Easy enough for YOU to say

Many years ago I wrote here about an interesting experiment involving speakers of a second language (and newish readers may want to catch up there). But since that post several more reports have appeared, notably these three:

• One in 2017 (which I mentioned in an update to that old post). It asked:

If you could save the lives of five people by pushing another bystander in front of a train to his death, would you do it? And should it make any difference if that choice is presented in a language you speak, but isn't your native tongue? 

Psychologists at the University of Chicago found in past research that people facing such a dilemma while communicating in a foreign language are far more willing to sacrifice the bystander than those using their native tongue. In a paper published Aug. 14 in Psychological Science, the UChicago researchers take a major step toward understanding why that happens.

"Until now, we and others have described how using a foreign language affects the way that we think," said Boaz Keysar, the UChicago psychology professor in whose lab the research was conducted. "We always had explanations, but they were not tested directly. This is really the first paper that explains why, with evidence." 

• This, in 2018 which said

Whether you’re speaking in your native tongue, or in another language, being understood and believed is fundamental to good communication. After all, a fact is a fact in any language, and a statement that is objectively true should just be considered true, whether presented to you in English, Chinese or Arabic.

However, our research suggests that the perception of truth is slippery when viewed through the prism of different languages and cultures. So much so that people who speak two languages can accept a fact in one of their languages, while denying it in the other.

• A 2019 article nearly lost me at the first headline:

If you speak multiple languages, 

which words get lost in translation

Um... This is a bugbear (and one that I'm not proud of, but Hier stehe ich; ich kan nicht anders...

<silly, moi?>
(Luther's way of denying all knowledge of anyone called Andrew? [Note: kan/kann pun.]
</silly, moi?>

...) I don't speak 'multiple languages' (sic). I speak SEVERAL. I know I'm swimming against the tide here, and many dictionaries disagree; but in my view a 'multiple pile-up' is one that involves several vehicles. It seems to me lazy and irresponsible to take one word, meaningful in its own context, and pass that meaning willy-nilly onto a passing word that just happens to be in the vicinity. The dictionaries are licensing Humpty-Dumpyism. (I know...).

But luckily I managed to ignore the sub-editor's contribution and read about the actual research:

A new study has demonstrated that while words for emotions such as “fear”, “love” or “anger” are often directly translated between languages, there can be differences in their true meaning, depending on the family the language belongs to. 

For example, while the concept of “love” is closely linked to “like” and “want” in Indo-European languages, it is more closely associated with “pity” in Austronesian languages.

This looked worthy of note. But unfortunately the article was just a filler, and was simply a vehicle for a vox pop inviting speculation about the difference between heraeth (Welsh nostalgia) and saudade (Portuguese nostalgia)

<ducking_and_covering>
Pacete Welsh and Portuguese separatists, I KNOW. I just find all this 'Fifty words for snow' stuff rather tiresome. Natural languages are uniquely expressive, each in its own way. End of. If you want to amass examples, immerse yourself in one (or more).
</ducking_and_covering>

I imagine there are some post-pandemic contributions to this issue, but there are things to do, so they'll have to wait for an Update.

b