Boroditsky, Lera. "How Languages Contruct Time." 333-341 Dehaene,Stanislas, and Elizabeth Brannon. Space, Time and Number in the Brain:Searching for the Foundations of Mathematical Thought : An Attention and
Performance Series. San Diego:Elsevier Academic, 2011.Print. How people conceptualize time appears to depend on how the languages they speak tend to talk about time. Boroditsky gives examples of how conceptions of time differ dramatically between cultures. Her research shows that a culture’s metaphors about time follow their vertical or horizontal perceptions. She explains that people who read text arranged from left to right, tend to lay out time as proceeding from left to right and people who read text arranged from right to left (e.g. Arabic, Hebrew) arrange time from right to left. . This article also explains the EM (ego moving) and TM (time moving) perceptions of time. English speakers are ego-centric and imagine person moving (ego moving) along a stationary timeline. Mandarin speakers imagine a stationary observer and a moving time line (time moving). Speakers of different languages can arrive at qualitatively different ways of constructing even such fundamental domains of experience as space and time. Her summation is: the metaphors we use to talk about time (and other cultural factors) have both immediate and long term consequences for how we conceptualize and reason about this fundamental domain of experience. This researcher is one of the leading experts on multilingual cognitive science and is reference frequently in academic articles on this subject. Casasanto et al., "How Deep Are Effects of Language on Thought? Time Estimation inSpeakers of English, Indonesian Greek, and Spanish," Proceedings of the 26th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (2004): 575–80. Casasanto explains that people speak about time metaphorically and map the domain of time to the domain of space. English and French speakers also talk about time as linear duration (a long time at work) and Greek and Spanish speakers talk about duration in terms of quantity (much time at work). Casasanto designed experiments to evaluate whether people also thought about time differently . The goals of his experiments were three fold. One, to determine whether English speaker’s nonlinguistic mental representations of space and time are related in ways predicated by linguistic metaphors. The second experiment tested whether mental representations in different language speakers were consistent with their language metaphors. Finally, he explored whether language causes differences in mental representations. In all six experiments, results were unequivocal. People incorporate spatial information into their time judgments more than they incorporate temporal information into their spatial judgment. He concludes that the metaphors we use can provide a window on the structure of our abstract concepts. Overall the way people talk about time correlates strongly with the way they think about it (16). Habitual use of either distance or volume metaphors, may influence our everyday thinking. Further conclusions were that people use spatial representations to think about time even when performing non-linguistic tasks.Members of different language communities develop distinctive conceptual repertoires. Very interesting article with experiments confirming different views of time in different cultures. Condon, John C., Good Neighbors: Communicating with the Mexicans, 2ndEdition, Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press,Inc., 1997 Print. Chapter 11: Time 62-69 Condon’s book gives practical linguistic and sociological insights as to how American and Mexican culture employ different concepts of time which inform communication between the two countries. Condon introduces many important ideas from Business Communications Theory which are relevant to this divide. He introduces the ideas of Edward Hall, anthropologist, who developed the theory of M time and P time cultures. According to anthropologist Edward Hall, cultures are either Monchronistic or Polychronistic. P time systems gives rise to looser time schedules, deeper involvement with individuals, and a wait and see what develops attitude. The American desire to get straight to the point and get down to business is a manifestation of an M time culture, as are other indications of directness. He also explains that Mexico has a much longer scale of history (several thousand years) than America and thus their view of past-present-future are on a much longer timeline than Americans who have only 350 years for reference. Excellent resource on communication differences between US and Mexico, although more geared towards business communications than cognitive linguistics. Cameron, Lynn “Metaphor and Talk” Gibbs, Raymond W. The Cambridge Handbook of Metaphor and Thought. New York: Cambridge UP, 2008. Print. When people talk to each other, they make widespread use of metaphor.Metaphor in talk both shapes the ongoing talk and is shaped by it. Metaphor not only reveals the speaker’s mental concept-- but also, and perhaps more importantly for human communication, the speaker’s attitudes and values . Frequency of metaphor use is determined by discourse situations and roles. Cameron gives several examples of different discourse situations which can be predicted to have higher metaphor use. Metaphor frequency is higher in situations that are contentious. She explains the use of metaphor helps to create a “neutral third space” for discussion for those on opposing sides of an issue. She also explains that metaphor is used to discuss painful events by providing achance to cultivate intimacy between speakers. She also shows that metaphor is used to manage conversations in the opening and closing sequences of a discourse event (such as a lecture or meeting). She further explains that metaphor in processes of human social interaction carries attitudes and values. Excellent information about different discourse situations, but focuses more on same-language speakers. Torre, Ramon Ramos “Time’s Social Metaphor s : An Empirical Research “ Time and Society 16, 2-3 Los Angeles: Sage 157- 187. 2007 In Torre’s research, he explores social time. He starts his research by assuming the concept that time is a scarce resource whose use must be the fruit of deliberations and decisions. Social time is informed by a heterogeneous set of (moral, economic and political ) values. Time is a resource for action and, as such, must be put towards a great variety of goals. The most obvious of these actions, as their commodified determinations dictate are strategically and instrumentally invested to obtains something, that is, money, goods, self-esteem, freedom. Torres explains that time is a moral resource and is calibrated by power. Torres asserts two additional values of time: the moralization and politicization of time. Torres confirmed the “time is a commodity” metaphor, but did not address time’s Conceptual Metaphor from a multicultural view. . According to cognitive linguists, language both shapes and reflects values and attitudes towards culture (Cameron). Time is seen as a valuable commodity and thus judicial use of time is a logical extension of this metaphor. Do Mexicans see time as a less precious commodity than Americans, or are there other linguistic, cultural or historical influences that make Mexico the “land of tomorrow?” The Conceptual Metaphor Theory proposed by Lakoff and Johnson suggests people talk about the abstract in terms of the concrete. “Our conceptual systems thus plays a central role in defining our everyday realities” (Lakoff and Johnson 3). “Metaphor carries attitudes and values” (Cameron 197). “The most fundamental values in a culture will be coherent with the metaphorical structure of the most fundamental concepts in the culture ” (Lakoff and Johnson 22). What are the fundamental concepts that structure the Mexican view of time? Mexico is a Polychronistic time country. The differences between M-time and P-time are reflected in a variety of ways throughout a culture. According to anthropologist Edward Hall, cultures are either Monchronistic or Polychronistic. P-time gives rise to looser time schedules,deeper involvement with individuals, and a wait and see what develops attitude. The American desire to get straight to the point and get down to business is a manifestation of an M-time culture, as are other indications of directness. Mexico has a volume vs. distance concept of time. According to research which contrasted speakers of English and Spanish (and a number of other languages), English speakers map time to distance and Spanish speakers map time to quantity. English speakers perform better at tasks which utilize a linear-distance concept of time, and Spanish speakers perform poorly on linear-distance time tests. The reverse is true, that English speakers do not predict time passage well when it is represented in terms of quantity (a vase filling up for example) whereas Spanish speakers accurately predict time “signatures” when they are correlated to quantity (Casasanto). Mexican culture occurs at half the pace of American culture. A slower the pace of life creates a less hectic view of time. Since speed is relative, a slower paced country might interpret “Be right there” differently than a more high paced culture. The overall pace of life has been studied according to the combination of three factors : (1) minutes downtown pedestrians take to walk 60 feet (2) minutes it takes a postal clerk to complete a stamp purchase transaction and (3) accuracy in minutes of public clocks. In a study of 31 countries, the United States ranked 31 and Mexico ranked 16 (Levine). According to this study, America is twice as fast paced as Mexico. Mexico is a highly collective country. “Collectivism applies to societies in which people from birth onwards are integrated into strong, cohesive groups, which throughout people's lifetime continue to protect them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty. Individualism applies to societies in which the ties between individuals are loose: everyone is expected to look after themselves and their immediate family. High Individualism: Identity is based on the individual - Task prevails over relationships . High Collectivism: Identity is based on one's social grouping - Relationships prevail over task “ (Hofstede). In Hofstede’s landmark study of IBM employees around the globe, the USA ranked 1 of 39 – High Individualism; Mexico ranked 29 of 39 – Low Individualism.
Mexico is a high context county. According to anthropologist Edward Hall, another factor influencing a country’s concept of time is how they communicate. High context countries are relational, collectivist, intuitive, and contemplative. This means that people in these cultures emphasize interpersonal relationships. Low-context cultures (including North America and much of Western Europe) are logical, linear, individualistic, and action-oriented. People from low-context cultures value logic, facts, and directness (Hofstede). Conclusion: There are many reasons why Mexico is referred to as the land of tomorrow. I assert that Mexicans do not value time less, they merely value time differently. They imagine time as a shared resource where activities are not stacked a long a linear line, in a row of equal importance. Mexicans see time as a resource where family and personal connections take precedence over other activities. The Mexican pace of life is also half as fast as the American pace of life, so that how long something takes is relative. “Un momentito” meaning, “a little moment” may take an hour for Mexicans who see that as soon enough. Americans may feel that “a little moment” SHOULD occur in five minutes because they expect a quicker paces of action. Mexicans do not see time as occurring in a line – (it takes a long time to drive there) but in terms of quantity (it takes much time to drive there). My assertion is that saying “por un rato” (for a bit) as seen by Americans would mean moving from 1 o’clock to 1:15, but for Mexicans “por un rato” (for a bit) may be more like occupying “some time” versus “more time”. The latter is more general and less quantifiable than a timeline progression. This chapters continues to explore the idea of embodied meaning and especially focuses on the neurological basis for the mind/body meaning. This includes evidence from linguistics, developmental and cognitive psychology, biology and emotion research. Meaning is grounded in activations of sensorimotor areas of the brain. Neural captivation patterns can be turned on by a perception. Concepts are neural activations patterns. The more we experience a simultaneous firing of neurons, the more this energy is reduced to a common informational code. The “affordance” of experience produces patterns that have value. These properties are coupled with memories which then are stored as knowledge and can thus predict an event. Mirror-neuron phenomena suggest that understanding a form of simulation. How are abstract ideas formed? Comprehensions of body-part terms requires the active participation of neural maps. Taken together with the neuroimaging evidence for image schemas and conceptual metaphors, these neurocomputational models support the metaphoric and image-schematic basis so our language and abstract reasoning. (168) In other words, we have environmental experiences which trigger a pattern of neurons and as this pattern is seen in other similar events, it is stored in memory. This becomes the basis of understanding and meaning. See drawing above. Why is Mexico called the "land of manana" ? What about their perspectives on time create the sense that time is seen as less of a commodity than it is in the United States. In my research it is repeated that language not only reflects culture but also shapes culture. How does Mexico talk about time and How does their choice of metaphor underscore their attitudes. I continue to explore the notion of time and it is a large topic. In fact, the targe time is mapped to the domain of space and there are many interesting comparisons between how different cultures see time in relation to space. I don't want to give away all the upcoming moments (time and space metaphors) of my presentation, but some cultures see time as being horizonal and some see it as being vertical. Some cultures see time from an ego-moving point ot view and some from the time-moving point of view. Nouns relating to time make up the largest entry in the OED. My QAI, however is to see if expressions in Spanish -- particularly from Mexico reflect the same "time is money; time is a valuable commodity" as we have seen again and again in our reading.
Because Mexico is known as "the land of manana" where NOT "being on time" is the cultural norm, or at least the sterotypical norm, my question is, "Is time seen less as a valuable commodity" in Mexico and can I tell that from their dichos -- sayings. One thing I am finding is that one need be careful assuming just because a saying has been translated, it is Spanish. To really examine the metaphors of the culture and attitudes about time reflected by them, I have to narrow my examination to sayings IN SPANISH, from Mexico . I am still trying to wrap my head (and body) around Johnson's idea of embodied meaning. This picture did occur to me last night, though, that the 2012 Olympics do show emobodied meaning somehow. It is also interesting that the olympics are such an old tradition; in fact, they go back to a time when people used their bodies more and thus were more in tune to the "humors" of the body a la Greek philosophy.
In this delightfully titled chapter, "Feeling Willliam James' But", teh author continue to show us that bodily perceptions, feelings and actions go hand in hand. He discusses precepts and concepts which he explains are two aspects of the continuous flow of feeling and thinking. "Language concepts are a way to "mark various meaningful qualities and patterns within our experience" (88). A Homunculus is "any scale model of the human body that, in some way, illustrates physiological, psychological, or other abstract human characteristics or functions" (Wikipedia). We continue to look at the homunculus as having a substative and functional aspect. This leads to Jame's Principle of Being "As we think we feel our boidluy selves as the seat of thinking" (94). What are the implications for teachers if we tailor our classes around "embodied meaning?" How would class be different and how would it be the same? http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/12708-focus-obamas-and-romneys-opposed-visions-for-a-free-americaObama's and Romney's Opposed Visions for a Free America By George Lakoff and Elisabeth Wehling, Reader Supported News 31 July 12 In Chapter three we lealrn that feeling is first . Johnson continues to explain how "down we forget as up we grow" following his idea that as big babies we continue to learn by interacting with the world. He explains that most of our body needs to function inan automatic and non-conscious way, but that this leads to a body state which is truly a gestalt of emotion, reaction and physicality.
"The whole neural, chemical and behavioral arc of emotional respons rusn more or less atuomatically most of the time, and this is usually a very good thing "(59). He goes on to explain that emotions serve a crucial function in surviving our world. He explains the fight or flight respnse and also shows the important parts of the brain that process stimulus including the amygdala, hypothalmus and prefrontal cortex. He suggests that there "appears to be an interface between higher congnitive systems and sytems that regulate emotion (63)". Interestingly, he shows that by thet time we feel the emotion, the body has already reacted to it, as shown in my picture above. Like gesturing, the body seems to process information before our smarty-pants brain can conceptualize the information. Finally he shows that that emotions are both in the world and in us. In other words, we experience fear because it is a reaction in us, but something in the world -- the two must work in tandem. In this chapter, Johnson addresses how we evaluate quality of experience. Much like our previous discussion, he approaches the idea of a holistic vs particular approach that results in a gestalt. He discusses the pervasive qualities that make an experience special and how difficult these are to pin point individually.
He also cites Dewey who encouraged us to see the world via experience which signify meaning. "The point (he) is making is that experience comes whole, pervaded by unifying qualities that demarcate thtem within the flux of our lives "(75). He encourages us to be present and explains Gendlin's method of philosophizing which is similar to the "be here now" ability to be in the moment. I am reminded of this poem by Wordsworth who reminds us to be in the moment, appreciate nature and get our of our heads for a moment. The World is Too Much With Us by William Wordsworth The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers; Little we see in Nature that is ours; We have given our hearts away, a sordid boon! This Sea that bares her bosom to the moon; The winds that will be howling at all hours, And are up-gathered now like sleeping flowers, For this, for everything, we are out of tune; It moves us not.--Great God! I'd rather be A pagan suckled in a creed outworn; So might I, standing on this pleasant lea, Have glimpses that would make me less forlorn; Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea; | AuthorI have taught English at Austin Community College for the past thirty years. I also worked as an Instructional Design Specialist for the ACC Instructional Technology area. I just retired from that position in February and am now teaching English Composition classes part-time . ArchivesCategoriesAll |