!Whorf - Linguistic Determinism ver6.pptx

What is linguistic determinism?

1. Linguistic Determinism Dr. Alexander Randall 5 th

2. “You think with your words. When I speak to you spiritually, you can’t hear” Dari Kopenawa – Amazon Yanomami Shaman

3. Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis Differences in Language Mean Differences in Thought Each language embodies a worldview People who speak differently, think differently

4. Language Influences Perception Sapir-Whorf hypothesis – a culture’s language shapes how people think and feel Not the other way around…. 4

5. Benjamin Lee Whorf Insurance Investigator Investigating an industrial warehouse. Men not smoking in room with “full” gasoline barrels. Men are smoking in room with “empty” barrels “Empty” is still “full” of fumes What does Empty mean? How can it be misunderstood 6

6. Whorf – Linguistic Determinism 100 years before Whorf and Sapir: Wilhelm von Humboldt wrote in Gesammelte Werke a strong version of linguistic determinism: "Man lives in the world about him principally, indeed exclusively, as language presents it to him." 8

7. Whorf – Linguistic Determinism Our language forces us to think along certain lines. We can not think about ideas for which we do not have words. “Grammar performs another important function. It determines those aspects of each experience that MUST be expressed. Franz Boaz - 1938 “ Languages differ essentially in what they must convey and not in what they may convey” 9

8. Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis Huge debate. Does language determine Thought? Does language guide thought? Is language a groove of thought we settle into? “How could it not be true?” Gregory Bateson

9. Guy Deutscher Whorf is too “deterministic” Languages doesn’t PREVENT thought Languages FORCES thought into certain patterns Language REQUIRES thoughts to conform to “grooves” of thought 11

10. Guy Deutscher Our language forces us to think in certain ways… “My friend came for dinner last night” In English you do not have to identify the gender of the friend In French, Spanish or German you are FORCED to reveal the gender of the friend. 12

11. Whorf – Linguistic Determinism In German - a feminine word “die Brücke ” In Spanish, a masculine word “el puente ” Newspaper writers describing the SAME bridge… 13

12. Whorf – Linguistic Determinism In German - a feminine word “die Brücke ” In Spanish, a masculine word “el puente ” Newspaper writers describing the SAME bridge… the German speakers said "beautiful," "elegant," "fragile," "peaceful," "pretty," and "slender," the Spanish speakers said "big," "dangerous," "long," "strong," "sturdy," and "towering." 14

13. German with three genders

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16. Guy Deutscher English “Mind” has no direct translation into French French has 6 words related to “Mind” English “we” is one concept for many groups of people Other languages have other kinds of “we”: “Just the two of us” “Me and you and someone else” “Me and someone else but not you:

17. Little Color in Homer’s Odyssey “Wine Dark Sea” Crude color references – Black and White Black used 170 times, White 100 times, Red 13 times, Yellow 10 times, Violet 6 times – all others less. No blue sky Flower = color of the sea, Violet sea, Violet iron

18. Words for Color People remember color better if the color has a name English “Light Blue” and “Dark Blue” Russian “ goluboy ” and “ sinly ” hence Russians remember better Nubians – no word for Blue Sioux – one word for blue and green People can spot the differences in colors but can still fail to give them separate names.

19. Different Words – Different Thoughts Korean has different word for: Things that fit in snugly like a letter in envelope vs Things that fit in loosely like an apple in a bowl. Koreans are faster than Americans at determining tight fit vs. loose fit.

20. Kinship terms The Yanamamo lump Cousin and Brother-in-law into one category with the same word. Brothers and sons of paternal uncles are lumped together.

21. Kinship terms The Yanamamo lump Cousin and Brother-in-law into one category with the same word. Brothers and sons of paternal uncles are lumped together. English word cousin says nothing about which parent’s family the cousin is from.

22. Kinship terms English word cousin says nothing about which parent’s family the cousin is from. Cousin: We COULD have Mousin , Pousin , Uncle: We COULD have Munkle , Punkle .

23. Sex and Syntax German assigns gender to all objects Pine tree is a “he” and Palm tree is a “her” No escape from gender African language Supyire from Mail has five genders Australian Ngng’gityemerri has 15 genders! Many have three, German girl is neuter English has gender ONLY in pronouns , he, she, it Turkish, Finnish, Hungarian, Indonesian, Vietnamese – NO Gender

24. Sex and Syntax The difference between languages with and without a gender system is not what they allow their speakers to convey, but what they force their speakers to say.

25. Language and Context Large societies – lots of strangers Low context Many DIFFERENT English's. Small Societies – few strangers High context. Share more, thus fewer words

26. Eskimo Snow Debate Do “Eskimos” have 200 different words for Snow? Clearly they have more words! Are they different words ? Are they variations on the same couple of roots? Do Eskimos “see” more variety in snow than Americans?

27. Eskimo Snow Debate People who are experts in topics have larger vocabulary than non-experts. Every culture has words for things that matter… Snow – Continental vs. Caribbean Soca , Dance Hall - Continental vs. Caribbean

28. STOP Who in this class is a Caribbean resident who has never been up north in winter?

29. STOP Who in this class is a Caribbean resident who has never been up north in winter? What’s the difference between snowball packing snow and slush?

30. STOP Who in this class is a Continental who has never been in the Caribbean before?

31. STOP Who in this class is a Continental who has never been in the Caribbean before? What is the difference between Soca and Dancehall?

32. All’a’we We all have expanded vocabulary for the topics about which we care, we study, we consume information and give time to think about.

33. 39 Use vocabulary your listener understands HUSH! In St Kitts – Hush means “Keep Quiet” In Jamaica – Hush means “I am Sorry” In US Slang - Hush Hush – Keep this to yourself Hip Hop: HUSH = Us in Hip Hop

34. 40

35. And none of them are FRACO Local St Thomas word

36. Language Expands New words allow new thought Complex ideas get a handle Glass Ceiling -1978 Sexual Harassment - 1975 Transfemicide - 2020

37. Words for Direction Guugu Yimithirr of Australia (Go0 Go0 YEE-myth-tar) ( eg : Kangaroo – their name for a particular gangurru Guugu use cardinal point orientation vs. our egocentric orientation Egocentric = left, right , front, back Cardinal = north, south, east, west Eg : “Your southeast leg” Eg : “Go northeast, then turn south and go west.” Their language " equips them to perform navigational feats once thought beyond human capabilities.” Spin around in a dark room with no features and they still know the cardinal directions!

38. Lera Boroditsky Turkish verbs indicate whether action was observed or merely rumored . Do Turks have a heightened sensitivity to fact versus hearsay . English says "she broke the bowl" even if it smashed accidentally Spanish and Japanese describe the same event more like "the bowl broke itself." English speakers remember who was to blame even in an accident, Spanish and Japanese speakers remember an accident less well than intentional acts.

39. Linguistic Relativity Profound divergences in language = Profound divergence in thought Our mother tongue determines how we think Language influences Thought. How could it NOT?

40. A Journalist counting to 100: A, both, several, five, half a dozen, more than half a dozen, nearly 10, nearly a dozen, a dozen, more than a dozen, nearly two dozen, a score, nearly two dozen (again), dozens, scores, 50, more than 50, more than 75, nearly a hundred, 100. Then: Millions, Billions, more money that Bill Gates or Warren Buffett has, Trillions, The National Debt, more than the National Debt, more money than God, a lot. We recall the Trobriand Islanders who count: One, two, three, dog, one & dog, two & dog, three & dog, dog-dog. Many. Any number beyond “eight” is many.

41. Amazon Tribes There are Amazon tribes with two different words for the number “two.” One word is used for times when two is enough ; “I hunted and brought home two animals for my small family.” There is a different word “two” when saying, “I only killed two animals to feed my family of 12.” Where “two” means “not much. Their “one” also means “lonely.”

42. Un-Translatable Words Dr. Alexander Randall 5th University of the Virgin Islands

43. Hindi

44. Hebrew

45. Portugese

46. Chinese

47. Romanian

48. Serbian

49. Dutch

50. Tamil

51. Yaghan

52. Gaelic

53. Arabic

54. Urdu

55. French

56. Welsh

57. Japanese

58. German

59. Italian

60. Inuit

61. Japanese

62. Russian

63. Spanish

64. Indonesian

65. Hawaiian

66. French

67. Urdu

68. Swedish