What is the Most Creative Language in the World?
It is claimed that English language, with phonogram scripts and using a limited number of letters to record the phonetic sound, is more rational than other languages and thus the language of creative ideas that makes it superior to all other languages on earth. Hence English speakers are better at abstract thinking than the speakers of other languages (especially Chinese, the pictographic language), with an analytical style of thinking. Thus in the global context, people who don’t or can’t speak English are considered less civilized, less educated and even unintelligent or unwise.
However, many linguistic scholars believe that purpose of projecting English as such is to make it a global language to be ultimately used as a powerful tool for the output of Western culture, and even a means of Western countries to seek cultural hegemony. And in the words of Palestinian American academic, orientalist, literary critic and political activist, Edward Said, “its purpose is not to conquer territory, nor is to control the economic field, it is to control people’s mind, which is a means to change power relations between two countries.”
Thus, being language of colonizer or white man , English was imposed on most non-white people in Asia and Africa as a language of communication and learning. And with the globalization of American as well as European culture or values, which started with the so-called age of conquest or exploration (during the 1500’s and 1600’s when rival European nations were struggling for the control of world and thus its resources especially through subjugating the natives of the Americas, Africa, southern Asia, and the islands of the South Seas) its learning was also made compulsory for most of the students (junior and high school) in colonized countries. Consequently, it has been playing the role of the dominant global language for many centuries. And as a result men are labelled as “rational” and language has been conditioned to support this idea of “rationality.”
Even America’s most formidable rival or competitor, the world’s most populous country and the most powerful economy after America, China is believed to have placed a strong emphasis on English learning for the purpose of strengthening its international political and economic relations and thus its influence and position in the rapidly changing and competitive world. This made English become a compulsory subject in primary schools, secondary schools, and universities in China also to help attain this goal since 2003.
It is also propagated that science and math (supposedly two most important subjects for job opportunities/career growth, especially in a world where technology is worshiped like God ) are all written or explained in English. Thus learning English is considered essential for many non-white children studying in schools ensuring their future prospects are brighter than non-English speakers.
However, we mustn’t forget that words (of any language) are not only often ambiguous and convey multiple meanings at the same time, but also used as a propaganda tool to serve the interests of powerful sections of society especially those of white nations. They don’t have a self-evident or absolute meaning and are basically symbols or pictures and all symbols are abstract, ambiguous, and arbitrary be they phonograms or logograms. As they are not intrinsically connected to what they represent, they can be inherently confusing and thus misleading too.
In Paulo Coelho’s famous novel “The Alchemist” (that beautifully combines magic, mysticism, wisdom, and awe or wonder as well as medieval mysticism with the voice of the desert — dreams, symbols, signs, and adventure into an inspiring tale of self-discovery) the protagonist (a shepherd) is forced to think about a language that doesn’t need words as he is able to communicate effectively with his sheep well without even uttering a single word. On the contrary, he finds it difficult to continue conversing with people as they say strange things that are mostly inarticulate of incomprehensible.
Here is a very captivating excerpt from the page 60 of the novel:
“He was learning a lot of new things. Some of them were things that he had already experienced, and weren’t really new, but that he had never perceived before. And he had never perceived them because he had become accustomed to them. He realized: If I can learn to understand this language without words, I can learn to understand the world.”
What can be concluded from the above?
It is the language of love, generosity, compassion, empathy, and kindness that is the most creative as well as powerful language as it doesn’t contain or need any words but only gestures and actions that are easier to understand and make the truth more visible and explicit. This is the language that has universal characteristics and thus can be equally understood by all the living and even non-living things including animals, birds, trees and stones without going through the rigours of learning or training.
The premise that there is a connection between language and reasoning has also been proved false by a recent research. According to Evelina Fedorenko, a neuroscientist and researcher at MIT’s McGovern Institute, idea that language basically came about to allow us to think more complex thoughts is not correct. The idea, it is said, had also been championed by people like legendary linguists Noam Chomsky and Jerry Fodor in the mid-20th century. However, a Scientific American report negates these claims or old assumptions about how we think and what role language plays in the process.
Recently there is a talk and debate about a new phenomenon called “Unsymbolized Thinking (UT). And below is some explanation of this phenomenon from an AI bot (Chat GPT.)
What is “unsymbolized thought”?
ChatGPT
Unsymbolized thought refers to the idea that certain mental processes or experiences cannot be represented by symbols, such as words or numbers. This concept is often associated with the study of consciousness and the nature of human thought. Some philosophers and cognitive scientists argue that certain aspects of human experience, such as emotions or sensory perceptions, are difficult or impossible to fully convey through language or other symbolic systems.
And more than 2500 years ago Gautama Buddha’s knowledge or wisdom was already far ahead of Chat GPT as he, questioning the efficacy of prevalent conventional education system in India (based on the written numbers or the Hindu numbering system with Arabic numerals and thus making the scientific revolution possible), criticized the spoken language by suggesting that “language that rattles incessantly within the skull space of man, radiates illusions.”
He further declared:
“Schooling is limitation of master’s wakeful sleep and Enlightenment comes when the noise dies, when the words and numbers vanish.”
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REFERENCES:
i) Qi, G. Y. (2016). The importance of English in primary school education in China: perceptions of students. Multilingual Education, 6(1), 1–18.
ii) file:///C:/Users/computer%20world/Downloads/125984636–1.pdf
iii) https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-17105569
iv) “The Alchemist” by Paulo Coelho (pp. 33, 60)
v) https://www.livescience.com/can-we-think-without-language
vi) Global Education: An Analysis: edited by P.R. Trivedi, U.K. Singh, K. N. Sudarshan. (Page 51)
