Words have a weight: language as a source of inner grounding and flexibility in abstract concepts

The role played by language in our cognitive lives is a topic at the centre of contemporary debates in cognitive (neuro)science.In this paper we illustrate and compare two theories that offer embodied explanations of this role: the WAT (words as socialtools) and the LENS (language is an embodied neuroenhancement and scaffold) theories. WAT and LENS differ from othercurrent proposals, because they connect the impact of the neurologically realized language system on our cognition to theways in which language shapes our interaction with the physical and social environment. Examining these theories together,their tenets and supporting evidence, sharpens our understanding of each, but also contributes to a better understanding ofthe contribution that language might make to the acquisition, representation and use of abstract concepts. Here we focus onhow language provides a source of inner grounding, especially metacognition and inner speech, and supports the flexibilityof our thought. Overall, the paper outlines a promising research program focused on the importance of language to abstractconcepts within the context of a flexible, multimodal, and multilevel conception of embodied cognition.