Language policy and linguistic theory

Kibbee, Douglas A.

doi:10.1017/cbo9780511613739.004

Cited by 48 publications

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“…There are only a few thousand Pirahã, however, and 7 billion people who manage ‘forty‐two’ without difficulty. The famous Senegalese scholar Cheikh Anta Diop chipped away at the myth of a ‘primitive’ language by translating Einstein's Theory of Relativity into his native Wolof (Cisse, 2006, p. 109; Kibbe, 2003, pp. 52–3).…”

Section: Talking Across Culturesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Moving Political Meaning across Linguistic Frontiers

Collin

2012

Political Studies

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Diplomacy, international commerce and the academic study of international relations are all based on the assumption that we can cross linguistic borders with very complicated words and concepts in our cognitive luggage. This article studies the complexities of communicating political words and concepts from one language/culture to another, noting that traditional political science has shown little interest in this process or its dangers. From linguistics, however, come two opposing theories: the effability principle defends universal translatability, while the linguistic relativity/Sapir‐Whorf hypothesis holds that meaning (particularly abstract conceptual thinking) is locked within the grammatical and semantic structure of individual languages and can be transmitted with difficulty or not at all. After considering these rival positions, we conclude that the translation of political ideas from culture to culture can be more problematic than we have commonly believed.

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Section: Talking Across Culturesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some linguists believe that all natural languages possess what is awkwardly called effability , the capacity to express any idea (Katz, 1978, pp. 209–16; Kibbe, 2003, pp. 52–3; Malpas, 1989, pp.…”

Section: Talking Across Culturesmentioning

confidence: 99%