Kit Sun Cheah

Tag: Language

  • Sapir-Whorf and Worldbuilding

    During my early years, I thought that the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis was overblown. Then I wrote Saga of the Swordbreaker. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, also known as linguistic relativity, states that the structure of a language influences its speakers’ cognition. A natural corollary is that by switching to a different language, you change the way you think.…

  • Speak with the Weight of Three Thousand Years

    While watching the Chinese animated film Jiang Ziya: Legend of Deification, a thought struck me: The Chinese language is uniquely suited for epic fantasy. An epic is set in a time before living memory, celebrating the accomplishments of heroes, whose dealings with gods and demons and spirits profoundly shape the mortal world for succeeding generations.…

  • The word Allah

    ‘Allah’ is an Arabic word meaning ‘God’. It is not exclusive to Islam, and pre-dates the faith. The Malaysian government, however, has yet to accept this in the case of Malaysia v. The Herald.