Ashwin Lewis
In his book, 'Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes', linguist Daniel Everett recounts his experiences living with the Pirahã, a small tribe of Amazonian Indians in central Brazil. Everett, who arrived as a Christian missionary, became fascinated by the Pirahã's language and way of life. The Pirahã have no counting system, no fixed terms for colour, no concept of war, and no personal property. They live entirely in the present and are remarkably content. Everett's interactions with the Pirahã led him to question his faith and devote his life to the study of linguistics. The book offers a unique perspective on language, thought, and life, challenging accepted linguistic theories and providing insight into a culture vastly different from Western norms.
| Characteristics | Values | |
|---|---|---|
| Language | No counting system, no fixed terms for colour, no concept of war, no personal property, no creation myths, no plurals, no words for numbers, no cardinal or ordinal numbers, no conjunctions, no recursion, no relative clauses, no subordinate sentences, no coordination, no words for quantities, no words for colours, no words for greetings, no words for apologies, no words for left or right, no words for hello or goodbye | |
| Culture | Live entirely in the present, no creation myths, no planning, no storing of food, no future or past, no leaders or hierarchy, no spanking, no orders, no depression, no anxiety, no expectation to keep up with the Kardashians, no materialism, no capitalism, no guilt, no shame, no insecurities, no possessions, no tools, no possessions, no internet, no big houses, no wealth, no ambition, no consumerism, no envy, no violence, no vengefulness, no greed, no long-lasting artifacts, no written language, no religion, no cosmology, no formal religious structure, no gods, no heaven, no hell, no salvation, no sin, no punishment, no dogma, no ritual, no hierarchy, no creation myths, no sense of direction, no baby talk, no protectionism, no paranoia, no materialism, no long-term planning, no long-lasting artifacts, no written language, no religion, no cosmology, no formal religious structure, no gods, no heaven, no hell, no salvation, no sin, no punishment, no dogma, no ritual, no hierarchy, no creation myths, no sense of direction, no baby talk, no protectionism, no paranoia, no materialism, no long-term planning |
What You'll Learn
The Pirahã people's unique language
The Pirahã people are a small tribe of Amazonian Indians living in central Brazil. They have a unique language that defies accepted linguistic theories.
The Pirahã language has no fixed terms for colours and no counting system. They have no concept of war or personal property and live entirely in the present. They have no creation myths or origin stories about where their people came from. They do not plan more than a day ahead, do not store food and rarely talk about the future or the distant past. They have a very simple kinship group that extends only to children, siblings, parents and grandparents.
The Pirahã language is the last remaining dialect of the Mura language group. It is unrelated to any other extant language. It has only 3 vowels and 8 consonants, one of which is a glottal stop. It does not contain cardinal or ordinal numbers. Most significantly, Pirahã sentences only ever contain one verb and the language does not allow for linguistic recursion.
The Pirahã people have several ways of saying "good night". One of them is "don't sleep, there are snakes". This is indicative of the Pirahã mentality in two ways. Firstly, it is a warning that poisonous snakes slither about in the Amazonian jungle, and that if you don't keep your wits about you, you won't last long. Secondly, it shows how the Pirahã treat sleep; they may not sleep the whole night through, but they don't lie awake paralysed by fear either.
The Pirahã language is as distinctive as those who speak it. They value first-hand experience and knowledge above all else. They are astounded by knowledge that is not based on direct experience. This is why Christian missionaries have had such a tough time trying to bring the gospel to them.
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The Pirahã people's culture and values
The Pirahã people are an indigenous group native to the Amazon Rainforest in Brazil. They are the sole surviving subgroup of the Mura people, a hunter-gatherer tribe. They refer to themselves as the Híaitíihi or Hiáitihí, which roughly translates to "the straight ones". The Pirahã people speak their own language, which they call Apaitsiiso, and consider any other language "crooked head".
The Pirahã people have a unique naming system closely tied to their cosmology. They receive their first name while still in the womb, which is believed to be responsible for the creation of their bodies. They receive further names throughout their lives from beings dwelling in higher and lower layers of the cosmos, enemies in war, and even from the shape of their bodies.
The Pirahã people have a simple kinship system that includes baíxi (parent, grandparent, or elder), xahaigí (sibling), hoagí or hoísai (son), kai (daughter), and piihí (stepchild or favourite child). They have a strong value of no coercion, and there appears to be no social hierarchy.
The Pirahã people are incredibly skilled at surviving in the jungle. They know the usefulness and location of important plants in their area, understand the behaviour of local animals, and can walk into the jungle naked and return with baskets of fruit, nuts, and small game. They live in small residential nuclei, with an average of five groupings during the dry season and ten to thirteen during the rainy season.
The Pirahã people have a unique way of perceiving time and space. They conceive time as an alternation between two well-defined seasons: piaiisi (dry season) and piaisai (rainy season). They also organise space based on these seasons, creating a beach space-time versus an upland space-time.
The Pirahã people have a strong sense of community and cooperation. They will always defend or take the side of another Pirahã over any non-Pirahã. They also have a strong sense of equality, and children are treated as equals and allowed to explore and learn through their own experiences.
The Pirahã people have a unique language with only 11 or so phonemes and several different "channels" for communication, including cries, whistles, hum speech, and eating-speech. They have no counting system and no fixed terms for colour, and they live entirely in the present with little interest in the past or future.
The Pirahã people have a peaceful and happy culture, with little to no aggression or violence. They are content with their way of life and actively resist any attempts to change it. They have a deep connection to the spiritual world and often see and speak with spirits.
Overall, the Pirahã people have a rich and fascinating culture that is deeply connected to their language and way of life. They have a strong sense of community, equality, and cooperation, and they value their unique way of life and resistance to outside influence.
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The author's personal experiences and anecdotes
In 1977, linguist Daniel Everett travelled to the Amazon with his wife and three young children, intending to convert the Pirahã, a small tribe of Amazonian Indians in central Brazil, to Christianity. Everett wanted to translate the Bible into the Pirahã language and introduce them to God. However, Everett's encounter with the Pirahã people and their unique language and way of life made him question his faith and linguistic theories.
Everett describes the Pirahã as a peaceful and contented people who live entirely in the present. They have no counting system, no fixed terms for colour, no concept of war or personal property, and no creation myths or origin stories. They are also incredibly conservative and resistant to change and innovation. Everett describes how the Pirahã only concern themselves with directly experienced events and those within living memory. This is what Everett terms the "Immediacy of Experience Principle" (IEP).
Everett's attempts to introduce the Pirahã to Jesus were unsuccessful. The Pirahã could not relate to the idea that Everett was telling them about events that had happened long before his own life. They also did not understand the concept of second-hand evidence and only believed something if the person telling the story had directly witnessed the event themselves. Everett describes how the Pirahã were particularly amused by the story of Jesus's beheading, rewinding the tape and listening to it over and over again. Everett also recounts how an older Pirahã man told him that Jesus had come to the village the previous night and tried to rape the women with a three-foot penis.
Everett's experiences with the Pirahã people and their language led him to question his faith and eventually lose it. He also came to reject Chomsky's theory of universal language, claiming that the Pirahã language lacks sentence-level recursion. Everett's time with the Pirahã also caused the breakdown of his marriage and conflict with his children.
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The author's loss of faith
Daniel Everett, a Christian missionary and linguist, travelled to the Amazon with his family in 1977, intending to convert the Pirahã people to Christianity. However, Everett's interactions with the Pirahã led him to lose his faith in God.
The Pirahã's language and way of life fascinated Everett. He became obsessed with their language, which defied all existing linguistic theories and reflected a way of life that was incomprehensible to him. The Pirahã had no counting system, no fixed terms for colours, no concept of war, and no personal property. They lived entirely in the present and were remarkably content.
Everett spent a total of seven years with the Pirahã over three decades. During this time, he translated the Gospel of Mark into the Pirahã language. However, the Pirahã showed no interest in Christianity. They were happy and satisfied with their own way of life and saw no need for Jesus as their saviour.
Everett's inability to convert the Pirahã, combined with his growing fascination with their language and culture, eventually led him to lose his faith. He realised that their way of life, so different from his own, was not lacking or inferior but rather well-suited to their environment. He came to respect their worldview and no longer believed that they needed to be saved.
Everett's loss of faith was a gradual process that occurred over many years. He kept his atheism a secret for nearly two decades, fearing the consequences if he revealed his true beliefs. Eventually, he came out as an atheist, which led to the breakdown of his marriage.
In the end, Everett's experiences with the Pirahã tribe profoundly changed his life and outlook on the world. He devoted his life to the study of linguistics and worked to preserve and promote endangered languages.
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The importance of preserving endangered languages
Preserving Languages, Preserving History
Language preservation is about more than just saving words in a dictionary. Languages are an integral part of a community's history and culture. When a language is lost, future generations lose a vital part of their heritage. Language preservation efforts, therefore, aim to safeguard this cultural heritage for future study and understanding.
Protecting Linguistic Diversity
According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), there are an estimated 7,000 languages spoken worldwide today, and half of the world's population speaks the eight most common languages. More than 3,000 languages are spoken by fewer than 10,000 people each, and Ethnologue estimates that 417 languages are on the verge of extinction.
Factors Leading to Language Endangerment or Extinction
Language endangerment or extinction can occur due to various factors. One common reason is when a language is no longer being taught to the children of a community, leading to a decline in fluent speakers over time. Political and military turmoil, relocation, and social perceptions of a language can also contribute to its endangerment.
Global Efforts to Preserve Endangered Languages
Several organizations, such as 7000 Languages and the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages, actively work to document and teach endangered languages. Additionally, initiatives like the three-language formula, which includes a local tongue alongside English and another dominant language, have been implemented in some countries to foster cultural growth and preserve native languages.
The Role of Technology
Technology plays a crucial role in language preservation. The internet can raise awareness about language extinction and provide digital platforms for translation, cataloging, storage, and information access. Podcasts and audio-visual recordings also help preserve spoken languages, while written documents capture native literature and linguistics.
Challenges and Limitations
Despite these efforts, language preservation faces challenges. Written records are vulnerable to damage and loss over time, and oral traditions are susceptible to fading if speakers become geographically dispersed or if the language is associated with a lower social class.
Preserving Languages, Preserving Knowledge
Languages are repositories of unique knowledge. The Cherokee language, for instance, has specific terms related to the region's flora and fauna, conveying information about their properties and uses. By preserving endangered languages, we safeguard this accumulated knowledge, which encompasses various fields such as geography, zoology, mathematics, astronomy, pharmacology, botany, and meteorology.
Understanding Human Cognition and Psychology
Languages also provide insight into human cognition and psychology. Each language offers a distinct framework for thought and problem-solving, and understanding these variations can enhance our understanding of the linguistic capacities of our species.
Preserving Languages, Preserving Communities
Language preservation is about more than just words—it's about preserving the worldviews, cultures, and knowledge of entire communities. It's about ensuring that diverse ways of interpreting the world, such as the Pirahã people's focus on the immediacy of experience, are not lost. By valuing and protecting endangered languages, we recognize the richness and diversity they bring to our global community.
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Frequently asked questions
The book is about the author's experiences and discoveries while living with the Pirahã, a small tribe of Amazonian Indians in central Brazil.
The Pirahã have a language that defies accepted linguistic theories. They have no counting system, no fixed terms for colour, no concept of war, and no personal property. They live entirely in the present.
The Pirahã say this for two reasons. First, they believe that by sleeping less they can "harden themselves". Second, they know that danger is all around them in the jungle and that sleeping soundly can leave one defenseless from attack.
The book challenges our assumptions about language, culture, and the human experience.
