{"id":35,"date":"2021-09-18T04:21:53","date_gmt":"2021-09-18T11:21:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ncheung540\/?p=35"},"modified":"2021-09-19T23:17:37","modified_gmt":"2021-09-20T06:17:37","slug":"task-2-does-language-shape-the-way-we-think","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ncheung540\/2021\/09\/18\/task-2-does-language-shape-the-way-we-think\/","title":{"rendered":"Task 2: Does language shape the way we think?"},"content":{"rendered":"

After viewing Prof. Lera Borditsky’s SAR lecture, I found myself relating to her insight and findings. My reflections stem from my lived experiences and the nature of my cultural upbringing and social surroundings. I grew up in a bilingual English and Cantonese speaking household, and I have consistently studied a number of foreign languages as a child and throughout my academic career. I would say that I had a profound interest in learning languages, and was fascinated by the different perceptions and windows of thought that seemed to change across different languages. People from different cultures and speaking different languages experience the world and distinguish their feelings differently. I likened it to having various levels of a sensory palate. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I once had a teacher who told me that language is the eye to culture. This notion was ingrained in my memory since then, and I was humbled by the many experiences, and to relive the world through these various perspectives. Not only are beliefs, customs, traditions, and history revealed through language and etymology, but there are also the metaphors of life that are only understood by that culture. I often codeswitch between English and Cantonese, and I would often wonder why some words and expressions cannot be translated. I would wonder why a word with a positive connotation in one language would have a negative connotation in another, and why some words have \u201chidden meanings\u201d and associations unbeknownst to the learner. I also struggled with learning languages with grammatical gender \u2013 as Prof. Borditsky’s best explained, there is no rhyme or reason for the assignation of these genders. I had to rely on my memory in French and Spanish to understand the lack of pattern in grammatical genders, which is a concept that does not exist in the languages I spoke.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As a language learner and writer who often dealt with translated poetry and prose, the lost in translation phenomenon is truly intriguing to me. I found the case of translating creative writing to be severely affected by mistranslations. The beauty, tenacity, and visceral-ness of a poem or literature in one language, cannot easily be captured by a translation in another. The motives, attitude, and personality of a character and their actions might be perceived differently in another language. These inconsistencies and the notion that we perceive the world through the language could cause inaccuracies in the piece of work. It might cause frustration for the original author, translator, and reader, because the piece, no matter how well translated, may have some particular aspects, sometimes in detail, and sometimes coming in rippling waves, lost in between the lines of language. Where does this lost meaning go, shadowed by the translation? <\/span><\/p>\n

Literary metaphors are strongly linked to cognitive linguistic processes and are an emblem of the culture, tradition, mythology, and history. (Zhang, 2012). <\/span>For instance, in\u00a0the\u00a0Chinese language,\u00a0there are many metaphors found in literature\u00a0which can be mistranslated and misinterpreted\u00a0in translated works, thus losing meaning\u00a0in this cultural experience.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A notable example of an ancient\u00a0metaphor lost in translation would be from\u00a0Wang Wei (\u738b\u7dad), a\u00a0classical Chinese\u00a0poet from the Tang Dynasty,\u00a0wrote a poem\u00a0titled\u00a0\u201cYearning\u201d (\u76f8\u601d).\u00a0In the poem,\u00a0the motif of\u00a0red beans\u00a0(\u7d05\u8c46)\u00a0symbolizes\u00a0\u201clovesickness\u201d and \u201cyearning\u201d for a lover during separation. This metaphor\u2019s strong presence has been preserved through generations of expression and craft in Chinese culture. However,\u00a0the red bean is not an object of strong meaning or a prevalent metaphor in other cultures. Thus, this metaphor may be reduced, misinterpreted,\u00a0or mistranslated\u00a0with\u00a0another metaphor\u00a0that may mean \u201cyearning\u201d\u00a0in another culture.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In Yu\u2019s (2015) study on American and British translations of classical Chinese poetry, they discovered that the translators would make the following amendments to the poems: removing the metaphor (tenor and vehicle) completely, removing the vehicle of the metaphor, misinterpreting the metaphor, adding a metaphor that is not found in the original poem, translating the metaphor into literal language, or replacing the metaphor with another metaphor that has a similar meaning. These alterations would have a profound effect on the roots, authenticity, integrity, and emotions conveyed in the poem.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0***<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cYearning<\/em>\u201d (\u76f8\u601d)\u00a0by Wang Wei,\u00a0translated by Betty Tseng\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u7d05\u8c46\u751f\u5357\u570b\uff0c<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[red] [bean] [grow] [south] [kingdom]<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Red beans grow in the southern lands;<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u6625\u4f86\u767c\u5e7e\u679d\uff1b<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[spring] [come] [emit] [several] [branch]<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

when spring\u00a0comes\u00a0they grow a few branches;<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u9858\u541b\u591a\u91c7\u64f7\uff0c<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[hope] [sir] [more] [pick] [collect]<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I hope you will gather a few more –<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u6b64\u7269\u6700\u76f8\u601d\u3002<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

[this] [thing] [most] [each other] [think]<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

these things are what one yearns for the most.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

References<\/span><\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Boroditsky, L. (2011).\u00a0<\/span>How language shapes thought.<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span>Scientific American, 304<\/span><\/i>(2), 62-65.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Boroditsky, L. (June 2017). [Video]. How the languages we speak shape the way we think.\u00a0<\/span>Lera Boroditsky, How the Languages We Speak Shape the Ways We Think<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Wang, W. (Tang Dynasty).\u00a0<\/span>Yearning\u00a0<\/span><\/i>(B. Tseng, Translator). (Original work published in Tang Dynasty).\u00a0<\/span>https:\/\/eastasiastudent.net\/china\/classical\/wang-wei-xiangsi\/<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Yu, S. (2015). Metaphors and metonymies in classical Chinese poetry and their English translations.\u00a0<\/span>Translation Journal<\/span><\/i>.\u00a0<\/span>https:\/\/translationjournal.net\/July-2015\/metaphors-and-metonymies-in-classical-chinese-poetry-and-their-english-translations.html<\/span><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Zhang, Y. (2012).\u00a0Discursive metaphors analysis: The love metaphor of plant in Chinese love\u00a0poetry.\u00a0<\/span>Cross-Cultural Communication, 8<\/span><\/i>(5), 74 -78.\u00a0<\/span>DOI:10.3968\/j.ccc.1923670020120805.2022<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After viewing Prof. Lera Borditsky’s SAR lecture, I found myself relating to her insight and findings. My reflections stem from my lived experiences and the nature of my cultural upbringing and social surroundings. I grew up in a bilingual English and Cantonese speaking household, and I have consistently studied a number of foreign languages as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":87008,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tasks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ncheung540\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ncheung540\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ncheung540\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ncheung540\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/87008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ncheung540\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ncheung540\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ncheung540\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35\/revisions\/50"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ncheung540\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ncheung540\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/ncheung540\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}