hard --> hardness
important --> importance
accept --> acceptance
generalize --> generalization
Such devices are found in Chinese as well, but their use is much more restricted and
often associated with a westernized style. As in the case of counterfactuals, Chinese
seem less prone to use an abstract way of speaking—and possibly also less prone to
use abstract ways of thinking.
The attempt to explain the rise of science in the West on the basis of linguistic
peculiarities of European languages remains highly speculative, to say the least. It is
possible, however, that English in its present form is more conducive to abstract,
theoretical modes of thinking than Chinese is.