[Bork]

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I think this is true. It can be very hard to nail down a coalescing thought until you find a word for it. Then suddenly it falls into shape and perspective, not just because you couldn't recall a word to characterize and describe your thought until just then, but because you couldn't properly form the thought itself without using the thought-concepts of words to trace it out. The word helps shape the thought, and bring it to the workbench of consciousness long enough for any necessary further work.

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What do you mean nail down a thought? Do you mean think about it in precise terms? I think you can think about a concept say 'gravity' for example in precise terms without having any word for it. People have done this. You did say it would be very hard (not impossible) though. I think you're right, but it is not because of language it is because when you don't have a word for something it is likely something you haven't thought about consciously very much. It is likely a newish concept to you and thus will be harder to think about. This is not a function of language though just familiarity with the meaning/concept. It just becomes convenient early on for us to attach symbols to the concept, because it helps us remember it and relate it to other concepts. So, the concepts which we don't have words for are ones we haven't thought much about and thus are harder to 'nail down'.



You have the thought, but you couldn't properly form it? I think it was already at the workbench of consciousness if you were trying to find the right word/description for it.

I suspect the reason that these thoughts are 'suddenly falling into shape' when you use the 'thought-concepts' (meanings?) of words to trace it out is that you are doing some thinking and language is helping you organize this process. You are still using concepts, the words are just symbols for the concepts. The fact that you are saying it is not because you couldn't recall a word shows that you DISAGREE with what you quoted.

Obviously what language you speak influences your thoughts (because you will attach different symbols to identical concepts)... In some cases you will have thoughts and feeling which your language has no symbol for. In those cases you can still relate that concept with other concepts it is just that you will likely not have heard/read other's thoughts on them so it will have to be more difficult and original thinking on your part. The question is 'does the language you speak cause you to experience colors differently.' Or more generally does it cause you to experience the world in a different way. Do you feel different emotions based on whether you speak Japanese or Hopi? The reason these people had trouble differentiating is more likely that they simply can't express themselves as well wrt those colors. Being born Russian will not make you better at differentiating colors internally or make certain colors look the same to you or make you capable of feeling a certain level of anger you wouldn't have otherwise been able to.