Sapir–Whorf hypothesis (Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis) - Simply Psychology
Read: Read on Omnivore Read: Read Original date published: 2022-11-03 date read: 2023-04-05 author: Mia Belle Frothingham description: There are about seven thousand languages heard around the world - they all have different sounds, vocabularies, and structures. As you know, language plays a tags:
Highlights
The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis states that the grammatical and verbal structure of a person’s language influences how they perceive the world. It emphasizes that language either determines or influences one’s thoughts.🔗
Because of these small but crucial differences, using the wrong word within a particular language can have significant consequences.🔗
Our language restricts our thought processes – our language shapes our reality. Simply, the language that we use shapes the way we think and how we see the world.🔗
people who speak different languages have different views of the world.🔗
learn the language of the culture they are studying to understand the worldview of its speakers truly.🔗
hypothesis proposed that the words and structures of a language influence how its speaker behaves and feels about the world and, ultimately, the culture itself.🔗
the real world is unconsciously built on habits in regard to the language of the group.🔗
reflected in the rich vocabulary that describes all aspects of the fish🔗
You have many words for what is important
Whorf’s studies at Yale involved working with many Native American languages, including Hopi. He discovered that the Hopi language is quite different from English in many ways, especially regarding time.🔗
Our grammar and system of verbs reflect this concept with particular tenses for past, present, and future. We perceive this concept of time as universal in that all humans see it in the same way.🔗
Seemingly, the Hopi language has no present, past, or future tense; instead, they divide the world into manifested and unmanifest domains.🔗
Honestly, the idea that a mother tongue can restrict one’s understanding has been largely unaccepted. For example, in German, there is a term that means to take pleasure in another person’s unhappiness.🔗
languages are human creations, very much tools we invented and honed to suit our needs.🔗
evidence that the language-associated habits we acquire play a role in how we view the world.🔗
There was a study done that looked at how German and Spanish speakers view different things based on their given gender association in each respective language. The results demonstrated that in describing things that are referred to as masculine in Spanish, speakers of the language marked them as having more male characteristics🔗
preconceived notions of something being feminine or masculine🔗
The past influences current speakers
Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis makes sense. It can be utilized in describing great numerous misunderstandings in everyday life.🔗
The theory does not only make us question linguistic theory and our own language but also our very existence and how our perceptions might shape what exists in this world.🔗