Bruce,

I appreciate the reference.

I guess I am still puzzled by your claim after reading it.

Is Darwin's theory of evolution "different" when it is stated in another language?
Is Einstein's special theory of relativity different in English because he originally conceived it in German?
Are the properties of gravity really different in various languages?
Are the principles why airplanes fly different in other languages?

We can go on in this matter with any number of scientific explanations for the world around us.

I think you are claiming they are.  I am trying to figure out what that means.  The lack of specificity in your claim does not help.

Bob Yates, University of Central Missouri


>>> "Bruce D. Despain" <[log in to unmask]> 02/25/08 4:51 AM >>>
Robert,

I have written a short essay on this subject, which my comments summarize. 
These concepts are based on a study of George Lakoff & Mark Johnson, 
Metaphors We Live By (University of Chicago, 1980)[example of "argument is 
war"]; John B. Carroll, Language Thought & Reality (MIT, 1956), especially 
Benjamin Lee Whorf, Science and Linguistics (cf. p. 207f., 1940)[example of 
"I clean it with a ramrod" in Shawnee]; Peter Atkins, Galileo's Finger: The 
Ten Great Ideas of Science (Oxford Univ. Press, 2003) [example of "heat" as 
"caloric"] and a few other works upon which they are based.  The essay is on 
my website as support for my present cautious approach to semantics: 
http://userpages.burgoyne.com/bdespain/grammar/gramexg.htm

Bruce 

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