Time changes in different languages

“Hi, guys!”, said Michael, taking his place at the table. “I read an article about how time is different in each language. Actually, the article is about a book that is based on research. Did you know that Chinese people set a timeline from up to down?”

“What do you mean?”, asked Sophia.

“So, in some crime stories we see on television, detectives draw a timeline on the board to understand what the victim did before he/she died, right?”

Michael waited to make sure everyone was on the same page. Then, he continued.

“They usually draw horizontally the line from left to right and write the events chronologically considering that the event on the left is the earliest and the one on the right is the latest. Those are Western TV shows. Well, if those TV shows were Chinese, that timeline would be drawn vertically in which the event on the top would be the earliest and the one at the bottom would be the latest.”

They all looked at Michael without saying a word.

“That doesn’t make any sense”, said Sophia at last.

“Indeed, it does. Western languages’ writing is from left to right. Therefore, we see time coming from the left to the right. Chinese people, at least traditionally, write from top to bottom, thus, they see time as coming from top to down”, replied Michael.

“So, languages whose writing is from right to left also consider time coming for right to left?”, asked Elizabeth.

“Yes. At least that is true for Hebrew, according to the study”, answered Michael. “In the article, they also say that for Aymara people, from the Andes in South America, and Mandarin speakers, the future is behind them because they can’t see it. What they can see is the past, which is in front of them”.

“It seems like they are walking backwards…”, noted Sophia.

“It kind of makes sense, if you think about it. We have memories of the past, photos, objects, experiences… It is as life opens up, as if it gets wider and wider as time goes by. Every step backwards reveals a little more of what we can’t see”, said Elizabeth.

“But we leave the past behind us and are walking towards the future! We move forward, not backwards!”, said Sophia, looking very confused.

“I guess that’s just how Western learn to see things. There are tribal languages that have no past nor future”, said Jack.

“So, how can they refer to the past and future?”, asked Sophia.

“Maybe they don’t need to. They live in the present”, said Michael.

“That sounds like one of those mindfulness things…”, remarked Leo, laughing.

“We all live in the present!”, said Sophia, who was getting really disturbed with the conversation. “But we have a past and plan for the future!”

“Ok. The article also states that Australian Aboriginal refers to objects as being in north, south, east, west, and all in between. For example, Sophia is north of the table. Actually, I have no idea if north is in that direction, but you understand what I mean”, said Michael as a way to change the subject a little bit.

“That’s more precise than saying on the right-hand side or left-hand side”, noted Leo.

“Yes. Maybe that’s why in London underground the lines are presented with the eastbound and westbound direction”, said Jack.

“It is very confusing for someone who can’t tell which way is east and which way is west…”, said Sophia.

“But it’s more precise, as Leo said”. Michael looked at Leo and nodded to agree with him. “There’s an example in the article that is: ‘the ball is on the left of the dog’ versus ‘the ball is on the dog’s left’. It seems the same, but the truth is that the ball is in the opposite direction. In Spanish there is no confusion. Spaniards don’t refer to the ball from the dog’s point of view.”

“It’s like the right bank of the river and the left bank of the river. I always ask myself ‘from whose point of view?’ If we say the north bank of the river and the south bank of the river is much simpler”, said Elizabeth.

“True, but, again, you have to know where north and south. I never do”, said Sophia.

“Australian Aboriginal have learned the cardinal points since they are children. We trust on GPS”, said Jack. “Maybe we are wrong and they are right.”

“Another curiosity mentioned in the article is that some languages see time as a volume and others as a line. For example, English people say ‘it’s been a long day’ and Spanish people say ‘it’s been a full day’. As in: ‘the day was longer than it usually is’ versus ‘the day had more events than it usually has’. Something like that”, continued Michael.

They stopped talking and wondered about it.

“Both are right, isn’t it?”, said Elizabeth finally. “If you end the day later than usual, it will inevitably have more events.”

“Not necessarily”, replied Leo. “During the same number of hours, you can have more events than usual. Or you can have fewer events during more hours…”

“That is all very confusing”, said Sophia.

“Imagine if you were bilingual… They switch from one way of seeing things to the other in a second!”, said Michael.

Sophia looked at him with a very desperate expression.

“Each country sees things in different ways. Australia is huge and it’s mostly a desert, so knowing the cardinal directions was essential for surviving. Spanish people focus on events while English people perceive the day as a sequence of events, and that sequence can be longer or shorter. Some languages state that we are walking towards the future, others see the past ahead”, concluded Jack.

“Some tribes don’t see a past nor a future. They only see the present”, added Michael. “Maybe they are right. The past is only in our head and the future hasn’t happened yet… There is only the present.”

“Not exactly. We walk forward towards the future. We plan the future, we visualise it. The past is behind us because we have already lived it. There is evidence about it all around us. Events happen in order, one after the other”, contradicted Sophia.

“Einstein was right: it’s all relative”, said Elizabeth.

 

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** YOUR WORDS AND IDEAS **

By Isabella Muir | On 26 March 2025 at 10:02
Another fascinating article! Past, present and future – all determined by individual perspectives, affected by nationality, language and culture. I suppose it proves that nothing is static – almost that there are very few ‘facts’ just someone’s opinion (one man’s terrorist is another’s freedom-fighter). It also emphasises the wonder of language – which is just what your articles are all about!

By Words in Ideas | On 26 March 2025 at 14:56
Thank you so much! Indeed, we are not aware that our mother tongue, which shapes our culture, determines how we see the world. The words we use have weight and are highly revealing. Learning foreign languages is truly opening the door to see the world under another perspective! 🙂