Sapir and Whorf hypothesis

26 Janeiro 2022, 08:00 • Zuzanna Zarebska

•Theory:

  “large differences in language lead to large differences in experience     and thought.”

•Each language embodies a worldview. Quite different languages embody quite different views, so that speakers of different languages think about the world in quite different ways.
•The difference in languages and thought form the basis for the Whorf-Sapir hypothesis or linguistic relativity
•Linguistic influence on thought: 
The structure and lexicon of one’s language influences how one perceives and conceptualizes the world, and they do so in a systematic way.
Edward Sapir (1884-1939)
•There is no objective world alone, nor alone in the world of social activity as ordinarily understood, 
•but are very much at the mercy of the particular language which has become the medium of expression for their society. 
•It is quite an illusion language is merely an incidental means of solving specific problems of communication or reflection (1929)
•Our language affects how we perceive things:
•The strong SWH version: languages are deterministic of how we think and perceive the world
•The weak SWH version: languages influence how we think and what decision we make in our everyday life
•Even comparatively simple acts of perception are very much more at the mercy of the social patterns.
•We see and hear and otherwise experience very largely as we do because the language of our community predisposes certain choices of interpretation.
•But the differences don´t end with perception:
•The ‘real world’ is to a large extent unconsciously built up on the language habits of the group. 
•No two languages are ever sufficiently similar to be considered as representing the same social reality. 
•The worlds in which different societies live are distinct worlds, not merely the same worlds with different labels attached.Benjamin Lee Whorf
•When languages are similar, according to Whorf, there is little likelihood of dramatic cognitive differences. (Indo-European)
•But languages that differ markedly from English and other Western European languages (which Whorf calls, collectively, “Standard Average European” or SAE) often do lead their speakers to have very different worldviews. (Papua New Guinea and lack of male dominance, Mead)
•We are thus introduced to a new principle of relativity, which holds that all observers are not led by the same physical evidence to the same picture of the universe, unless their linguistic backgrounds are similar, or can in some way be comparable. 
•Language – cognition – customs – dialogue
•Examples of linguistic diversity known to you?
•Linguistic Diversity: 
Languages, especially members of quite different language families, differ in important ways from one another.
•Difference and diversity? Productive or not?
•Do we acquire different identities using different languages?
•Does the theory seem overtly simplistic?: 
Do you agree with the statement? “Languages and societies grow together”.