What is Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
English 0301 定亚丽
Questions:
Sapir Whorf Hypothesis
? The structure of one’s language influences the
manner in which one perceives and understand
s the world
? Therefore,speakers of different languages will
perceive the world differently
The Relation of Habitual Thought
& Behavior to Language
1) Are our own concepts of time,space,and matter given
in substantially the same form by experience to all men,
or are they in part conditioned by the structure of
particular languages?
2) Are there traceable affinities between (a) cultural and
behavioral norms and (b) large-scale linguistic patterns?
A Thought About Our World…
? We tacitly buy these claims - witness
politically correct language:
-“hearing impaired” (not deaf)
-”senior citizens” (not old)
-”vertically challenged” (not short)
A Possible Relation Between Language
& Thought
“Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak
is to narrow the range of thought? In the end,
we shall make thought crime literally
impossible,because there will be no words in
which to express it…” - George Orwell,1984
Q ui ckT im e?a n d a
T IF F ( LZ W ) de co m p r esso r
a re ne e de d to se e th is pict u re,
Degrees of Whorfianism
? Linguistic Determinism (strong Whorfianism) =
Language determines our perception of the world
? Linguistic Relativism (weak Whorfianism) = La
nguage biases our perception of the world
Which type of Whorfianism does
sound perception support?
What if the strong Whorfian claim were
true?
? If the foundational categories of reality are not,in”
the world,but are imposed by one’s
language…people’s thoughts can be manipulated by
simply manipulating the language
? Simply remove words that express ideas that you
don’t want people to entertain (ex,Newspeak)
Different Whorfian Questions
(Gentner & Goldin-Meadow)
? Language as a Category Maker,Does the
language we acquire influence where we make our
category distinctions?
? Language as a Lens,Do grammatical
characteristics of a language shape speakers’
perceptions of the world?
? Language as a Toolkit,Does language augment
our capacity for reasoning and representation?
Different Whorfian Questions
(Gentner & Goldin-Meadow)
? Language as a Category Maker,Does the languag
e we acquire influence where we make our category
distinctions?
? Sound inventory of a language and perception of
speech sounds in native & foreign languages
– Color terms and color perception
Different Whorfian Questions
(Gentner & Goldin-Meadow)
? Language as a Lens,Do grammatical characteristi
cs of a language shape speakers’ perceptions of the
world?
? Spatial Frames of Reference (relative vs,absolut
e)
– Motion Events (manner encoded in verb or PP)
– Language for Spatial Location Relationships
Different Whorfian Questions
(Gentner & Goldin-Meadow)
? Language as a Toolkit,Does language augment ou
r capacity for reasoning and representation?
? Navigation (combining core knowledge systems i
nfo [geometric & color])
Number (combining core knowledge systems info
[small,exact numbers & large,approximate numb
ers])
Theory of Mind (realizing that someone can have a
different point of view than you - when does this r
ealization come,and how?)
English 0301 定亚丽
Questions:
Sapir Whorf Hypothesis
? The structure of one’s language influences the
manner in which one perceives and understand
s the world
? Therefore,speakers of different languages will
perceive the world differently
The Relation of Habitual Thought
& Behavior to Language
1) Are our own concepts of time,space,and matter given
in substantially the same form by experience to all men,
or are they in part conditioned by the structure of
particular languages?
2) Are there traceable affinities between (a) cultural and
behavioral norms and (b) large-scale linguistic patterns?
A Thought About Our World…
? We tacitly buy these claims - witness
politically correct language:
-“hearing impaired” (not deaf)
-”senior citizens” (not old)
-”vertically challenged” (not short)
A Possible Relation Between Language
& Thought
“Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak
is to narrow the range of thought? In the end,
we shall make thought crime literally
impossible,because there will be no words in
which to express it…” - George Orwell,1984
Q ui ckT im e?a n d a
T IF F ( LZ W ) de co m p r esso r
a re ne e de d to se e th is pict u re,
Degrees of Whorfianism
? Linguistic Determinism (strong Whorfianism) =
Language determines our perception of the world
? Linguistic Relativism (weak Whorfianism) = La
nguage biases our perception of the world
Which type of Whorfianism does
sound perception support?
What if the strong Whorfian claim were
true?
? If the foundational categories of reality are not,in”
the world,but are imposed by one’s
language…people’s thoughts can be manipulated by
simply manipulating the language
? Simply remove words that express ideas that you
don’t want people to entertain (ex,Newspeak)
Different Whorfian Questions
(Gentner & Goldin-Meadow)
? Language as a Category Maker,Does the
language we acquire influence where we make our
category distinctions?
? Language as a Lens,Do grammatical
characteristics of a language shape speakers’
perceptions of the world?
? Language as a Toolkit,Does language augment
our capacity for reasoning and representation?
Different Whorfian Questions
(Gentner & Goldin-Meadow)
? Language as a Category Maker,Does the languag
e we acquire influence where we make our category
distinctions?
? Sound inventory of a language and perception of
speech sounds in native & foreign languages
– Color terms and color perception
Different Whorfian Questions
(Gentner & Goldin-Meadow)
? Language as a Lens,Do grammatical characteristi
cs of a language shape speakers’ perceptions of the
world?
? Spatial Frames of Reference (relative vs,absolut
e)
– Motion Events (manner encoded in verb or PP)
– Language for Spatial Location Relationships
Different Whorfian Questions
(Gentner & Goldin-Meadow)
? Language as a Toolkit,Does language augment ou
r capacity for reasoning and representation?
? Navigation (combining core knowledge systems i
nfo [geometric & color])
Number (combining core knowledge systems info
[small,exact numbers & large,approximate numb
ers])
Theory of Mind (realizing that someone can have a
different point of view than you - when does this r
ealization come,and how?)
