Date:  Mon, 11 Dec 1995 10:57:37 MST

From:  Tom Uharriet <UTOM[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ADMN.712.NEBO.EDU>

Subject: Re: thinking in language



> I'm not sure what you mean by "I do not believe there is anyone who

> has acquired a language without thinking in one." Do you mean that

> the person always thinks in a language, sometimes thinks in a language,

> or has cliches (like "Help!" or "I love you") as part of their

> thinking?

>

> Vicki Rosenzweig





As I said in the post you extracted above, these people who have

aquired a language may also think outside of language. But once a

person aquires a language, s/he also thinks in language. Sure, these

thoughts include cliches, but certainly not exclusively. Every word

in our shared language has meaning. Furthermore, other conventions

of our language dictate meaning. To the extent that these meanings

are internalized ("aquired"), they facilitate thought and reason. I

do not say that they alone can do that. Saying that the sense of

smell works on our logic does not negate the fact that language does.

Our mental constructs are built on things we have attached meaning to

(e.g. words, relationships). Nothing terribly earth-shattering in

this observation. Have these words triggered thinking? They

wouldn't have (at least not in the same way) if you have not aquired

a significant amount of the same language that I have aquired.



Thanks for adding to the discussion,





Tom Uharriet

utom[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]admn.712.nebo.edu