You need language to be able to count

If you didn't have much language, would you be able to count? That is a question that has occupied researchers for some time. Now, a research team from the University of Chicago has concluded that if you haven't got the language, numbers make no sense.

 

The team studied a group of Nicaraguan deaf people, who had created their own unique sign language. These people had jobs, could handle money, yet their invented sign language lacked vocabulary for numbers. Non-deaf Nicaraguans, and deaf Americans who communicated using American Sign Language had no problems counting sheep in a pen, yet the deaf Nicaraguans couldn't do it. The researchers concluded that if you didn't have the words for the numbers, you couldn't count.

 

Here's a brief summary of the research in the New Scientist.

 

Comments

[Kami]

Really interesting!
Thanks for sharing. I was meaning to read about math concepts and language.

[moncler nouveau]

I just sent this post to a bunch of my friends as I agree with most of what you’re saying here and the way you’ve presented it is awesome.