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English 306A; Harris 1
Linguistic relativity
A.K.A. “Whorfian hypothesis”
After Benjamin Lee Whorf, author of Language, thought, and reality
English 306A; Harris 2
Linguistic relativity
A.K.A. “Whorfian hypothesis”
That different languages shape different perceptions of the world.
English 306A; Harris 3
Linguistic relativity
“ the principle of linguistic relativity 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 calibrated”
(Language, thought, and reality, 214)
English 306A; Harris 4
Whorf on Hopi (as a metonym)
I find it gratuitous to assume that a Hopi who knows only the Hopi language and the cultural ideas of his own society has the same notions, often supposed to be intuitions, of time and space that we have, and that are generally assumed to be universal. In particular, he has no general notion or intuition of time as a smooth flowing continuum in which everything in the universe proceeds at an equal rate, out of a future, through a present, into a past …In [the] Hopi view, time disappears and space is altered, so that it is no longer the homogeneous and instantaneous timeless space of our supposed intuition or of classical Newtonian mechanics.
Language, thought, and reality (56, 58).
English 306A; Harris 5
Linguistic relativity hypothesis
Strong formLanguage determines
thought; speakers of different languages inhabit different, mutually inaccessible realities
Weak formLanguage influ-ences thought
English 306A; Harris 6
Navajo worldview/language
QuickTime™ and a decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
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QuickTime™ and a decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
English 306A; Harris 7
Navajo and “obligation”
EnglishI must go there.
NavajoIt is only good that I go there.
English 306A; Harris 8
Navajo and “control”
EnglishI am riding the horse.
NavajoThe horse runs for me.
English 306A; Harris 9
Navajo kinship lexicalization (partial)
?akso˘thakso˘tno≥yehha≥nihhakhno≥sheakeÚ˘hak
grandmother or maternal great
aunt
grandfather or paternal great
uncle
mother or maternal aunt
father or paternal uncle
maternal uncle
paternal aunt
English 306A; Harris 10
Navajo and motion
one moves into clothing
one moves about here and there
a flat-and-flexible object that moves
about
one moves about newly
to move words out of an enclosed
space
≥e˘h÷ha˘
hna÷ha˘hna$˘lco$˘s≥ani˘÷na÷ha
ha÷di÷≥a˘h
English 306A; Harris 11
Navajo and motion
one dresses
one moves about here and there
a flat-and-flexible object that moves
about
one moves about newly
to move words out of an enclosed
space
≥e˘h÷ha˘
hna÷ha˘hna$˘lco$˘s≥ani˘÷na÷ha
ha÷di÷≥a˘h
English 306A; Harris 12
Navajo and motion
one dresses
one lives
a flat-and-flexible object that moves
about
one moves about newly
to move words out of an enclosed
space
≥e˘h÷ha˘
hna÷ha˘hna$˘lco$˘s≥ani˘÷na÷ha
ha÷di÷≥a˘h
English 306A; Harris 13
Navajo and motion
one dresses
one lives
a letter
one moves about newly
to move words out of an enclosed
space
≥e˘h÷ha˘
hna÷ha˘hna$˘lco$˘s≥ani˘÷na÷ha
ha÷di÷≥a˘h
English 306A; Harris 14
Navajo and motion
one dresses
one lives
a letter
to be young
to move words out of an enclosed
space
≥e˘h÷ha˘
hna÷ha˘hna$˘lco$˘s≥ani˘÷na÷ha
ha÷di÷≥a˘h
English 306A; Harris 15
Navajo and motion
one dresses
one lives
a letter
to be young
to sing
≥e˘h÷ha˘
hna÷ha˘hna$˘lco$˘s≥ani˘÷na÷ha
ha÷di÷≥a˘h
English 306A; Harris 16
to-strike-with-foot in Navajo and English
English [kHIk]The horse kicked the mule.The mule kicked the horse.The man kicked the horse.The horse kicked the man.
Navajo [yizta¬]The horse kicked the mule.The mule kicked the horse.The man kicked the horse.The horse kicked the man.
English 306A; Harris 17
Navajo and striking-with-foot
Navajo “kicking”[yizta¬]The horse kicked the mule.
The horse controlled the action.The horse struck the mule with its foot/feet.The mule did not help bring this action about.
English 306A; Harris 18
English and striking-with-foot
English kickingThe horse kicked the mule.
The horse controlled the action.The horse struck the mule with its foot/feet.The mule did not help bring this action about.
Partial overlap in meaning with [yizta¬], but low relevance
Full overlap in meaning with [yizta¬], high relevance
Full mismatch with [yizta¬], complete irrelevance
English 306A; Harris 19
Navajo and striking-with-foot
Navajo “kicking” [yizta¬]The horse “kicked” the man.
The horse controlled the action.The horse struck the mule with its foot/feet.The man did not help bring this action about.
Semantically anomalous--horses can’t control actions that impact humans--and grammatically screwy
English 306A; Harris 20
Role DefinitionAGENT The entity that performs the action
PATIENT The entity undergoing the action; the object of the experience
EXPERIENCER The entity that experiences the state
RECEIVER The entity that receives something from the action
BENEFICIARY The entity that benefits from the action
ESSIVE Anything predicated by the (main) verb “to be”
POSSESSOR The entity who possesses something.
SOURCE The starting point for a movement
GOAL The end point for a movement
PATH The route over which movement happens
TIME The time an event occurs
LOCATION The place an event happens
Semantic Roles
English 306A; Harris 21
Role Event SchemataAGENT DOING, MOVING, TRANSFERRING
PATIENT BEING, HAPPENING, DOING, EXPERIENCING, HAVING, MOVING, TRANSFERRING
EXPERIENCER EXPERIENCING
RECEIVER TRANSFERRING
ESSIVE BEING
POSSESSOR HAVING, TRANSFERRING
SOURCE
MOVING, TRANSFERRINGGOAL
PATH
TIMEALL
LOCATION
Semantic Roles
English 306A; Harris 22
Navajo Agency
yizta¬mules and horses, reciprocal agency
non-human-animate non-human-animate humans and horses (and mules), unilateral agency
human non-human-animate
kickmules, horses, humans, reciprocal agency
animate animate AGENT, PATIENT
AGENThuman, PATIENTnon-human AGENTnon-human, PATIENT-human
English 306A; Harris 23
Semantic primes
ABOVE, AFTER, ALL, BAD, BECAUSE, BEFORE, BELOW, BIG, BODY, CAN, DIE, DO, FAR, FEEL, FOR SOME TIME, GOOD, HAPPEN, HAVE, HEAR, HERE, I, IF, INSIDE, KIND OF, KNOW, LIKE, LIVE, MANY(/MUCH), MAYBE, MOMENT, MORE, MOVE, LONG, NEAR, NOT, NOW, ONE, OTHER, PART-OF, PERSON, THE SAME, SAY, SEE, SIDE, SMALL, SOME, SOMEONE, SOMETHING, THERE-IS, THINK, THIS, TOUCH, TRUE, TWO, VERY, WANT, WHEN, WHERE, WORD, YOU, …
English 306A; Harris 24
Semantic primes
FRED CAUSE-PAST (BARNEY BECOME NOT-ALIVE)
Fred killed Barney
Barney is dead
BARNEY BE NOT-ALIVE
Barney died.
BARNEY BECOME-PAST NOT-ALIVE
FRED CAUSE-PAST (BARNEY BECOME NOT-ALIVE) WITH BAD-INTENT WITH PLAN
Fred murdered Barney
English 306A; Harris 25
Event Schemata Semantic Primes
HAPPENING HAPPEN
DOING DO
EXPERIENCING FEEL
BEING BE
HAVING OWN
MOVING HAPPEN-GODO-CAUSE-TO-GO
TRANSFERING COME-T0-OWNDO-CAUSE-TO-OWN
Semantic Primes / Event Schemata
English 306A; Harris 26
≥e˘h÷ha˘hna÷ha˘hna$˘lco$˘s≥ani˘÷na÷haha÷di÷≥a˘h
Navajo and motion
SOMEONE GO INTO CLOTHING
SOMEONE GO HERE AND THERE
SOMETHING FLAT-AND-FLEXIBLE GO HERE AND
THERE
SOMEONE NEW GO
TO CAUSE (WORDS GO OUT FROM CONTAINER)
English 306A; Harris 27
Navajo and “control”
EnglishI am riding the horse.
NavajoThe horse runs for me.
AGENT
AGENT PATIENT
RECEIVER
English 306A; Harris 28
Navajo and control/causation
EnglishI am riding the horse.I CAUSE (HORSE GO-FOR-ME)
NavajoThe horse runs for me.HORSE CAUSE (HORSE GO-FOR-ME)
English 306A; Harris 29
Navajo and control/causation
EnglishI am riding the horse.DOING, V2
NavajoThe horse runs for me.DOING, V1 (≈ VCOMP)
English 306A; Harris 30
Navajo and control/causation
EnglishI am riding the horse.DOING, V2
NavajoThe horse runs for me.DOING, V1 (≈ VCOMP)
Navajo and English use the same basic resources (Universality) to different effects. They can be mapped into one another via these resources (Parity).
English 306A; Harris 31
Navajo worldview (Weltsicht)
What is it?Who knows?
Is it the same as the SAE worldview?No.
Is it compatible with the SAE worldview?Sometimes, sometimes not.
Is it accessible to the SAE worldview (and vice versa)?
Absolutely (with diligence respect).
MOVE, KIN, PART-OF
WHEN, THING, OWN
English 306A; Harris 32
Colour terms2-color system: black, white 3-color system: black, white, red 4-color system: black, white, red,
yellow or GRUE 5-color system: black, white,
red, yellow, GRUE 6-color system: black, white,
red, yellow, green, blue
… then purple, pink, orange, gray
English 306A; Harris 33
whiteblack red
GRUE
yellow
greenblue
purplepinkorangegray
Colour terms
yellow
GRUE
There is something about the world, our brains, or our eyes (or any combination thereof) that constrains lexicalization.
English 306A; Harris 34
Linguistic relativity
“ the principle of linguistic relativity 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 calibrated”
(Language, thought, and reality, 214)
English 306A; Harris 35
Linguistic relativity
“ the principle of linguistic relativity 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 calibrated”
(Language, thought, and reality, 214)
English 306A; Harris 36
Cross-linguistic calibrators
Semantic primes.Semantic roles.Event schemata.Verb-argument
structurePerception.
(goodwill, common-interests, …)
English 306A; Harris 37
Linguistic relativity hypothesis
Strong formLanguage determines
thought; speakers of different languages inhabit different, mutually inaccessible realities
Weak formLanguage influences
thought
There are culturalMisunderstandings.
Translation is impossible.
English 306A; Harris 38
Linguistic relativity hypothesis
Strong formLanguage determines
thought; speakers of different languages inhabit different, mutually inaccessible realities
Weak formLanguage influ-ences thought