Language vs place
The term “space” tends to be synonymous with “place” in many people’s minds. They assume that the only difference between these two words is the physical dimension, and a lot of them see place as a simple portion of space available for use. I also used to think that space and place, which usually mean locations where people live, are identical to one another. However, place is much more meaningful than space. Both Tuan and Price demonstrate that place is subjective with attached meanings by local people but space lacks the same significance. I consider language, which is diverse and variable, to be an essential element that endows unique characteristics to a place. Do people who speak different languages think in different ways? Do different languages people speak shape different identities of places they live in? The answers to both questions are yes and language is certainly the connection between a place and local people based on some recent studies and personal experiences.
When people talk about the word “place,” hometown is frequently the place that first comes to mind. While hometown is defined in dictionaries as the city or town where one was born or grew up, Chinese people seem to consider “hometown” as the place where one’s father was born or grew up. For example, my father grew up in Hunan and even though my family moved to Shenzhen when I was only three months old, and has stayed in Shenzhen ever since, Chinese people today will refer to Hunan, instead of Shenzhen, as my hometown. Regarding to the inherited property, such Chinese common sense tends to attach historical effects to the meaning of hometown. Though historical accounts for a place contribute to its unique meaning, I think that this custom overlooks the interactions between a place and its present residents, because I feel a deeper connection to the place I grew up rather than to the place my father came from.
When people talk about the word “place,” hometown is frequently the place that first comes to mind. While hometown is defined in dictionaries as the city or town where one was born or grew up, Chinese people seem to consider “hometown” as the place where one’s father was born or grew up. For example, my father grew up in Hunan and even though my family moved to Shenzhen when I was only three months old, and has stayed in Shenzhen ever since, Chinese people today will refer to Hunan, instead of Shenzhen, as my hometown. Regarding to the inherited property, such Chinese common sense tends to attach historical effects to the meaning of hometown. Though historical accounts for a place contribute to its unique meaning, I think that this custom overlooks the interactions between a place and its present residents, because I feel a deeper connection to the place I grew up rather than to the place my father came from.
In discussions of hometown, Tuan claims that the sense of the home as a place where the sick and the injured can recover under special care is unique to human beings among primates (137). There is no doubt that hometown offers a stage for us to feel warm and positive when we are not in a good mood. As far as I am concerned, the feeling of security is not only attached with a specific place, but also connected to intimate experiences with families and friends. Intimacy indeed refers more to being close with someone, as Tuan points out, “Intimacy between persons does not require knowing the details of each other’s life” (141). True intimacy comes from communication between human beings. Therefore, I consider language to be a key factor that links a place and its local people in a way only humans can experience.
Though some recent biological studies show that nonhuman animals also have a sense of place, human beings respond to place in more complicated ways that are inconceivable in the animal world. Language, which separates us from animals, is a gift that empowers humans with communications. Since numerous people live in one society rather than separately on isolated islands, daily communication with one another is important and essential. Although English has been widely propagated around the world and has been used as a global language, languages vary a lot across different areas. While English is the language widely spoken in the United States, Canada, and some European countries, such as the United Kingdom, it is not used frequently in many Asian countries. Korean is the first language in Korea; Japanese people speak Japanese; Mandarin is taught in China. Such variances among languages impact both a place and individual developments in the place.
As studies have shown at Stanford University and MIT, Boroditsky concludes that data collected around the world shows that people who speak different languages do indeed think differently and even grammar can affect how people see the world. In making this conclusion, Boroditsky urges us to investigate the deeper role of languages in constructing our daily lives so that we can take one step closer to exploring how languages are related with place and its inhabitants. Since time is an important issue associated with events and experiences in a specific domain, Boroditsky conducted experiments on representations of time among people in different groups. She mainly focused on two groups—English and Mandarin speakers. The results showed that English speakers were more likely to use horizontal spatial methods when they think about time while Mandarin speakers used vertical terms more frequently to describe weeks, months, and years. English speakers predominantly use “ahead, behind, forward, back” to organize events whereas Mandarin speakers generally talk about the order of events by “shang (up) and xia(down). For example, we say that they are walking several miles ahead of us in order to indicate the horizontal motion in English. In Mandarin, we say “shang ge yue” which represents the last month in a vertical metaphor. It is believed that variances in languages influence how people think of spatial items.
Despite the conclusion made by Boroditsky in her experiments that languages reveal the different ways in which people think about time, I would like to consider that a specific language also represents the unique characteristic of a place based on my experiences. Similar to Lahiri, who was born in London but raised in Rhode Island, I was born in Hunan, but my family has moved to Shenzhen when I was only a three-month old. Hunan is thought to be my hometown based on the Chinese definition, but I view Shenzhen as the place that I belong to, and it is always the reply I give when people ask me where I am from. Shenzhen, a coastal city close to Hong Kong, lies in the south of China. Although Mandarin is the official language taught in Chinese schools and used frequently in public places, various dialects exist among different cities. In Shenzhen, local people speak Cantonese with each other. During the first few years of our immigration, it was difficult for my parents since they barely knew Cantonese. Work is not a concern for them since Mandarin is used in offices, but it was hard for them to make new friends because Cantonese is spoken in daily life. They told me that they felt depressed when they first came to Shenzhen and apparently they still do not consider Shenzhen as home even though they have already lived in the city for eighteen years and are able to communicate with others in Cantonese. Unlike my parents who still consider themselves immigrants, I feel that I am a part of the city. Since I was raised in Shenzhen, language was never a problem for me. While I speak Mandarin in class and at home, I talk to my friends in Cantonese fluently. I never felt confused about hometown although I am labeled as an immigrant. As Price states that place is deeply felt in childhood, I believe that Shenzhen is the place that has shaped my identity and formed my values. My sense of belonging, as I am concerned, is probably a result of my easy communication with other people in the city because Cantonese, as well as Mandarin, is my first language.
As studies have shown at Stanford University and MIT, Boroditsky concludes that data collected around the world shows that people who speak different languages do indeed think differently and even grammar can affect how people see the world. In making this conclusion, Boroditsky urges us to investigate the deeper role of languages in constructing our daily lives so that we can take one step closer to exploring how languages are related with place and its inhabitants. Since time is an important issue associated with events and experiences in a specific domain, Boroditsky conducted experiments on representations of time among people in different groups. She mainly focused on two groups—English and Mandarin speakers. The results showed that English speakers were more likely to use horizontal spatial methods when they think about time while Mandarin speakers used vertical terms more frequently to describe weeks, months, and years. English speakers predominantly use “ahead, behind, forward, back” to organize events whereas Mandarin speakers generally talk about the order of events by “shang (up) and xia(down). For example, we say that they are walking several miles ahead of us in order to indicate the horizontal motion in English. In Mandarin, we say “shang ge yue” which represents the last month in a vertical metaphor. It is believed that variances in languages influence how people think of spatial items.
Despite the conclusion made by Boroditsky in her experiments that languages reveal the different ways in which people think about time, I would like to consider that a specific language also represents the unique characteristic of a place based on my experiences. Similar to Lahiri, who was born in London but raised in Rhode Island, I was born in Hunan, but my family has moved to Shenzhen when I was only a three-month old. Hunan is thought to be my hometown based on the Chinese definition, but I view Shenzhen as the place that I belong to, and it is always the reply I give when people ask me where I am from. Shenzhen, a coastal city close to Hong Kong, lies in the south of China. Although Mandarin is the official language taught in Chinese schools and used frequently in public places, various dialects exist among different cities. In Shenzhen, local people speak Cantonese with each other. During the first few years of our immigration, it was difficult for my parents since they barely knew Cantonese. Work is not a concern for them since Mandarin is used in offices, but it was hard for them to make new friends because Cantonese is spoken in daily life. They told me that they felt depressed when they first came to Shenzhen and apparently they still do not consider Shenzhen as home even though they have already lived in the city for eighteen years and are able to communicate with others in Cantonese. Unlike my parents who still consider themselves immigrants, I feel that I am a part of the city. Since I was raised in Shenzhen, language was never a problem for me. While I speak Mandarin in class and at home, I talk to my friends in Cantonese fluently. I never felt confused about hometown although I am labeled as an immigrant. As Price states that place is deeply felt in childhood, I believe that Shenzhen is the place that has shaped my identity and formed my values. My sense of belonging, as I am concerned, is probably a result of my easy communication with other people in the city because Cantonese, as well as Mandarin, is my first language.
As Tuan points out, people sometimes may not be aware of the sense of belonging to a place since such feeling is buried deeply in our innermost part (138). However, the removal from a place we used to live in, according to what Price has mentioned, will always incite emotions of anxiety, terror and panic, and provoke the sense of belonging flash to the surface of our consciousness. My support of these two theoretical statements is indeed addressing on my own experiences. I am an international student who comes from China. During my freshman year, it was my first time coming and living in the United States, which is quite far away from my home. Since I studied in Chinese normal high school rather than international school, I prepared for the language exam TOEFL as well as the SAT by myself. When I first arrived in Atlanta, the completely new environment made me feel uncomfortable. While people back at home speak Chinese, everyone here talks to one another in English. It is not easy for me to speak up well in class because I am not used to the discussion-based classes. Most classes in China are teacher-centered lectures and participation of students is less important than in American classes. Also because English is my second language and I am not as fluent as native speakers, I find that becoming friends with them is more difficult than making friends with Chinese because communications in English are not easy for me. Thus I was depressed and homesick at the beginning of my freshmen year. I realized the strongest feeling that I belong to Shenzhen, a place where I defined as hometown, when I stayed in the new unfamiliar place.
In addition, the feeling of being excluded was overwhelming not only to me but also to some other international students. Choi, a Korean girl at Emory, talked to me about difficulties she encountered after coming to America. Though she indeed wants to participate actively in class, she is afraid of saying things awkwardly since English is also her second language and she is always worried that she could not express her opinions well in English. “It is really difficult to become friends with native speakers,” said by Choi, “In addition to language problems, cultural differences also limit our communications.” While Choi felt comfortable talking to her friends in Korean at Emory, she thought that the feeling of a place was probably based upon how well one can use language.
“If you don’t know where you are, ” just as Wendell Berry claims, “you don’t know who you are.” The substantial connotation of a place is represented in many ways. Whereas both Tuan and Price have emphasized the humanistic characteristics of place, which surprised me significantly, I consider language as an important element that builds the relationship between a place and individual developments on the place. From Lahiri’s narration and my own experience, it can be recognized that one’s sense of home is not dependent on one’s birthplace but rather on the daily communication in the place one is living in. If Boroditsky’s experiments are true that people who speak different languages think differently, as I think they are, then the influence of languages on place needs to be accentuated. The linguistic process is fundamental to our thoughts, and unconsciously but profoundly shapes the place we value and the way we live.
In addition, the feeling of being excluded was overwhelming not only to me but also to some other international students. Choi, a Korean girl at Emory, talked to me about difficulties she encountered after coming to America. Though she indeed wants to participate actively in class, she is afraid of saying things awkwardly since English is also her second language and she is always worried that she could not express her opinions well in English. “It is really difficult to become friends with native speakers,” said by Choi, “In addition to language problems, cultural differences also limit our communications.” While Choi felt comfortable talking to her friends in Korean at Emory, she thought that the feeling of a place was probably based upon how well one can use language.
“If you don’t know where you are, ” just as Wendell Berry claims, “you don’t know who you are.” The substantial connotation of a place is represented in many ways. Whereas both Tuan and Price have emphasized the humanistic characteristics of place, which surprised me significantly, I consider language as an important element that builds the relationship between a place and individual developments on the place. From Lahiri’s narration and my own experience, it can be recognized that one’s sense of home is not dependent on one’s birthplace but rather on the daily communication in the place one is living in. If Boroditsky’s experiments are true that people who speak different languages think differently, as I think they are, then the influence of languages on place needs to be accentuated. The linguistic process is fundamental to our thoughts, and unconsciously but profoundly shapes the place we value and the way we live.
|
Here are two videos about my hometown, Shenzhen. The first one simply introduces the city while the second one is more about presenting the amazing city view. I hope you guys enjoy these two videos :)
Works Cited List Boroditsky, Lera. "Does Language Shape Thought?: Mandarin and English Speakers' Conceptions of Time." Cognitive Psychology 43.1 (2001): 1-22. Lahiri, Jhumpa. "Rhode Island." Identity. Ed. John Scenters-Zapico. London: Oxford UP, 2013. N. pag. Print. Price, Patricia L. Dry Place: Landscapes of Belonging and Exclusion. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota, 2004. Print. Tuan, Yi-fu. Space and Place: The Perspective of Experience. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota, 1977. Print. |