I think I disagree about the tangibility of language. I'd suggest that that particular flaw in our language is the result of materialism, and not the other way around. If you look at different languages, you might find that they have the ability to express concepts we can only vaguely grasp in our own. I think the interesting thing about language is how it models our conceptualization of reality.

The classic example for this is the line about how the eskimos have over 50 words to describe ice and snow. And actually, that's false, they don't have that many. However, even if we say the number is only ten, ten categories for different types of snow grants a whole new ability to interpreting the world.

Some people see snow. Skiers (this is such a better example come to think of it...) may see powder, or corn, or sierra cement.

The ability to make these distinctions aid an individual dramatically in the navigation of their reality. You can almost trace the specializations of certain ethnic groups back through their language, seeing where they become most categorized and prolific.

When you look into the meditative traditions, you'll find that they have a 5000+ year history of categorizing various states of mind/being. I just find that interesting I suppose...

So what do you think, does language model our reality? Or construct it?