The Linguistic Expression of Emotion: A Cross-Cultural Analysis

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between language and emotion through a cross-cultural lens, exploring how different linguistic structures influence emotional perception and expression. Grounded in the linguistic relativity hypothesis, it investigates whether the way emotions are categorized, verbalized, and understood differs across languages and cultural contexts. Through a theoretical and qualitative analysis of linguistic resources, multilingual corpora, and cross-cultural pragmatic frameworks, this study highlights significant differences in emotional articulation. Findings suggest that while basic emotions are universally recognized, their linguistic encoding varies; some languages provide finer distinctions between emotional states, while others rely on contextual rather than explicit expression. Western individualistic cultures tend to favor direct emotional articulation, whereas collectivist cultures often depend on indirect or pragmatic cues. Additionally, bilingual speakers report experiencing different emotional intensities depending on the language of expression, reinforcing the emotional resonance hypothesis. These insights have profound implications for cross-cultural communication, translation studies, and the cognitive processing of emotions. The study calls for further exploration of underrepresented languages and multilingual emotional articulation to gain a deeper understanding of the intricate relationship between language and emotion.