How does language empower or limit the expression of our thoughts?
Thus, one of the empowering aspects of language is that it can enable others to understand our deepest feelings and thoughts, because words and phrases have multiple potential meanings in different contexts. Language can enable us to make logical and emotional analogies and create connections between apparently dissimilar things and ideas we would never see otherwise, if we did not share a common language -- a common language not just of vocabulary, but of the cultural connotations of different words.
But language also can limit our understanding of certain concepts. Take, for instance, the word love. The Greeks had many different words for love, to communicate the different nuances of this concept, such as fraternal love, erotic love, and the love of a pursuit or passion. But we only have one word, and sometimes this causes confusion expressing our feelings to another person or even to ourselves. We may become confused as to whether we love a friend of a different gender as a lover or a potential boyfriend or girlfriend because we know we love the person, but not exactly with what kind of love. Dividing groups into male and female nouns in other languages can have the potential for creating gender-based connotations about "le plume" (pen) -- which is masculine with in French -- which are not really intrinsic to the object, but can suggest that writing...
Persuasion is not merely stringing words together in a poetic or intelligent fashion like a novel or an essay, it is a motivational form of speech that encourages people to change their minds and actions, even the way they vote. It is an especially urgent type of appeal, like Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I Have a Dream" speech which states that African-Americans have come to "cash a check" long promised to them but never honored by the American government. This metaphor early in the King speech underlines the promise that was made in the Emancipation Proclamation was not honored and should be honored. King often uses simple, direct language that Americans of all races can identify with in their lives. Persuasive speeches make use of vivid language, as the choice of language can influence whether a listener agrees with the speaker and changes his or her ways according to the speaker's motivational prescription. The influence of language on opinions can be seen, for example, in how Americans will say they are willing to support 'freedom fighter' in other lands but not 'guerilla forces' even if these terms refer to the same type of rebel groups. Changing language can change a listener's opinion, even if the speaker's meaning is essentially the same.
