Guugu Yimithirr

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I believe the linguistic differences between English and Guugu Yimithirr do not point to cognitive differences as much as they point to differences in upbringing and learning. Referring to Berlin and Kay’s conclusion from their World Color Survey study, there is something common about how humans try to understand and relate to the world. However, how they verbally express this understanding is determined by how they were raised to express their thoughts. For example, those who speak Guugu Yimithirr were taught to use absolute frames of reference regarding everyday objects, whereas in English, we are taught to speak more relatively, using terms such as “left or right” and “front or behind,” and only using specific terms of reference on a larger

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