Language and thought

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The study of how language influences thought and vice versa has a long history in a variety of fields. There are two bodies of thought forming around the debate. One body of thought stems from linguistics and is known as the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis. There is a strong and a weak version of the hypothesis that argue for more or less influence of language on thought. The strong version, linguistic determinism, argues that without language, there is and can be no thought (a largely-discredited idea), and the weak version, linguistic relativity, supports the idea that there are some influences from language on thought.^[1] On the opposing side, there are 'language of thought theories', which believe that public language is not essential to private thought though the possibility remains that private thought when infused with inessential language diverges in predilection, emphasis, tone, or subsequent recollection. Those theories address the debate of whether thought is possible without language, which is related to the question of whether language evolved for thought. These ideas are difficult to study because it proves challenging to parse the effects of culture versus thought and of language in all academic fields.

The main use of language is to convey information. It can be used to transfer thoughts from one mind, to another mind, and to modify and explore thoughts within a mind. The bits of linguistic information that enter one person's mind from another cause people to entertain a new thought with profound effects on their world knowledge, inferencing, and subsequent behavior. In the act of speaking, thought comes first, and spoken or written language is an expression that follows. Language has certain limitations, and humans cannot express all that they think.^[2] Writing was a powerful new invention because it enabled revision of language and allowed an initial thought to be conveyed, reviewed, and revised before it is expressed.

Language can also be used for thought by framing and modifying thinking with a precision that was not possible without language.