Do the languages we speak shape the way we think? Do __01__ merely express thoughts, or do the __02__ in languages shape thoughts we wish to express? Take “Humpty Dumpty sat on a….” __03__ an example. The nursery rhyme reveals __04__ languages can differ from one another. In English, we have to mark the verb __05__ tense, we way “sat” rather than “sit.” __06__ in Russian, you would have to mark tense and __07__, changing the verb form. if Mrs. Dumpty __08__ the sitting. You would also have to decide if the sitting was __09__ or not. If our hero sat on the wall for the entire time he was __10__ to, it would be another different form. of the verb __11__ if he had a great fall. While in Turkish, you would often have to include in the __12__ how you acquired this information. For instance, if you saw the fellow on the wall with your own eyes, you would use one form. of the verb, but if you had simply __13__ it, you would use a different form. Do English, Russian and Turkish speakers __14__ attending to, understanding, and remembering their __15__ differently one way or another simply __16__ they speak different languages?These questions __17__ all the major controversies in the study of __18__. Yet very little empirical work had been done on these questions until recently. The idea that language might shape thought was considered untestable at __19__. Now, some new research is showing __20__ languages does profoundly influence how we see the world.
