Describe Benjamin Whorf’s linguistic relativity hypothesis and the research has to say about the hypothesis
What will be an ideal response?
ANSWER:
?One of the most intriguing theories about language came from an unlikely source. Benjamin Whorf was a Connecticut fire insurance inspector whose unusual hobby was linguistics, or the study of language. After intensive studies of the languages of Native Americans, Whorf became convinced that one’s language could directly determine or influence one’s thoughts (Whorf, 1956). This notion has since come to be called the Whorfian hypothesis or the linguistic relativity hypothesis.
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In its strongest form, the linguistic relativity hypothesis states that one’s language actually determines one’s thoughts and one’s perception of the world. According to this view, people who have different native languages think differently and perceive the world in a different light.
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To date, the bulk of the evidence does not support the strong form of Whorf’s linguistic relativity hypothesis. However, there is reason to think that a modified, or weaker, interpretation of the Whorfian hypothesis may hold true. The weaker version states that instead of language determining thought processes, language merely influences them.
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