Does language play a role of equal importance in different areas of knowledge?

Language constricts the knowledge we acquire from different areas of knowledge like mathematics. According to the Sapir- Whorf hypothesis about language and though, Sapir argued that

“Human beings do not live in the objective world alone, nor alone in the world of social activity as ordinarily understood, but are very much at the mercy of the particular language which has become the medium of expression for their society.  The fact of matter is that the ‘real world’ is to a large extent unconsciously built upon the language habits of the group.”

 Whorf, who was Sapir’s student then extended this by adding

“the world is perceived in a kaleidoscopic flux of impressions which has to be organized by our minds- and this means largely by the linguistic system in our mind. “

This shows that thought is driven by language and hence, language limits the extent to which a ‘linguistic community’ can think about certain aspects. It is not possible to adjust to the realistic world without using language. Language is the only way to solve problems of communication and hence, our thoughts derived from different areas of knowledge that results in the languages we know, thus I believe that, language shapes the thought process. This concludes that language is important for every area of knowledge, since without thought no area of knowledge is complete and I believe it the knower’s linguistic capabilities that limit the extent to their thoughts on various aspects.

Art had a wide subdivision of cultures that compress of visual arts, performing arts, language arts, culinary arts and physical arts. The arts are considered to be a form of human emotion and expression and Language plays a different role in every subdivision of arts hence; its importance in each of them varies. There is a contrast between performing arts and drawing, while performing arts uses language to its fullest, drawing doesn’t seem to require language. In performing arts scripts, dialogues and almost everything requires language. Without language, it seems almost impossible to perform plays, learn music and make films. But at the same time, the physical process of drawing doesn’t seem to require language. This I believe is an expression or emotions through non verbal or unwritten forms of the artist’s creativity, which is put onto a paper. However, language in drawing plays a different role and emotion tends to be closely related to it. For example, “an uneducated but creative woman named kamala, who lives in Tamil Nadu had been making various paintings and drawings, which were discovered by an NGO called drama seva society and this NGO helped her auction her paintings to earn a living. When she was interviewed by a journalist, she said that she creates images in her mind, which she then puts onto a paper.” In order for her to create images of paintings to be able to relate with objects, she requires language, by remembering those words she’s able to create a picture of an object. Each painting conveys a message from the artist’s point of view. Artists are only able to convey their images in their mind if they can express it in linguistic terms. If there weren’t words to express their images their thoughts would be restricted. Hence, language is important in various arts depending on the type and it can be said that empirical sense and perception play a more distinct role in the understanding of art.

 Language plays a role of unequal importance and language is determined to be used unequally because of the nature of the areas of knowledge and the different mediums of expression. “mathematics is a body of knowledge centered on such concepts as quality, structure, space, change and other academic disciplines which study them. Such concepts are theoretical and require linguistic skills of the knower to define, understand and study them.” Since mathematics depends on language, it plays a bigger role than in arts. In some form of Arts, language is needed; where as, other form of arts like drawing which relates to creativity of an individual don’t require language in order to draw but might use language in an indirect way it. Therefore, language is important for arts too, but not as much as mathematics because it replies more on the artistic capability of the artist. Creativity for an artist is a from of expression and art replies more on that, hence language is less important in comparison with mathematics.

In conclusion, language does play a role of unequal importance for different areas of knowledge and it’s determined by its nature, and the different forms of communication it uses. Areas of knowledge that use language as their medium of communication and expression rely on language a lot, which then increases its importance, where as, in other areas of knowledge language might not be the central role in the medium of communication and expression, there will be other forms of expressions, hence, it decreases the importance for language in that area of knowledge. This is how language plays a role of unequal importance in different areas of knowledge depending on the linguistic skills and different mediums of communication and expression.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

• "Numerical Cognition Without Words: Evidence from Amazonia -- Gordon 306 (5695): 496 -- Science." Science/AAAS | Scientific research, news and career information. 12 May 2009 <http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/1094492>.

• "The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis." Prifysgol Aberystwyth / Aberystwyth University. 12 May 2009 <http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/short/whorf.html>.

• "Benjamin Lee Whorf -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 12 May 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Lee_Whorf>.

• "Sapir–Whorf hypothesis -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 12 May 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapir-Whorf_hypothesis>.

• "Mathematics -." Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 12 May 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathematics>.

• Pradeep, Uma. Personal interview. 12 May 2009.

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