Logical ReasoningDifficulty: Hard

PT14 S2 Q13 Explanation

In many languages other than English

A free, expert breakdown of this official LSAT Logical Reasoning question.

TopicsSufficient Assumption

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Stimulus

In many languages other than English there is a word for "mother's brother" which is different from the word for "father's brother," whereas English uses the word "uncle" for both. Thus, speakers of these languages evidence a more finely discriminated kinship system than English speakers do. The number of basic words for be perceptually unable to distinguish as many colors as speakers of English can distinguish.

What this question is testing

Sufficient Assumption

Argument

The author says: languages have different numbers of basic color words, and that means speakers of language with fewer color words literally can't see as many colors as English speakers can.

Evaluate

That's a big jump — from words to perception. The author is treating vocabulary as a direct readout of what the brain can perceive. For that leap to work, we'd need a rule: each language has a different word for every sensory quality its speakers can tell apart.

Think of it like this. If you assume then someone with fewer taste words really would have fewer taste perceptions. It's a strong claim about how language and the senses connect.

Goal

An answer that gives us the missing rule — each basic word corresponds to one perceivable quality, and vice versa.

Reading along? Open the full official question in LawHub — we show a fragment here and keep the reasoning in our own words.

The question
13.

The conclusion concerning words for colors would be properly drawn if which one of the

Answer choices

  1. Out of Scope0% picked this

    Most languages have distinct words for “sister”

    This is about kinship words ("sister"/"brother"), which is the warm-up example, not about colors. Even granted, this doesn't bridge "fewer color words" to "perceives fewer colors."

  2. Correct66% picked this

    Each language has a different basic word for each sensory quality that its speakers

    Why this is right

    This bridges the gap. If each language has a different basic word for each sensory quality its speakers can perceptually distinguish, then a language with fewer color words means its speakers can distinguish fewer colors. Apply this to colors specifically: speakers of languages with fewer basic color words must therefore be unable to perceptually distinguish as many colors. Conclusion guaranteed.

    Skill tested: Sufficient Assumption · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.

  3. Out of Scope8% picked this

    Every language makes some category distinctions that no other

    This says every language makes some unique category distinction. That doesn't establish the needed link between vocabulary count and perceptual ability. Knowing each language is unique somehow doesn't mean fewer color words = fewer perceivable colors.

  4. Out of Scope20% picked this

    In any language short, frequently used words express categories that are important for its speakers to distinguish

    This says short, frequent words express important categories. That's about which categories get short words, not about whether absence of a word means inability to perceive. It doesn't bridge the gap.

  5. Out of Scope7% picked this

    Speakers of languages with relatively few basic words for colors live in geographical regions where flora and fauna do

    This explains why some languages might have fewer color words (limited color variety in their environment). But it doesn't establish the perceptual claim — that speakers can't distinguish more colors. Someone could have fewer color words because they don't need them, while still being perfectly capable of perceiving more colors.

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