypothesis holds that as someone’s language influences their thoughts and decisions. In other words, the limits of your language, all the way down to the grammatical structure, determines the way you perceive the world. Although I haven't thought about it much before this week, as I learn more and more and become immersed in this culture and language, I am learning the subtle differences that Spanish and English (And the two Portuguese words I know) have and the subsequent effects of these language peculiarities.
While English and Spanish are pretty similar languages (compared to say Chinese and Arabic), there are still many small linguistic differences between the two. Below are some interesting linguistic differences that I have come across so far. Ready for a Spanish lesson?
- In Spain, they use the verbs Cenar (to eat dinner) and Desayunar (to eat breakfast) to differentiate between the type of meal they are eating.
- In Spain, there is really no direct way to describe something or someone as awkward. They use the words Extrano and Raro, which more translate to weird or strange.
- They use the word Hacer (to make or to do) often. This word is difficult for a Spanish speaker learning English to dissociate from its Spanish meaning. My Spanish teacher told me how he has trouble using both to make and to do in English, because he is used to using them interchangeably in his language. This is similar to a English speaker learning to be in Spanish. It was difficult for me to learn this verb, because there are two ways to use to be in Spanish. One is for an unchangeable quality (Ser) and the other for a changeable quality (Estar).
- They have verbs, (For example, to like (Gustar) that are used in a different manner than they are used in English. For example, in English, you say, “I like these shoes,” while in Spanish you would say “Me gustan estos zapatos.” This literally translates to, “Those shoes are pleasing to me.” This verb structure, where the object carries out the action, applies to other commonly used verbs like to anger or to hurt (Me enojada, Me duele).
- In Spanish they also use a different “mood” that doesn’t exist in English. Its called the Subjunctive mood. This mood basically instills doubt into the message that is being communicated. If I say “John goes to the park” in English, I generally assume he is going to the park. In Spanish you can say the same thing two ways. One way can imply certainty while the other can make it so there is doubt. This is done by changing the verb structure, creating the subjunctive mood.
Now while I don’t think I have had my worldview entirely altered (though that would be cool), I think I am beginning to see the constraints of language and the way being monolingual limits one’s way of thinking about things. While there are innumerable benefits to being bilingual or multilingual, I think the most important of all is the ability to think outside the box. We rely on our language because it's all we have to communicate, but I have to wonder, what would the world be like if some words didn’t exist in our vocabulary? What if anxiety or conviction didn’t exist, could we really describe these feelings as accurately? This is more Orwellian, but what if the words for protest or dissent didn’t exist, could we really understand these actions or even do them?
I think language is a freeing set of complex sounds that attempt to capture our complex realities, but at times, our language limits us. For my monolingual (or bilingual) friends, I challenge you to learn a second or third or fourth language because it is a freeing experience and very worthwhile. Don’t let your language restrict you, because you may never realize it is.
