Eskimo words for snow

The belief that the "language of the Eskimo" ( in reality there are many Eskimo languages) in comparison to other languages ​​have extremely high number of words for snow, is a common misconception. In fact, there are not more than in other languages, but compositions as falling snow appear in Eskimo languages ​​as a word. In addition, other languages ​​have many words for snow, other than the inventor of this modern legend, Franz Boas, had meant. Boaz had to testify that the Inuit have adapted linguistically according to their living environment, and that a great relationship between language and conceptual comprehension of the world exists.

History

Was first mentioned the issue in 1911 by the anthropologist and linguist Franz Boas. Boaz was Kulturrelativist and wanted to show, inter alia, with this example of how different peoples classify the phenomenal world through the language differently. He called the next four different lexemes, which according to him, "Snow on the ground ", " falling snow ", " drifting snow " and " Snowdrift " mean, and contrasted them with English snow, the alleged single word for the concept in this language. He wanted to show that to be reflected in the vocabulary of different language communities traits of their culture and way of life. In this context, the issue in 1940, led by Benjamin Whorf, the founder of the Sapir -Whorf hypothesis.

These considerations were taken up by the media and popularized. Over time, the purported number of words for snow in Eskimo alleged increased from four to 100 words.

Background

The Eskimo- Aleut language family covers a whole range of languages ​​, Alaska, Siberia and Greenland are spoken in northern Canada. First, the number of words for snow varies alone the fact that different languages ​​may be meant. For the Yupik language, for example, a figure of about 24 lexical units is recognized, but which are partly related to each other by means of word formation (as in the German snow and powder snow).

Such a number of different names for snow is not uncommon. The word snow field also includes a number of words in other languages ​​. In German, a distinction is made about both the age of the precipitation - snow (maximum three days old ) and old snow - as well as its consistency, eg powder ( loose, fell below zero degree ), Harsch (over frozen powder snow), crud ( a particularly massive layer of ice snow ), sticky snow or wet snow, corn snow ( wet and heavy), slush or snow Faul (mixed consistency without cohesion), Griesel ( repeatedly frozen corn snow ) and firn ( at least one year old, repeatedly frozen). There are also other differences between the Swiss German and Bavarian (including Austrian ) dialects.

Also, English has more than just a single lexeme for snow -related concepts (snow, slush, sleet, blizzard, etc.).

All Eskimo- Aleut languages ​​are polysynthetic languages. This means that many of the concepts that can be expressed in non- polysynthetic languages ​​only phrasaler level, can be realized in these languages ​​via multiple affixation by a single word. So there is in German about no other option than to use eg phrasal combinations like freshly fallen snow or snow that has begun to melt, to express the desired content. Eskimo- Aleut languages ​​in such units therefore usually come as a single, complex word. The number of simple words for " snow " This will not increase, such complex words are always reducible to simple lexical roots, their number is not significantly higher than in other languages ​​. These differences are due to the language type.

Most root words for snow with 16 occur in Icelandic, for example, Snowfall is called " fannkoma " heavy snow with big flakes in calm weather " hundslappadrífa " powder snow " lausamjöll " and snowfall with wind " ofanbylur ".

Literary echo

A literary echo found the phenomenon in Kathrin Passigs story " you are here ", by which it the Ingeborg Bachmann Prize won in 2006:

" Eskimos as unimaginative fellows like to interject at this point in the conversation, countless words for snow. Probably should therefore be made to the blunted perception of nature to the city dweller. I have no patience with the dupes of this banal assertion. The Eskimo languages ​​are polysynthetic, which means that even seldom -used expressions such as " Snow Falling on a red t -shirt " can be summarized in a single word. It is so tiring to have to explain again and again. "

In Siegfried Friesekes metalinguistic novel goo to Hellenist alluded to the modern myth: "[... ] This Gauchos have more words " These comparative size you should delete from your cosmic vision for their horses as the Eskimos for snow ... ". - You embarrass yourself with it before anyone who has mastered the rudiments of linguistics "" Enchanted. ! What's wrong with that? "" Everything. > The < Eskimo language, there are not; the definition of word is in agglutinative grammar still epinöser than elsewhere, and people who are familiar with it, have nowhere found a significantly higher number of Basislexemen for ' snow' as we say in the upper Bairischen. "" You sit so many myths ... [ ... ] "( goo to Hellenist, Borsdorf 2011, p 559f. )