I think create is the wrong word choice here. Shaping reality is a better one, as it doesn't hold the implication that before language, nothing existed.

Think of it this way, though: the divisions that humans make between objects in the world are largely linguistic ones. For example, we say that the Earth is such-and-such an ecosystem with certain species occupying it. But this is more like a convenient shorthand, not a totally accurate description of reality. A more accurate description would be something like, ever-changing organisms undergo this complex process that we call evolution, and are all continually changing, so much so that the species concept is not really that clear, once you dig into it.

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/species/

Where it really gets interesting, IMO, is when these divisions (which originally were mostly just linguistic categories) start shaping what's actually in the world. The concept of property is a good example. Originally it's just a legal term, but over time, it ends up reshaping the actual face of the earth, ecosystems, wars, migrations, on and on.

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ta20240528 a day ago | parent [-]

> Property … Originally it's just a legal term

No, see what happens when apes, hyena's, and animals from dozens of other species try steal each others food.

"mine" and "yours" existed long before language.

	▲	keiferski a day ago \| parent [-]
		Sorry I should have been more specific. I meant privately owned land, not just personal property. You could argue that territorial “possession” of land is a thing animals have, but the concept of property goes considerably further than that IMO.