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- Faculty of Medicine, Menoufia University, Shibin El-Kom, Egypt Email: [email protected] [1]
- Faculty of Medicine, Mutah University, Al-Karak, Jordan [1]
- Faculty of Medicine, The Hashemite University, Zarqaa, Jordan [1]
- Medical Research Group of Egypt, Negida Academy, Arlington, MA, USA [1]
- School of Engineering & Applied Science, Harvard University, Boston, USA [1]
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Language and cognition influence on evolution of cultures
Evolution of cultures is influenced by languages. To understand this influence the paper analyzes how language and cognition interact in thinking. Is language just used for communication of completed thoughts or is it fundamental for thinking? We review a hypothesis that language and cognition are two separate but closely interacting mechanisms and identify each of them. Language accumulates cultural wisdom; cognition develops mental representations modeling surrounding world and adapts cultural knowledge to concrete circumstances of life. Language is acquired from surrounding language ‘ready-made’ and therefore can be acquired early in life. Cognition can not be acquired directly from experience; language is a necessary intermediary a “teacher.” This model is consistent with recent neuroimaging data about cognition remaining unnoticed by other theories. The proposed theory explains a number of properties of language and cognition which previously seemed mysterious. It suggests mechanisms by which language grammars influence emotionality of languages and directs cultural evolution. This theory may explain specifics of English and Arabic cultures. We review theoretical and experimental evidence and discuss future directions
Medical research production in native languages: A descriptive analysis of PubMed database
Introduction: Language barriers in medicine can hinder effective communication comprehension and patient care. While English has emerged as the dominant language in global medicine the importance of native languages should not be overlooked. This article aims to examine the extent of publishing in native languages by analyzing the PubMed database literature to gain further insights into the usage of native languages in medicine and medical research.
Methods: In December 2023 a comprehensive examination of the PubMed literature was conducted for each of the 55 registered languages. We searched for records published in each language (e.g. German[lang]) by applying language filters. Ethnologue provided data on the number of worldwide native speakers for each language facilitating a comparative analysis.
Results: By December 2023 PubMed contained over 36 million publications with 86.5% of them published in English. German French and Russian came after English with over 700 thousand publications each. Among the languages analyzed fourteen had fewer than 50 publications nineteen had fewer than 100 twenty-two had fewer than 500 and twenty-five had fewer than one thousand publications. European languages were well-represented with thousands of publications each while widely spoken languages such as Hindi and Arabic had limited representation.
Conclusion: The production of medical research in native languages reflects the attention given to native languages in medicine and medical education within each country. It is crucial to provide due attention to these language-related issues and explore strategies for including native languages in medicine to bridge the gaps in language and medicine.