Study finds concrete words translate more easily across languages, supporting linguistic relativity theory
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Researchers used machine learning to examine how word meanings align across languages, finding similarity within domains but variation across domains.
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Concrete meanings (hand, tree) vary less across languages than abstract ones (democracy, truth).
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Languages spoken closer together have more similar meanings.
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The study provides evidence for linguistic relativity - how the particular language a person speaks influences their cognition.
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Understanding differences in meaning associations between languages can improve translation technology and second language teaching.