The Linguistic Shaping of Thought: A Study in the Impact of Language on Thinking in China and the West Page Intentionally Left Blank 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 \}' ~~~~~~~~;?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 27 Church Road, Hove, East Sussex, BN3 2FA 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 Page Intentionally Left Blank 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 Page Intentionally Left Blank 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 Page Intentionally Left Blank