How language can affect the way we think Keith Chen (TED Talk: Could your language affect your ability to save money?) might be an economist, but he wants to talk about language. For instance, he points out, in Chinese, saying “this is my uncle” is not as straightforward as you might think. In Chinese, you have no choice but to encode more information about said uncle. The language requires that you denote the side the uncle is on, whether he’s related by marriage or birth and, if it’s your father’s brother, whether he’s older or younger. “All of this information is obligatory. This got Chen wondering: Is there a connection between language and how we think and behave? While “futured languages,” like English, distinguish between the past, present and future, “futureless languages” like Chinese use the same phrasing to describe the events of yesterday, today and tomorrow. But that’s only the beginning. Featured illustration via iStock.
There Is There Are - English Grammar Rules We use there is and there are to say that something exists. Positive Sentences We use there is for singular and there are for plural. There is one table in the classroom. There are three chairs in the classroom. We also use There is with uncountable nouns: There is milk in the fridge. Contractions The contraction of there is is there's. There's a good song on the radio. You cannot contract there are. There are nine cats on the roof. Negative Form The negative is formed by putting not after is or are: There is not a horse in the field. We almost always use contractions when speaking. The Negative contractions are: There's not = There isn't There are not = There aren't There aren't with ANY When we want to indicate that a zero quantity of something exists we use there aren't any. There aren't any people at the party. We also use this structure with uncountable nouns: There isn't any water in the swimming pool. Questions To form a question we place is / are in front of there. How Many with Are There
Research demonstrates how the use of bad language can alter our behaviour I have a friend who can't say "fuck". She never has been able to and shakes her head helplessly when teased and dared to give it a go. She's not a prude. But she has such a strong reaction to the word that she cannot bring herself to utter it. Using the f-word in the first sentence of this article wasn't done for gratuitous effect. It has been known for a while that people fluent in two languages respond far less strongly to swear words in their mother tongue than in their second language. But a new study of people's reactions to a "bad" swear word – fuck, for example – compared a euphemism that they understood to mean the same thing, now suggests our strong emotional reactions to swear words happen as a result of early verbal conditioning, rather than the meaning that is conveyed. All sorts of emotions are associated with the sound of swear words as we are growing up, says Jeff Bowers at the University of Bristol, who carried out the research. What was that "objective"?
Having a Y chromosome doesn't affect women's response to sexual images, brain study shows The study provides "further evidence that we need to revamp our thinking about what we mean by 'man' and 'woman,'" says psychologist Kim Wallen. By Carol Clark Women born with a rare condition that gives them a Y chromosome don’t only look like women physically, they also have the same brain responses to visual sexual stimuli, a new study shows. The journal Hormones and Behavior published the results of the first brain imaging study of women with complete androgen insensitivity, or CAIS, led by psychologists at Emory. “Our findings clearly rule out a direct effect of the Y chromosome in producing masculine patterns of response,” says Kim Wallen, an Emory professor of psychology and behavioral neuroendocrinology. Wallen conducted the research with Stephan Hamann, Emory professor of psychology, and graduate students in their labs. The Y chromosome was identified as the sex-determining chromosome in 1905. Women with CAIS are born with an XY chromosome pair. Images: Thinkstock
Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy abduction (Igor Douven) Abelard [Abailard], Peter (Peter King) Abhidharma (Noa Ronkin) abilities (John Maier) Abner of Burgos (Shalom Sadik) Abrabanel, Judah (Aaron Hughes) abstract objects (Gideon Rosen) accidental properties — see essential vs. accidental properties action (George Wilson and Samuel Shpall) action-based theories of perception (Robert Briscoe and Rick Grush) action at a distance — see quantum mechanics: action at a distance in actualism (Christopher Menzel) adaptationism (Steven Hecht Orzack and Patrick Forber) Addams, Jane (Maurice Hamington) Adorno, Theodor W. (Lambert Zuidervaart) advance directives (Agnieszka Jaworska) Aegidius Romanus — see Giles of Rome Aenesidemus — see skepticism: ancient aesthetic, concept of the (James Shelley) aesthetics aesthetics of the everyday (Yuriko Saito) affirmative action (Robert Fullinwider) Africana Philosophy (Lucius T. Outlaw Jr.) B [jump to top] C [jump to top] D [jump to top] Damian, Peter (Toivo J.
For sale: baby shoes, never worn - Wikipedia Claimed to be the shortest possible story in the English language A six-word story regarding a pair of baby shoes is considered an extreme example of flash fiction. "For sale: baby shoes, never worn." is the entirety of what has been described as a six-word story, making it an extreme example of what is called flash fiction or sudden fiction. Although it is often attributed to Ernest Hemingway, the link to him is unsubstantiated and similar stories predate him.[1][2] Setting[edit] The claim of Hemingway's authorship originates in an unsubstantiated anecdote about a wager between him and other writers. History[edit] This May 16, 1910 article from The Spokane Press recounts an earlier advertisement that struck the author as particularly tragic. The May 16, 1910, edition of The Spokane Press had an article titled "Tragedy of Baby's Death is Revealed in Sale of Clothes." In 1917, William R. Legacy[edit] See also[edit] Literature portal References[edit]
The Science of Swearing: A look into the human MIND and other less socially acceptable four-letter words | Harvard Science Review by Michelle Drews Disclaimer: This article covers the psychological, neurobiological, linguistic, and legal aspects of the use of profanity. Readers are advised that it does contain words that some individuals my find offensive or inappropriate for young children. What’s in a word? Would that which I call my pen write any less well if I call it a banana? Would it taste any better? Becoming Taboo When asked to define profanity in 1964, former Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart famously stated that he could not describe it and added, “But I know it when I see it” (Jacobellis v. How then does a word become taboo? Furthermore, as culture changes, so does what is taboo (Pinker, 2007). Why Swear? So, if taboo phrases are cultural “no-no”s, why do they persist? Swear words are also useful and effective ways of conveying that you feel very strongly about something or of inciting strong feelings in someone else, even when used outside of their traditional definitions (Jay, 2009a; Pinker, 2007).
Redirect Notice View more How We Speak Reveals What We Think, with Steven Pinker Transcript My name is Steve Pinker, and I’m Professor of Psychology at Harvard University. And today I’m going to speak to you about language. Language is one of the fundamental topics in the human sciences. Language comes so naturally to us that we’re apt to forget what a strange and miraculous gift it is. Now, the ideas we are going to share are about this talent, language, but with a slightly different sequence of hisses and squeaks, I could cause you to be thinking thoughts about a vast array of topics, anything from the latest developments in your favorite reality show to theories of the origin of the universe. The Science of Language Not surprisingly, language is central to human life. There’s some 6,000 languages spoken on Earth, all of them complex, and no one has ever discovered a human society that lacks complex language. Components of Linguistics Language is an intricate talent and it’s not surprising that the science of language should be a complex discipline. (1.) (2.) (3.)
English Listening Lesson Libary Online Swearing is emotional and creative language say researchers who claim it is GOOD for you Theory presented to British Psychological Society conference in BirminghamParticipants played aggressive video game and held ice-cold glass of waterDr Richard Stephens of Keele University added it explains why we swear'We want to use more taboo words when we're emotional', he said By Dan Bloom Published: 14:55 GMT, 11 May 2014 | Updated: 09:56 GMT, 12 May 2014 Scroll down for an audio interview Swearing is a harmless emotional release which could make you feel stronger, researchers have claimed - though only in moderation. Participants were made to play aggressive computer games and could recall a wider variety of swear words after their session, as well as turning the air blue much more often. Rather than just proving we swear more when we're angry, the psychologists insisted, the study showed profanity can be an emotional coping mechanism which makes us feel more resilient. Letting off steam: Swearing could be a harmless emotional release, at least in moderation, researchers claim 3. 6. 9.
10 Remarkable Exoplanets" When searching for Earth-like planets, astronomers look for what are known as Goldilocks planets. These planets aren't so far away from their parent star that they're frozen wastelands yet not so near that water boils off the surface. Unfortunately, Gliese 876d isn't a Goldilocks planet. In fact, the planet is nearly 50 times closer to its parent star (Gliese 876) than Earth is to the sun, and it may have a scorching surface temperature of 642 kelvins (almost 700 degrees Fahrenheit or 369 degrees Celsius) [sources: BBC, EPE]. But while Gliese 876d likely won't ever be home to humans, it does hold the distinction of being one of the first rocky super-Earths ever discovered. More encouraging still is the fact that Gliese 876d is only 15 light-years away, proving that Earth-like planets might not only exist, but exist fairly close to home [source: BBC].
25 maps that explain the English language English is the language of Shakespeare and the language of Chaucer. It’s spoken in dozens of countries around the world, from the United States to a tiny island named Tristan da Cunha. It reflects the influences of centuries of international exchange, including conquest and colonization, from the Vikings through the 21st century. 1) Where English comes from English, like more than 400 other languages, is part of the Indo-European language family, sharing common roots not just with German and French but with Russian, Hindi, Punjabi, and Persian. 2) Where Indo-European languages are spoken in Europe today Saying that English is Indo-European, though, doesn’t really narrow it down much. 3) The Anglo-Saxon migration Here’s how the English language got started: After Roman troops withdrew from Britain in the early 5th century, three Germanic peoples — the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes — moved in and established kingdoms. The next source of English was Old Norse. 7) The colonization of America