The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

To what extent, if at all, does our language govern our

thought processes?

Grammar • “In substance, grammar is one and the same in all

languages, but it may vary accidentally.” Roger Bacon

• Chomsky – the propensity to receive grammar is innate.

• Backed up by studies conducted by Kegl in Nicaragua into deaf children who independently developed what became known an Nicaraguan sign.

• Consider some corresponding KIs after you’ve compared languages around your table

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis 1) Strong: Language determines thought and

that linguistic categories limit and determine cognitive categories. (What we CAN and CAN NOT think)

2) Weak: Linguistic categories and usage influences thought and certain kinds of non-linguistic behaviour. (Influences how we THINK about things)

The ‘Strong’ Version

• Research Case 1:Peterson and Siegal http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/4110/whorf.html

• Research Case 2: Numerical Differentiation – Piraha tribeIn Brazilian Amizon“One, Two, Many”First noted by Peter Gordon

How language influences the way in which we CAN THINK …

The ‘Weak’ Version

• Research Case 1: Spatial Orientation - Australian aboriginals - Guugu Yimithirr

How language influences the way in which we THINK …

Research Case 2: Colour Differentiation – Russian

vs.

Research Case 3: Perception of things (Bridge) – German/Spanish

- El puente vs. die Brücke

Back to our definition of knowledge“Language is the dress of thought” Samuel Johnson

• Quechua Incas• Particles are attached to nouns to signify:• Personal knowledge: “I know it for a fact”• Hearsay knowledge: “or so I’ve heard.” • What difference would this make if knowledge

claims were this distinction to be adopted in English?

The Piraha Revisited – An extreme Empirical Model

• What follows is the thesis of Dan Everett who had spent far more time with the Piraha than Gordon and was the first to decode their languge

• Piraha embodies a living-in-the-present ethos so powerful that it has affected every aspect of the people’s lives

• do not think, or speak, in abstractions• do not use color terms, quantifiers, numbers, or myths• E.g. xibipío “When someone walks around a bend in the river,

the Pirahã say that the person has not simply gone away but xibipío—‘gone out of experience,’

• Dan Everett, the Pirahã’s unswerving dedication to empirical reality

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/04/16/070416fa_fact_colapinto#ixzz27g0BOyJV

Experiment – you need to think in the language for this to work (assuming it will work at all!)

• Pictorial language:

•妖•妄

Non Pictorial Language:

• Ghost• Presumptuous

Here’s what you might have come up with if the pictorial element of the language governs:“娱” [amusement], “耍” [playful], “婪” [greedy], “嫉” [envy], “妒” [envy], “嫌” [dislike], “佞” [to flatter], “妄” [presumptuous], “妖” [evil], “奴” [slave], “妓” [prostitute], “娼” [prostitute], “奸” [rape], “姘” [have an affair], “婊” [prostitute] and “嫖” [prostitute]