Whorf Hypothesis and Color Terms

1. Whorf Hypothesis and Color Terms The relation of language to culture and nature

2. Whorf Hypothesis • Benjamin Lee Whorf – Chemical Engineer • worked as accident investigator for insurance companies

3. Whorf Hypothesis • Question Whorf sought to answer: Culture ↔ Language structure (By culture Whorf means everything involved in our view of the world)

4. Whorf Hypothesis An explosion and fire involving an ‘empty’ gas drum prompted inquiry

5. Whorf Hypothesis Critical thinking question: Is our concept ‘empty’ a product of language or a product of cultural outlook (education)?

6. Whorf Hypothesis • For Whorf, the concept “empty” that led workers to treat a drum which in fact was full of vapors as absolutely empty is language-driven

7. Whorf Hypothesis Whorf argued: “The structure of our language conditions our view of the world.” Principle called linguistic relativity

8. Color terms • Color terms help demonstrate relation of words and meaning

9. Color terms • The visible spectrum – all possible colors occur in unsegmented gradations

10. Color terms • Human language creates arbitrary segments • Languages designate those segments differently — basic color terms

11. Color terms Color terms: • Basically all speakers know them • Single words; not part of a more general term (e.g., red but not dusty rose) • Are not limited to certain objects (blonde, brunette)

12. Whorf Hypothesis • p. 507, 508 (Lenneberg & Roberts)

13. Lenneberg & Roberts Does the absence of two conventional color terms for blue/green in Quechi affect their perception of nature?

14. Whorf Hypothesis • Berlin and Kay p. 510 [note hierarchy of color terms]

15. Color terms p. 510 #4 • What does the sameness of reference of color terms among languages tell us? • The difference in the number of color terms among languages?

16. Color terms • color terms demonstrate a principle of semantics — • languages divide the natural spectrum into arbitrary segments with names