Philosophical questions about language influence, learning a 2nd language,
thought patterns.
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Linguistic relativity
Sapir – Whorf hypothesis
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Herodotus ?
Greek VS Egyptian behaviour (influenced by writing directions ?)
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What was the second hypothethis ?
Language is a tool to speak about reality
without influencing real world experience.
Realness VS Feelings, Experience
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Who said the language is the fabric of thougt ?
Von Humboldt (1820)
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The debate resurfaced during the first half of the 20th century with who ?
Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf
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Name a few facts about Sapir
- American anthropologist-linguist
- One of the most imp figures in the early dvlpmt of the discipline of linguistics
- Worked on the description of
Native American languages
- Studied the ways in which language and culture influence each other.
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Lee Whorf :
Linguist and fire prevention engineer.
Worked with Edward Sapir at Yale University on the description of native American languages
Dvlped the idea that language determines culture, and that the structures of a given language condition the way a speaker
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Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
strong version :
Language determines thought, linguistic
categories limit and determine cognitive categories.
→ The speakers of different languages perceive the world and think in different ways.
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Weak version:
Linguistic categories and usage
only influence thought and decisions.
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Whorf’s examples of linguistic relativity
Snow in the Inuit language
Water or time in Hopi language
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Hypothesis
L1 influence L2, in the thought process
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Language and culture
according to Jakobson
Concepts are intimately linked to
a given language and culture.
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