The gender of a key

Julesy's knowledge of linguistics is not restricted to East Asia:

This video is titled "You are the Language you Speak: Evidence for Linguistic Relativity" (9/30/24).  Julesy comments:  "In this video, I provide evidence to show that there is a link between the grammatical gender of inanimate objects and the visual connection we make with those objects in real life.* *The study has been replicated, but results show varied effects of linguistic relativity. 

On her Instagram channel, Julesy states:  

According to MIT researchers*, it all depends on your native language. In German, key is a masculine noun, so German speakers think of key as “useful” and “jagged.” In Spanish, key is a feminine noun, so Spanish speakers think of key as “delicate” and “pretty.” What do you think? Is this some crazy discovery or complete BS?

*Boroditsky, L., Schmidt, L., & Phillips, W. (2002). Can quirks of a language affect the way you think? Spanish and German speakers’ ideas about the genders of objects. Manuscript submitted for publication.

 

Selected readings

• "Sapir-Whorf redux" (5/15/25)
• "Linguistic relativity: snow and horses" (4/15/25)