The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

1. The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis To what extent, if at all, does our language govern our thought processes?

2. 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

3. 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)

4. The ‘Strong’ Version How language influences the way in which we CAN THINK … • Research Case 1: Peterson and Siegal http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/4110/whorf.html • Research Case 2: Numerical Differentiation – Piraha tribe In Brazilian Amizon “One, Two, Many” First noted by Peter Gordon

5. The ‘Weak’ Version How language influences the way in which we THINK … • Research Case 1: Spatial Orientation - Australian aboriginals - Guugu Yimithirr Research Case 2: Colour Differentiation – Russian vs. Research Case 3: Perception of things (Bridge) – German/Spanish - El puente vs. die Brücke

6. 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?

7. 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’sunswerving dedication to empirical reality http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/04/16/070416fa_fact_colapinto#ixzz27g0BOyJV

8. 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

9. 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]