Language and-thought

1. By MoazzamAli
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2. 'He gave man speech, and
speech created thought, Which is
the measure of the universe'
-Prometheus Unbound, Shelley

3. Language and Thought
Perhapsbecausewetypicallythinkinwords,language
andthoughtseemcompletelyintertwined.Indeed,
scholarsinvariousfields--psychology,linguistics,
anthropology--aswellaslaypeoplehaveentertained
thesequestions:Isthoughtpossiblewithoutlanguage?
Doesthestructureofourlanguageshapeourthinking?
Doesourperception/cognitionshapethestructureof
language?Areourabilitiestolearnanduselanguagepart
ofourgeneralintelligence?

4. Language and Thought
ClassicaltheoristslikePlatoandAristotlearguedthatthecategoriesof
thoughtdeterminethecategoriesoflanguage.Tothem,languageisonly
theoutwardformorexpressionofthought.
AnotherviewwasexpressedbythebehavioristJ.B.Watson,anAmerican
psychologistandthefounderofBehaviorism.Accordingtohim,thought
islanguage.Hebelievedhatthoughtissub-vocalspeech,thatis,whenwe
“thinkaloud,”itiscalledspeech;whenwe“speakcovertly,”itiscalled
thinking.
Alessradicalpositionisthatlanguagedeterminesthought.Accordingto
thisview,thecategoriesofthoughtaredeterminedbylinguisticcategories.
Theoristswithinthisgrouparedividedbetweenthosewhothinkthat
languagecompletelydeterminescognitivecategoriesandthosewho
merelysaythatlanguagestronglyinfluencescognitivecategories.

5. Language and Thought
Along-standingclaimconcerningtherelationship
betweenlanguageandcultureisthatthestructureofa
languagedeterminesthewayinwhichthespeakersof
thatlanguageviewtheworld.Thisviewiscalled
LinguisticDeterminism
Asomewhatweakerversionisthatthestructure
doesn’tdeterminetheviewbutisstillextremely
influentialinpredisposingspeakersofalanguage
towardsadoptingaparticularworld-view.Thisviewis
calledLinguisticRelativism

6. Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
TheSapir-Whorfhypothesisasweknowit
todaycanbebrokendownintotwobasic
principles:linguisticdeterminismandlinguistic
relativity
LinguisticDeterminism
Languagedeterminesthought
Differentlanguagesimposedifferentconceptionsofreality
LinguisticRelativity
Languageinfluencesthinking
Linguisticdifferencesbetweenculturesareassociatedwith
culturaldifferencesinthinking

7. The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
Edward Sapir (1884-1939) was a leading figure in twentieth-
century linguistics and anthropology. Educated at Columbia
University (B.A. 1904, Ph.D. 1909) and initially a student of
Germanic philology, he became attracted to the anthropology
program then newly formed by Franz BOAS. Boas'sproject of
studying the languages and cultures of North American Indians
in their own right, rather than as evolutionary precursors or
deficient versions of Europeans (as in some other approaches
then current), became Sapir's own. Yet, his work grew to include
linguistic topics worldwide, and his contributions in theory and
analysis are among the foundations of modern linguistics.

8. Benjamin Lee Whorf 1897-1941
BenjaminWhorfwasborninWinthrop,Massachusetts
onApril24,1897.WhorfbeganstudyingLinguisticsat
YaleUniversityin1931becausehewasconcernedabout
theconflictbetweenscienceandreligion.Interestedin
theAmericanIndians,hebegantostudytheHopi
languagewhileatYaleUniversityunderthesupervision
ofEdwardSapir.HewasaLecturerinAnthropology
from1937-1938.BenjaminLeeWhorfwasasuccessful
businessspecialistemployedbytheHartfordFire
InsuranceCompany.WhorfstudiedLinguisticsinhis
sparetimeasawaytocreateanunderstandingofhow
languageworkedandunfortunately,hediedbefore
muchofhisstudiescouldbeproven.

9. Benjamin Lee Whorf 1897-1941 (2)
InthefieldofLinguistics,Whorfworkedintheareasof
LinguisticAnthropology,PsychologicalLinguistics,Mayan
andadictionaryofHopilanguages.Whorfarguedthat"
languageisshapedbycultureandreflectstheindividual
actionsofpeopledaily".Hefeltthatlanguageshapeda
person'sviewandinfluencedthoughts.Today,many
linguistsagreewithWhorf'sstudies.Hisstudies,though
notallwereproven,helpedfuturelinguistsintheirstudies.

10. Benjamin Lee Whorf 1897-1941 (3)
TheSapir-WhorfHypothesis:Itisgenerallyacceptedby
Ethnolinguiststhatcultureinfluenceslanguagebut
thereisfarlessagreementaboutthepossibilitythat
languageinfluencesculture.EdwardSapirandhis
student,BenjaminWhorf,suggestedthatlanguage
affectshowpeopleperceivetheirreality,thatlanguage
coercesthought.ThisisknownastheSapir-Whorf
Hypothesis.Simplystated,theSapir-WhorfHypothesis
saysthatthecontentofalanguageisdirectlyrelatedto
thecontentofacultureandthestructureofalanguage
isdirectlyrelatedtothestructureofaculture.

11. Sapir, 1929
'Humanbeingsdonotliveintheobjectiveworld
alone,noraloneintheworldofsocialactivityas
ordinarilyunderstood,butareverymuchatthe
mercyoftheparticularlanguagewhichhasbecome
themediumofexpressionfortheirsociety.Itis
quiteanillusiontoimaginethatoneadjuststo
realityessentiallywithouttheuseoflanguageand
thatlanguageismerelyanincidentalmeansof
solvingspecificproblemsofcommunicationand
reflection.Thefactofthematteristhatthe"real
world"istoalargeextentunconsciouslybuiltup
onthelanguagehabitsofthegroup.'

12. Whorf, 1941
'Wedissectnaturealonglineslaiddownbyournative
languages.Thecategoriesandtypesthatweisolatefromthe
worldofphenomenawedonotfindtherebecausetheystare
everyobserverintheface;onthecontrary,theworldis
presentedinakaleidoscopicfluxofimpressionswhichhas
tobeorganizedbyourminds-andthismeanslargelybythe
linguisticsystemsinourminds.Wecutnatureup,organize
itintoconcepts,andascribesignificancesaswedo,largely
becausewearepartiestoanagreementthatholds
throughoutourspeechcommunityandiscodifiedinthe
patternsofourlanguage.Theagreementis,ofcourse,an
implicitandunstatedone,butitstermsareabsolutely
obligatory;wecannottalkatallexceptbysubscribingtothe
organizationandclassificationofdatawhichtheagreement
decrees.'

13. 9.5.1 language determines thought
InChinese,thereisonlyasingletermluotuo,in
Englishthereiscamel.ButinArabic,therearemore
than400wordsfortheanimal.TheEskimolanguage
hasalargenumberofwordsinvolvingsnow.For
example,apun=“snowontheground”,qanikca=“hard
snowontheground”,utak=“blockofsnow”.

14. Supporting Evidence
Hopilanguagevs.WesternLanguages
Lookingcloselyatgrammaticalstructures(tense)
Westernlanguagesperceivetemporalentitiesasobjects
inspace
Fourdayssimilartofourpeople/fouroranges
Hopiperceivetemporalentitiesasongoingprocesses
DaysinHopiarecyclical
“Theystayedfourdays”cannotbesaidinHopi
Mustbe“Theyleftafterfourdays”
Alsotensesystemisverydifferentforfuture,present,time

15. Supporting Evidence
Inuit(Eskimo)Peoplehavemanymorewordsto
describesnowthatotherpeoples
PirahãTribe,fromBrazil,onlyhavecountingwords
“one”,“two”and“many”
Navahoonlyhaveonewordforblueandgreen
Russianhastwoseparatewordsfordarkblueandsky
blue
Italiansride“in”abicycleand“in”acountry

16. Criticism on Linguistic Determinism
LinguisticDeterminismisfartoostrongaclaimandthusfalse.
“Peoples’thoughtsandperceptionsarenotdeterminedbythe
wordsandstructuresoftheirlanguage.Wearenotprisonersof
ourlinguisticsystems”(Fromkinetal.2007)
Maynothavetheexactwordbutareabletoexpresstheirideas
andthoughtsusingotherwordsorwordcombinations
TheDanitribe,whohaveonlya2coloursystem,black/darkand
white/light,weresuccessfullytrainedtoidentifyandname
differentshadesofred
Inuitjusthaveagreaterneedformorevocabularyoftypesof
snowthatus–itisarguablewhethertheirperceptionisaffected

17. Evidence for Linguistic Relativism
MoreevidencetosuggestthatLinguisticRelativismisvalid
andhasinfluenceonthoughtandperception
Languagedifferences
PoliticallyCorrectVocabulary
“Friendlyfire”–theaccidentalkillingofonesownsoldiers
“Mentallychallenged”–asopposedto“mentallyretarded”
Puttingpositivemeaningonnegativeideas/concepts
Iftherewerenowordsthatweresexistorracist,wouldour
societybecomelesssexistorracist?

18. THANK YOU