Why's it called 'mother tongue'?: 6 Minute English - YouTube
Sam: Hello. This is 6 Minute English, I'm Sam.
Georgina: And I'm Georgina.
Sam: Georgina, what languages do you speak?
Georgina: Well, my mother tongue is
English and I also speak Spanish and
French badly!
Sam: OK. It's interesting that we say
‘mother tongue', isn't it? Like many
languages, English has a number of
gender specific terms
that don't refer to gender-specific ideas
and concepts. And this complicated
relationship between language and
gender is what we will be talking about
today. But first, this week's quiz question,
which is also on the topic of
languages. Which of these languages is
the newest? Is it:
A: Esperanto, B: Afrikaans, or C: Light Warlpiri
What do you think, Georgina?
Georgina: Well, I've only heard of two of
these, Esperanto and Afrikaans – so I
think I'm going to choose the other one,
Light Warlpiri – purely as I've never heard
of it, so I think that must be the one.
Sam: OK, well we'll find out if your
intuition is correct later in the programme.
Professor Lera Boroditsky is a cognitive
scientist who was a guest on the BBC
World Service programme,
The Conversation. She was asked about
why we use the term ‘mother tongue' in English.
Professor Lera Boroditsky: Different
languages actually do it
differently but definitely there's a strong
association between mothers as primary
caregivers and people who teach us
things and so there's that point of origin
metaphor that applies in a lot of languages.
Sam: So, how does she explain the use of
mother tongue, Georgina?
Georgina: Well, she says it's a form of
metaphor.
A metaphor is a way of describing
something by comparing it to something
else. In a metaphor, though, you don't say
that something is like something else, you
say that it ‘is' something else.
For example, having good friends
is the key to a happy life.
Sam: It is indeed. In this metaphor,
language is seen as coming from your
primary caregiver, the person who looked
after you most when you were young, and
traditionally this was mothers.
Georgina: So, this is perhaps the point of
origin, the starting place, of the
metaphorical phrase, mother tongue.
Let's listen again.
Lera Boroditsky: Different languages
actually do it differently,
but definitely there's a strong association
between mothers as primary caregivers
and people who teach us things and so
there's that point of origin metaphor that
applies in a lot of languages.
Sam: Language is very powerful in society
and culture and when it comes to
gendered language, it can cause some
issues. Here's Lera Boroditsky again:
Professor Lera Boroditsky:
… in English of course we have some words
that are gendered like ‘actor' and ‘actress'
or ‘waiter' and ‘waitress' and very
commonly when there are those two
gender forms, people perceive the
masculine form as being a more
prestigious job or a more skilled
job than the feminine form, so an actor is
a fancier job than an actress and a waiter
is a fancier job than a waitress, and so
they could then come with pay disparities
and so on.
Sam: So what's the subconscious
difference in attitude towards, for
example, an actor and actress?
Georgina: Well, she says that people perceive
those roles differently. This means that
we are aware of, or believe there is a
difference in the jobs because of the
vocabulary. The male form is perceived to
be more prestigious – more
important, more respected, even though
it's exactly the same job.
Sam: And this attitude can lead to
problems such as disparities in pay.
A disparity is a difference,
an inequality and in the world of work it
can mean men getting paid more than
women for the same job. Here's
Professor Boroditsky again.
Professor Lera Boroditsky:
… in English of course we have some words
that are gendered like ‘actor' and ‘actress'
or ‘waiter' and ‘waitress' and very
commonly when there are those two
gender forms, people perceive the
masculine form as being
a more prestigious job or the more
skilled job than the feminine form, so an
actor is a fancier job than an actress and
a waiter is a fancier job than a waitress,
and so they could then come with pay
disparities and so on.
Sam: OK, before we take another look at
today's vocabulary let's reveal the answer
to this week's quiz. Which of these
languages is the newest, is it:
A: Esperanto, B: Afrikaans, or C: Light Warlpiri
Georgina, what did you say?
Georgina: I thought it had to be Light Walpiri,
but just because I had never heard of it
before.
Sam: Well congratulations. Your instincts
were good, that is correct. Let's move on
to vocabulary and look at today's words
and phrase again.
Georgina: A primary caregiver is a person
who has most responsibility for looking
after someone.
Sam: A point of origin is the place or time
when something begins.
Georgina: A metaphor is a way of
describing something.
We can say that something is something
else that has similar qualities.
Sam: You're a star!
Georgina: Aw, thank you.
Sam: No I meant, you're a star, is an
example of a metaphor.
Georgina: Oh, yes, of course, I knew that.
Sam: Mmmm, if you say so. To perceive is
to think of something in a particular way.
We might perceive the value of different
jobs based on the vocabulary used to
describe them.
Georgina: Something prestigious is
important and respected.
Sam: And finally, a disparity is a
difference, an inequality and is often used
when talking about how men and women
aren't always paid the same for the same
job. And that is all from us. We look
forward to your company again
soon. In the meantime you can always
find us online, on social media and on the
BBC Learning English app.
Bye for now.
Georgina: Bye!
