Language and Thought

Introduction

Linguistic possession probably makes us different from animals. According to some civilizations, language is the source of human life and power so much, so that for some African people, a new born baby is a kintu “thing,” and not a muntu “person” until he/she acquires a language. Also, in Indian society, the world is referred to as matalabi “selfish/meaning finder.” The nature of language throws light on the understanding of thought and humanity. To know a language means to express yourself and to understand others in order to reach meaningfulness. The aim of religious language is to make religious utterances and sentences meaningful and to make the followers thoughtful about religion. Religious utterances are supposed to generate religious thought in the mind of the followers, and for that, the scriptures encompass a variety of properties, agents, or states of affairs – such as holiness, grace, miracles, god, goddess, evil, and sinfulness. The religious language and...