Sociolinguistics Channel

Sapir-Whorf
Hypothesis
Group 4:

MC: Nguyen Thi Que Chi

Benjamin Whorf: Vo Nhu Tuan
Scholars/People: Xuan An - Truc Anh - Minh Trung

WHO ARE THEY?

Sapir
studied
ways in
Whorfs
viewsthe
on the
interdependence
of language
which language and
culture
and thought have become
influence
other, and he
known as each
Sapir-Whorf
hypothesis.
was interested in the relation
between linguistic differences,
and differences in cultural
world views.

Sapir - Americananthropologist-linguist
Benjamin Lee Whorf - Americanlin

At Pihara tribe
OUT OF
USE
Language of Pihara tribe contains only three counting words: 1
2 and Many
They have difficulty in recounting numbers higher than

Does language affect behavior?

WHAT DID THEY COME UP WITH?

Language has power and can control how you see
the world.
Language is a guide to your reality, structuring
your thoughts.
There are certain thoughts of an individual in one
language that cannot be understood by those
who live in another language.

l
s
r
a
Ye

r
e
t
a

TWO VERSIONS

Linguistic
Determini
sm

Language determines thought

Linguistic structure determines
cognitive structures
True cross-cultural
communication and translation
are impossible

Linguistic Determinism
Hopis vs. English perception of time

Time as a linear, objective

sequence of events
E.g. They stayed ten days

m
s
i
Time as intensity and
duration
r
t
n
e the eleventh day
c
They stayedountil
n
h
t
or They
E left after the tenth day.

Hopis cannot have access to modern scientific thought

because their language doesnt allow them to
They can only gain the modern sense of time by learning
English.

Linguisti
c
Relativis
m

Speakers of different languages

perceive and experience the world
differently

Linguisti
c
Relativis
m

There are cultural differences in the

semantic associations of concepts
Encoding of life experience in a language is
not exclusively accessible to everyone, just
more important for the native speakers
In
English

In
Vietname
se

The man who marries my moms

older sister

uncle

bc

My fathers younger brother

My moms younger brother
The man who marries my fathers
younger sister

uncle
uncle
uncle

ch
cu
dng

Ex:

r
t
n
o

s
e
i
s
r
e
v
o

n
i
a
m
re

CONCLUSION

The work of Sapir and Whorf has led to two important

insights:
There is nowadays a recognition that language, as
code, reflects cultural preoccupations and constrains
the way people think.
More than in Whorfs days we recognize how
important context is in complementing the meanings
encoded in the language.

References
Kramsch, C. (1998). Language and Culture. China: OUP.
University-Batna, H. L. (Producer). (2013). The Sapir-Whorp
Hypothesis. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z3QswCgdoU
Can Language Affect How You Spend Your Money? Retrieved
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=US7wLCbZ84M