Language dictates our ability to perceive the world around us.
Perception is the ability of one to understand the environment and occurrences around them. Speech is an inherent trait, but Language is not. A child is born with the innate ability to make sounds. The human anatomy grants the ability to produce a myriad of sounds; a range broader than any other creature encountered upon this great Earth. Yet without a shared, structured set of rules those sounds are incoherent. It is no different than the last time you were blessed enough to hear a conversation held in an unfamiliar language; without knowing the structure and rules of the language it sounds as unintelligible as a baby’s coos and ahhs.
From a tribal standpoint, language holds all knowledge of the people, their culture, and their historical record. Societies steeped in technology seek to write, upload, and broadcast their knowledge, yet the oral tradition still holds. A vast majority of knowledge is passed from lip to ear and so on down through the generations. To communicate understanding one must have a common point of reference, such as a shared word or phrase. As a language’s (or an individual’s understanding of the) mores and structures are established the users begin to perceive their world around them in terms of the words or phrases of the language used. In the American language time is inordinately represented and utilized. Many Americans cannot form a full discussion without reaching into the bag of terms regarding to time, be it in measurement, description, or duration. Whereas, many tribal languages simply do not possess terms regarding to increments of time, some will use language to differentiate night from day, or summer from winter, but there are no words for things like seconds, days, or weeks. Without such terms present to direct their perception tribespeople have no need to rush themselves.
In French the word aimer means to Like or to Love. Those are two very different meanings on this side of the [Atlantic] Pond. Does that explain why the French are so much more passionate…probably not, but it does illustrate the nuance inherent in all languages. From a casual standpoint nuance is lost, only when one becomes involved in understanding their language and its proper usage does nuance truly become visible.