www.sixfingeredman.net
..................................................
::. .  .   .     .       .          .

sapir-whorf hypothesis

Inuits have over 40 words for snow. (Actually, not.)

Inuit doesn't have words for anger or jealousy, nor do they appear to experience these emotions. This was actually invalidated ~50 years ago.

Japanese have a word meaning "feeling of companionship from being one of a small group of people doing an activity that almost nobody else is doing", for example, when you meet someone on the street at 4am.

Language is condensed experience; the issue isn't that language and culture defines experience, but the other way around. If you have not experienced something, it doesn't matter if your language has a word for it, you will still not understand it. And if you have, you will be able to express and understand it regardless.

Japanese has no word for "water"; it must be hot or cold.

New, surprising evidence