Saudi Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences (SJHSS)
Volume-4 | Issue-12 | 783-785
Review Article
Language and Thought, Which one comes First? Thought with or without Language
Meisam Ziafar, Ehsan Namaziandost
Published : Dec. 25, 2019
Abstract
Claim has always been made that thought and language are inseparatable phenomena. Accordingly, major debate has revolved around the dependence or interdependence of language and thought. Based on linguistic relativity hypothesis, our perception of reality depends on the language we speak. The counterclaim has also been made that languages are not so much different and this makes us skeptical of the idea that their speakers have different thoughts. Some hold the belief that language may not serve a proper medium for thought, mentioning extralinguistic drawbacks such as ambiguity, deixis, and co-reference. All in all, it seems rational to maintain that thought and language have compromised to coexist and attempts to prioritize one over the other are mythical if not too much simplistic.