Language [Reflection]

Language has a wide variety of roles including expression of emotion and giving directions but language's purpose overall is a way of communicating between us. There are many wonders in language including interesting connotations, denotations and ambiguity which are the main cause of miscommunication as each party does not fully understand what is being said. This is one of the things that struck me the most as we all experience a situation with the literal meaning quite often being not the actual meaning. We saw different examples of connotations in speech, for example the difference between 'shit' and 'faces'. Despite having the same literal meaning, we can see that 'shit' has a negative connotation and is associated with inappropriateness. Look at these two words describing a group of people: 'childish' and 'youthful'. What can be assumed? 'Childish' implies the fact that this group of people are immature while 'youthful' suggests a group of energetic and willing people. This is not the literal meaning yet is used to describe the actual situation without being rude and this is particularly a useful part of language to maintain friendships.
Another major thing that caught my interest about language is Benjamin Lee Whorf's theory of Linguistic Determinism. It is stated that our thoughts are controlled by our native or mother tongue and this does enable us to think certain thoughts. His general point was 'if a language has no words for a certain concept, then its speakers would not understand the concept.' I found this rather interesting as it seemed partly true to me. From my experience, I have seen  people have different ways of thinking based on where they come from yet I do not believe this limits us from learning concepts that are recognized by other languages. It is clear that concepts can exist with out words to describe it. For example, in my native language there is no word or phrase to describe homosexuality but this concept is existent proving that a certain concept can exist with out words to describe it. On the whole, language is a method of communication and this has been evolved overtime to the complex nature it has now such as ambiguity and connotations, but I believe it does not limit our thinking.