What We Can Learn From the Guugu Yimithirr Language

Do we see the world differently based on the language we speak? Linguistic relativity, a concept spearheaded by Benjamin Lee Whorf in the 1930s, claims that differences in language lead to differences in thought. Whorfians constantly question whether we are unable to think about things because we don’t have the words for them, or if we lack the words for things because we don’t think about them.

For most languages, our bodies are the focal point when communicating directions. However, speakers of Guugu Yimithirr, a remote Australian Aboriginal language, refer to the position of objects relative to the cardinal points, and not in relation to themselves. Instrumental English words such as “left,” “right,” “in front,” and “behind,” (called egocentric coordinates, because they are dependent on the location of individuals), are nonexistent in Guugu Yimithirr. If a speaker was conveying an object’s position, they would describe it as being “on the western edge of the floor,” or if they wanted you to bend over, they would tell you to “go south.” These spatial directions seem quite odd to outsiders, but for Guugu Yimithirr speakers, it’s how they conceptualize their world.

What are the effects of living in a culture that is so conscious of space? Native speakers of Guugu Yimithirr grow up with a heightened awareness of their physical environments. They are more skilled at locating and describing objects in an open terrain, while English speakers are better at describing the position of objects relative to others. In addition to highly developed spatial orientation skills, Guugu Yimithirr speakers are forced to have a broader perspective of the world; a world in which they are not the nucleus. For example, when a non-geographic language speaker (e.g., English speakers) points to their chest, we automatically think they are referring to themselves. When a Guugu Yimithirr speaker performs this same action, they are always pointing to a direction behind them, as if they are just air, and their existence isn’t the most important thing in this world.