The Weird Way Language Affects Our Sense of Time and Space
Why Read This
What Makes This Article Worth Your Time
Summary
What This Article Is About
The article explores how language profoundly shapes our perception of time and space, challenging the notion that thinking is universal and independent of language. Researchers like Lera Boroditsky and Daniel Casasanto have demonstrated that English speakers typically envision time as a horizontal line moving left to right, while Mandarin speakers often perceive it vertically with the past above and future below. These linguistic metaphors aren’t merely ways of talking—they actually influence cognitive processing, with speakers reacting faster to temporal information organized according to their language’s spatial framework.
The effects extend beyond perception to real-world behavior. Keith Chen’s research revealed that speakers of “futureless languages” (like German and Mandarin, which don’t grammatically separate present from future) save more money, smoke less, and engage in more future-oriented behaviors than speakers of “futured languages” like English. Similarly, languages influence spatial navigation: Kuuk Thaayorre speakers use cardinal directions for mundane descriptions, while English relies on relative terms. Bilingual individuals remarkably shift between these cognitive frameworks depending on which language they’re using, demonstrating language’s dynamic influence on thought.
Key Points
Main Takeaways
Time Orientation Varies
English speakers view time horizontally left-to-right, Hebrew speakers right-to-left, while Mandarin speakers often conceptualize time vertically.
Metaphors Shape Cognition
Spatial metaphors aren’t just linguistic—English speakers conceptualize duration as lines, while Greek and Spanish speakers view time as three-dimensional containers.
Futureless Language Effects
Speakers of languages without future tense save 31% more, smoke less, and engage in more future-focused behaviors.
Bilingual Cognitive Flexibility
Bilinguals shift between different conceptual frameworks for time and space depending on which language context they’re operating in.
Spatial Reference Frames
Kuuk Thaayorre speakers use absolute cardinal directions for all spatial descriptions, while English uses relative, context-dependent terms.
Language Influences Physics
Casasanto suggests that English-based “time as line” metaphors may have shaped Western physics’ traditional conception of temporal flow.
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Article Analysis
Breaking Down the Elements
Main Idea
Linguistic Relativity in Practice
The article’s central thesis is that language significantly influences cognition, particularly our conceptualization of abstract dimensions like time and space. While rejecting strong determinism, it demonstrates through extensive research that linguistic structures—from grammatical tenses to spatial metaphors—shape how we perceive, process, and navigate these fundamental aspects of reality, with measurable effects on both cognitive processing speed and real-world decision-making behaviors.
Purpose
Popularizing Linguistic Cognition Research
The authors aim to make cutting-edge research on linguistic relativity accessible to general readers while promoting their book. They seek to demonstrate that language’s influence on thought isn’t merely theoretical but has tangible, measurable consequences—from savings rates to navigation abilities—thereby challenging readers’ assumptions about the universality of human cognition and encouraging appreciation for linguistic and cognitive diversity.
Structure
Question-Driven → Evidence-Based → Implication
The article opens with thought-provoking questions about everyday tasks, establishing reader engagement before introducing the language-thought debate. It then systematically presents research evidence organized by theme: temporal perception across languages, bilingual cognitive flexibility, duration metaphors, grammatical future tense effects, and spatial reference frames. Each section builds from specific experimental findings to broader implications, concluding with practical takeaways about multilingual benefits and cognitive flexibility.
Tone
Accessible, Enthusiastic & Evidence-Driven
The authors adopt an engaging, accessible tone that makes complex cognitive science comprehensible to general readers through concrete examples and everyday scenarios. They balance enthusiasm for fascinating research findings with scientific rigor, carefully noting methodological challenges and avoiding overstated claims. The tone is informative yet conversational, frequently using second-person address to draw readers into the phenomena being described while maintaining credibility through extensive citation of expert researchers.
Key Terms
Vocabulary from the Article
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Tough Words
Challenging Vocabulary
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In a slanting direction; at an angle rather than horizontally or vertically, typically connecting opposite corners of a shape.
“If you were asked to walk diagonally across a field, would you know what to do?”
Serving as a crucial means or agent in bringing something about; playing an important role in making something happen.
“English, German and French speakers were instrumental in creating it.”
To be a sign of; to indicate or represent something explicitly, particularly through a word, symbol, or grammatical structure.
“In English, those two descriptions can denote two different sides of the dog.”
Not alive, especially not in the manner of animals and humans; lacking consciousness, life, or the ability to move independently.
“They simply preferred the intrinsic frame, unless the object was inanimate—it was a vase or a car.”
Using or based on what one feels to be true without conscious reasoning; instinctively understood or immediately comprehensible.
“To the English and Spanish speakers, this was intuitive.”
In a way that is worthy of attention or notice; to a striking or unusual degree that exceeds normal expectations.
“Remarkably, your answers to these questions are likely to be influenced by the language you speak.”
Reading Comprehension
Test Your Understanding
5 questions covering different RC question types
1According to the article, contemporary researchers believe that human thoughts are entirely shaped and determined by the language we speak.
2What is Daniel Casasanto’s primary research method for isolating language’s effect on cognition from cultural influences?
3Which sentence best illustrates the concept that linguistic metaphors have measurable cognitive effects beyond mere ways of speaking?
4Evaluate the following statements about Keith Chen’s research on futureless languages and economic behavior:
Speakers of futureless languages like German and Mandarin showed higher savings rates and accumulated more wealth by retirement than speakers of futured languages.
Chen’s findings were entirely explained by cultural and socioeconomic factors, with the language correlation disappearing when these variables were controlled for.
The 2018 Meran/Merano experiment with bilingual children provided supporting evidence for Chen’s hypothesis about future-oriented decision making.
Select True or False for all three statements, then click “Check Answers”
5Based on Casasanto’s speculation about Western physics and the container versus line metaphor for time, what can be reasonably inferred about the relationship between language and scientific theory development?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
Bilingual individuals demonstrate remarkable cognitive flexibility, automatically shifting their mental representations based on language context. Research shows that bilingual Mandarin-English speakers in Singapore process time both horizontally (English pattern) and vertically (Mandarin pattern), with reaction times varying based on which conceptual framework matches the task. This switching occurs dynamically based on linguistic cues—for instance, seeing the word “tid” versus “duración” changed how Swedish-Spanish bilinguals estimated time, demonstrating that the same individual maintains multiple cognitive frameworks accessible through language.
Futured languages like English, French, Italian, and Spanish grammatically distinguish present from future using separate tense forms (“it rains” versus “it will rain”), creating a linguistic barrier between now and later. Futureless languages like German, Mandarin, Japanese, and Scandinavian languages can express futurity through context without grammatical future tense (“Morgen regnet” means “it rains tomorrow” in German). This grammatical difference correlates with behavioral patterns, with futureless language speakers showing greater future orientation in savings, health behaviors, and delayed gratification.
The Aymara people, living in the Andes across Bolivia, Chile, Peru, and Argentina, reason that because we cannot see the future, it must logically be positioned behind us where vision is impossible. Conversely, the past—which we know and can “see” through memory—is positioned in front. This metaphorical reasoning manifests behaviorally: Aymara speakers make backwards gestures when discussing future events, contrasting with forward gestures made by Spanish speakers. This demonstrates how cultural logic embedded in language creates fundamentally different spatial-temporal mappings.
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This article is classified as Intermediate level, requiring familiarity with scientific concepts and ability to follow multi-layered arguments connecting linguistic research to cognitive psychology. While it introduces specialized vocabulary (temporal, cardinal directions, reference frames), the authors use accessible explanations and concrete examples to make complex research comprehensible. Readers should be comfortable with abstract reasoning about language-cognition relationships and able to track comparative evidence across multiple research studies and linguistic communities.
Understanding linguistic differences in spatial reference frames has direct communication and navigation implications. The article illustrates this with a German speaker confused by “walk across the field diagonally”—needing an endpoint reference (“walk towards the church”) rather than just directional description. Similarly, instructions like “the keys are to the right of the computer” may be interpreted differently by Spanish versus English speakers due to preferences for intrinsic versus relative reference frames. Awareness of these differences improves cross-cultural communication and helps explain navigation misunderstandings in multilingual contexts.
The Ultimate Reading Course covers 9 RC question types: Multiple Choice, True/False, Multi-Statement T/F, Text Highlight, Fill in the Blanks, Matching, Sequencing, Error Spotting, and Short Answer. This comprehensive coverage prepares you for any reading comprehension format you might encounter.
