Responses

I return to the question posed earlier:
(from the preface) "Do the words we utter arise as a result of our thoughts, or are our thoughts determined by the linguistic systems we happen to have been taught?"

This question has led me to think much, in addition to the comments made on expressing ourselves in different languages. In considering the possibility that the language we have been taught actually limits our thoughts, it seems as if Hayakawa is suggesting that the implications of using a foreign language would be different. Though I feel this may be a question leading nowhere, I am still compelled to ask: If one learns to speak in a foreign language, then would his/her thoughts no longer be limited to those associated with his/her native language? Or would thoughts become even more limited, due to difficulties in communication? Many of us are currently in the process of learning a foreign language, so the question intrigued me.

(Janet Lee)