[kergonath]

> Most languages are pretty much universal and unbiased and are capable of expressing an infinite amount of concepts.

Yes, most of them are (or can be, with the addition of a couple of neologisms or borrowings). Just like you can do anything with any Turing-complete language. Languages and cultures still have biases and built-in world views.

For example, to most Europeans, the idea that you would need to estimate your social rank to properly address someone is utterly alien. In the best case, there is a polite form, which we also use for people we don’t know. So we don’t even think about social status when we ask someone what time it is. But there are languages where that isn’t the case at all, and this tends to make you constantly aware of the social status of the people around you. So it definitely does affect how tou think about things.

It does not mean that Europeans are incapable of understanding these things, just that it is not something they implicitly care about.

[hprotagonist]

> For example, to most Europeans, the idea that you would need to estimate your social rank to properly address someone is utterly alien.

A phenomenon that is, at best, about a century old. Maybe.

That there aren’t grammatical forms or special declensions of words that signal rank relationships (as there are in, say, japanese) does not for an instant mean that we do not consciously choose linguistic styles based on social structure. Especially in Europe.

[mistermann]

> That there aren’t grammatical forms or special declensions of words that signal rank relationships (as there are in, say, japanese) does not for an instant mean that we do not consciously choose linguistic styles based on social structure. Especially in Europe.

Is it then logical to conclude that in the general area of the topic of discussion, there is in fact no noteworthy difference between Japanese and other cultures? There is nothing that exists in reality within this domain that has escaped the gaze of science?

[kmonsen]

In Norwegian you still have to address the king with a more polite pronoun, my grandmother would use this pronoun generally for richer people.

As I understand in Swedish you still need to know someone’s progression to address them politely “how would the software engineer like his coffee?”

Edit: also in Norway most women would wear head coverings when outside 100 years ago. We are not that far from having a culture most of us despise today.

[User23]

> For example, to most Europeans, the idea that you would need to estimate your social rank to properly address someone is utterly alien.

German is well known for having different pronouns based on social rank and familiarity.

[kergonath]

Two of them, just like in French or Spanish: a standard one and a polite form for people you don’t know. Social rank does not factor in this.

[User23]

I was familiar with my teachers and they still got addressed as “sie” exactly because a teacher socially outranks a student.

[kergonath]

Not really. Even the children of vips (however you want to measure social status, either wealth, political power, or whatever; it’s not really rare to outrank teachers socially) say “sie” to their teachers or to strangers.