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Özlem ÖZTÜRK
January 5, 2018
LANGUAGE THOUGHT AND CULTURE 2
Abstract
This paper tries to explain and analyze the relation between language thought and culture
by referring to different cultures and languages around the world. The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis is
also explained and discussed as it offers many controversial ideas about how the language affects
the people’s perception of the world around them. In order to do so, notions of language relativity
and language determinism are reviewed by referring to different perceptions of cultures on the
same concepts.
Introduction
The relation between language, thought and culture has been a common concern for
psycholinguists and linguistic anthropologists around the world. It is clearly believed that words
shape people’s lives. The way an idea is stated affects how it is conceptualized. In addition,
studies on language acquisition show that cognitive development and language development go
hand in hand. They both interact with and shape each other (Brown, 2000, p.196). Besides,
cultural factors cannot be eliminated from the language as it is already an integral part of the
interaction between language and thought. While these concepts are strongly related to each
other, it is still a question if the language determines the thought and culture shapes the language.
Throughout the first language acquisition process, with the words which are acquired, a
child learns to recognize the types of category distinctions that are relevant in the social
environment (Yule, 2006, p.216). These categories can be defined as the conceptual systems and
LANGUAGE THOUGHT AND CULTURE 3
it is clear that they shape the way someone thinks. However, it is still a question if the language
determines or shapes the thought. The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis claims that language has a strong
influence on thought. This claim implies that every language has its own world view and people
speaking different languages perceive reality in different ways. This idea which derives from
whether the language totally determines or only influences the thought is seen as the basis of the
discussion about the relation of language and thought (Wardhaugh, 2006, p.221).
Culture can be defined as the beliefs and patterned behaviors belonging to a society. In
this sense, language and culture are so integrated terms that it is hard to think of the one without
the other. Language is used to express cultural elements and also culture is an integrated part of
the culture. As Brown (2000, p.177) explains “A language is a part of a culture and a culture is a
part of a language; the two are intricately interwoven so that one cannot separate the two without
losing the significance of either language or culture.” As a result, there is a strong relation
between language and culture; on the other hand, the question if the culture and language shape
Hypothesis”, has been a controversial issue since it was formulated. The hypothesis was first
formed by Edward Sapir, who was a linguist, and reformulated by his student, Benjamin Lee
Whorf.
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According to Sapir, there is such a relationship between language and culture that it is not
possible to understand the one without knowledge of the other. According to Sapir’s hypothesis,
the language people speak and think in shapes their perception that is, the existence of the various
language systems means that the people who think in these different languages must perceive the
world differently (Wardhaugh, 2006, p.221). In his book, ‘Language’ Sapir states that: “The fact
of the matter is that the ‘real world’ is to a large extent unconsciously built up on the language
Whorf reformulated his teachers view to a broader and a deterministic point by claiming
that there was a predisposition. According to Whorf, the grammar of each language is not only
reproducing instrument for voicing ideas; but rather is shaping the ideas, the mental activity and
the mental process. Formulation of ideas is not an independent process, rather is a part of a
particular grammar and differs between different structures of different languages (Carroll, 1956,
p.212).
The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis is also widely known as the ‘Whorfian Hypothesis’ with
regards to his work on the hypothesis itself and also carrying the hypothesis to an experimental
level by his study on Hopi language and grammar and inferences of this study. Whorf’s work on
his teacher’s ideas has led the hypothesis to a different level so that the hypothesis implies two
different theories which are called as language relativity and language determinism.
Linguistic Determinism
According to this theory, language determines how speakers perceive and organize the world
around them that is to say, language determines thought. If a language has a word for a particular
LANGUAGE THOUGHT AND CULTURE 5
concept, then that word makes it easier for the speakers of that language to refer to that concept
than speakers of another language who lack such a word of the concept.
Whorf came up with that idea as a result of his research on Hopi language contrasting it
with European languages. On this study, he came to a conclusion that Hopi and European
languages differ widely in their structural characteristics. Hopi structural categories provide a
process orientation toward the world while categories in European languages give speakers of
those languages a fixed orientation toward time and space. That means, in European languages,
events occur, have occurred or will occur in a definite time; whereas to speakers of Hopi, what is
expected to occur. Whorf claimed that these differences lead to different views of the world by
Hopi speakers and speakers of European languages. The Hopi see the world as essentially an
ongoing set of processes, objects and events are not countable and discrete and also, time is not
stated as minutes, hours, days or weeks in contrast to the European languages (Wardhaugh, 2006,
p.224). As a result, he strongly argued that the speakers of Hopi and European languages
perceive the world completely different and so that they think differently.
Linguistic Relativity
Linguistic relativity, on the other hand, is known as the weak version of the Sapir-Whorf
hypothesis and it is widely accepted among linguists as it has more acceptable claims rather that
linguistic determinism. Linguistic relativity, simply claims that, people do not only talk, but to a
certain extent probably also think about the world of experience, using the categories provided by
the language. That is to say, language shapes the thought, rather than determining.
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One of the examples to support this theory may be the situation with Eskimos and ‘snow’.
It is known that Eskimos have many different words to describe different types of snow while
English speakers have only one. However, English speakers can create expressions, by
manipulating their language, to refer to fresh snow, powdery snow, spring snow or the dirty stuff
that is piled up on the side of the street after the snow-plough has gone through. These may be
categories of snow for English speakers, but they are non-lexicalized and most of them have a
very different view of ‘snow’ from the average Eskimo speaker (Yule, 2006, p.219).
Another example in which Whorf shows that language use affects behavior came from his
experience in his day job as a chemical engineer in an insurance company. He observed while no
employees smoked cigarettes in the room for full barrels, no-one minded smoking in the room
with empty barrels, although this was much more dangerous due to the highly flammable vapors
that still existed in the barrels. He concluded that the use of the word empty had led the workers
to unconsciously regarding them as harmless, although consciously they were probably aware of
Conclusion
The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis claims that language and culture affect someone thoughts.
The strong version, linguistic determinism of the hypothesis states that all human actions and
thought are determined by the language itself. This theory is less accepted than the weaker
version, linguistic relativity, which claims that language affects and shapes the way someone
thinks.
People use language to report knowledge, and knowledge is expressed by the language;
that, at least shows that language has an effect on organization of the knowledge and thinking. On
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the other hand, people have the ability to manipulate the language to express opinions, so that it
seems hard to claim that the language affects how people perceive the world.
There are many arguments supporting and denying this hypothesis. While it is widely
accepted that there is a relation between language and thought as well as language and culture, it
is important to consider that this hypothesis is still unproved. As a result, it does not seem
References
Brown, H. D. (2000). Principles of language learning and teaching. New York: Pearson
Education
Carroll, J. B. (1956). Language, thought, and reality: selected writings of Benjamin Lee Whorf.
Sapir, E. (1929). The Status of Linguistics as a Science. Language, 5(4), 207–214. doi:
10.2307/409588
Yule, G. (2006). The study of language. New York: Cambridge University Press