Sapir-Worf Hypothesis: Linguistic Determinism and Linguistic Relativit

Sapir-Worf Hypothesis Linguistic Determinism and Linguistic RelativityThe romantic noble-mindedness of the late eighteenth century, as encountered in the views of Johann herder (1744-1803) and Wilhelm von Humboldt (I 762-1835), placed great value on the diversity of the pieces mother tongue communications and cultures. The tradition was taken up by the American linguist and anthropologist Edward Sapir (1884-1939) and his pupil genus Benzoin Lee Whorf (1897-1941), and resulted in a view ab out(a) the relation between language and thought which was astray influential in the middle decades of this century. The Sapir-Whorf venture, as it came to be called, combines two principles. The first is known as linguistic determinism it states that language insures the way we think. The second follows from this, and is known as linguistic relativity it states that the distinctions encoded in one language are not found in any other language. In a much- quoted paragraph, Whorf propounds th e view as followsWe dissect nature along lines laid crush by our native languages. The categories and types that we isolate from the world of phenomena we do not find there because they stare each observer in the face on the contrary, the world is presented in a kaleidoscopic flux of impressions which has to be complotd by our minds--and this means largely by the linguistic systems in our minds. We cut nature up, organize it into concepts, and ascribe significances as we do, largely because we are parties to an agreement to organize it in this way-an agreement that holds throughout our speech community and is codified in the patterns of our language. The agreement is, of course, an implicit in(predicate) and unstated one, but its terms are absolutely obligatory we cannot talk at all ... ...version of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is generally accepted. speech may not determine the way we think, but it does influence the way we perceive and remember, and it affects the ease with w hich we perform mental tasks. Several experiments comport shown that people recall things more easily if the things present to readily available words or phrases. And people certainly find it easier to make a conceptual distinction if it neatly corresponds to words available in their language. Some salvation for the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis can therefore be found in these studies, which are carried out within the developing field of psycholinguistics.Works CitedCrystal, David. Language and Thought. in Language Readings in Language and Culture, Sixth Edition. Clark, Virgina P., Eschholtz, Pual A., Rosa, Alfred F., editors. St. Matins Press. New York. 1998. p. 631-32 Sapir-Worf Hypothesis Linguistic Determinism and Linguistic RelativitSapir-Worf Hypothesis Linguistic Determinism and Linguistic RelativityThe romantic idealism of the late eighteenth century, as encountered in the views of Johann Herder (1744-1803) and Wilhelm von Humboldt (I 762-1835), placed great valu e on the diversity of the worlds languages and cultures. The tradition was taken up by the American linguist and anthropologist Edward Sapir (1884-1939) and his pupil Benjamin Lee Whorf (1897-1941), and resulted in a view about the relation between language and thought which was widely influential in the middle decades of this century. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, as it came to be called, combines two principles. The first is known as linguistic determinism it states that language determines the way we think. The second follows from this, and is known as linguistic relativity it states that the distinctions encoded in one language are not found in any other language. In a much- quoted paragraph, Whorf propounds the view as followsWe dissect nature along lines laid down by our native languages. The categories and types that we isolate from the world of phenomena we do not find there because they stare every observer in the face on the contrary, the world is presented in a kaleidoscopi c flux of impressions which has to be organized by our minds--and this means largely by the linguistic systems in our minds. We cut nature up, organize it into concepts, and ascribe significances as we do, largely because we are parties to an agreement to organize it in this way-an agreement that holds throughout our speech community and is codified in the patterns of our language. The agreement is, of course, an implicit and unstated one, but its terms are absolutely obligatory we cannot talk at all ... ...version of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is generally accepted. Language may not determine the way we think, but it does influence the way we perceive and remember, and it affects the ease with which we perform mental tasks. Several experiments have shown that people recall things more easily if the things correspond to readily available words or phrases. And people certainly find it easier to make a conceptual distinction if it neatly corresponds to words available in their langua ge. Some salvation for the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis can therefore be found in these studies, which are carried out within the developing field of psycholinguistics.Works CitedCrystal, David. Language and Thought. in Language Readings in Language and Culture, Sixth Edition. Clark, Virgina P., Eschholtz, Pual A., Rosa, Alfred F., editors. St. Matins Press. New York. 1998. p. 631-32