I did the tiring work people!! The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis 1) Does language shape the way we think?
Language and thought "A word devoid of thought is a dead thing, and a thought unembodied in words remains a shadow."-- Lev S Vygotsky "Language shapes the way we think, and determines what we can think about." -- Benjamin Lee Whorf Nexus of language and thoughts. Historical background Plato --- "Thought and language are identical" Aristotle --- "No chance for human beings to have the same language" Wilhelm von Humboldt --- "Language is the very basic fabric of thought." Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf Hypothesis (1930s) : thoughts embodied in words. The Hypothesis -- It states that there are certain thoughts of an individual in one language that cannot be understood by those who live in another language. Hopi conception of time Color words There are two versions of the Hypothesis 1) Strong version : Linguistic determinism -- Language determines thought. ---Linguistic structure determines cognitive structure. The Inuit think more intelligently about snow because their language contain more sophisticated and subtle words distinguishing various forms of it. The language we use to some extent determines the way in which we view and think about the word around us. Arguments in support A) Peter Gordon --- The language of Piraha tribe contains only three counting words 1 , 2 and many. He shows through various experiments that the people of Piraha tribe have difficulty recounting numbers higher than three. ------- people of piraha can't accurately tell the difference between 'four' and 'five' objects. Therefore he concludes that the tribe's language determines its people's thoughts. B) Mooney et al --- Since there is a connection between language and thought, therefore language must influence thought. Eg. A boy wanted to use the toilet but sees the sign "out of service" on the toilet door and decides not to use the toilet. The sign hanged on the toilet door influences the boy's decision Arguments against A) Steven Pinker "Language Instinct" Criticized Whorf's claim that Hopi is a timeless language. He concluded in his studies that Hopi is not a timeless language. " Then indeed, the following day, quite early in the morning, at the hour when people pry to the sun, around that time when he woke up ….. Victims of stroke or aphasia exhibit capability of thought without language. ---------Mr. Ford a coast guard operator at the age of 39 suffered a stroke but still has the ability to number objects correctly, do calculation, map reading, drawing …etc. ""Linguistic impairment did not dispute Ford's other cognitive faculties."" Ildenfonso, a 27 years old deaf and mute Mexican immigrant was taught sign language. After that he started communicating with "Schaller" and told her events from the past. " If language determines thought, Ildfonso wouldn't have been able to think. C) Chandler Quotes the poet "Pablo Neruda"---- when his poems are translated, the word do not correspond in terms of vocalization or in the placement, or the weight of words. However, he does admit that the sense of what he is saying remains the same. This is in direct contradiction to Whorf's claims against translation. D) Lila Gleitman People do not think in language. According to her language rather offers hints to learners to make influences from the by adding up information of common sense. E.g- The word "uncle" does not refer to whether this person comes from other's side or father's side. Other studies show that babies point to get things they want before they can speak. 2) Weak version : Linguistic Relativity -- Speakers of different languages perceive and experience the world differently. -- Language differences effect our automatic thinking.
The number and the types of the basic color words of a language determine how a person sees the rainbow. People who speak different languages perceive and think about the world quite differently from one another. Arguments in support A) Lenbery and Roberts Conducted a cross-linguistic comparison of color recognition between speakers of Zuni tribes and English speakers. In zuni tribe one word is used to refer to Yellow-orange spectrum. For English speakers: They use 2 words to refer to each color independently. Difference in codability leads to different in color perception. B) Kay and Kempton Language is a part of cognition in their study. English speakers tend to exaggerate the discrimination of colors close to the lexical category boundary. Trahulara speakers do not have separate term to differentiate between them "Terms for discrimination between colors affect the perception of these colors" C) Linda rogers Read a story to bilingual children while recording their brain wave. English as a non-centered language was processed in the left hemisphere while Navaho as a verb-centered language was processed in the right hemisphere. Children process the story differently according to the language in which it was told. Conclusion --- Language deserves plenty of attention as an evolutionary mechanism . --- Theories such as the Saphir-Whorf Hypothesis points to the fundamental nature of language.
excellent! thank you so much for such a great presentation including examples which shifted the explanation from being a mere philosophic explanatiom to a more concrete one!
Great video :) * Important detail: it has been proven that the "many words for snow" is a hoax: "Eskimo has about as much differentiation as English does for 'snow' at the monolexemic level: snow and flake" (Martin, 1986). "The Dictionary of the West Greenlandic Eskimo Language (1927) gives just two possibly relevant roots: qanik, meaning 'snow in the air' or 'snowflake', and aput, meaning 'snow on the ground'" (Pullum, 1989)
Yeah, my Linguistics tutor also said that Eskimos use a range of adjectives in front of the word 'snow' to refer to different weather. Like sloshy snow and flakey snow and so on (my examples are not accurate by the way) and that this notion came from inaccurate translation of their language.
Being asked to share my thoughts, is being asked to share my words, yet my words are insufficient to do so. So, I shared some words to convey this anyway. Perhaps I've failed, perhaps not. But I don't want to get wrapped up in 'nots', that could knot me up, you see? There's there, their, and they're, which is a waist if you ask me. Which you did, so there.
Please, answer if this true or false, i have a test today, is this hypthesis indicate that, if two persons speak tow different languages, will see the world differently?
The "uncle" example shown in the video. I speak Tamil and in Dravidian Kinship we have different words to separate uncle from Dad side and Mom side. :) Similar to inuit example we have around 20 words in Tamil for the word "Forest". This hypothesis would be interesting if you compare English with Tamil. :)
Actually, some A - level courses require you to know some theories & linguists; this kinda isn't about the hypothesis being right or wrong, just about informing. Just letting ya know xXx
There are 'soft' and 'hard' readings of the blended theory. Without even getting into how Sapir and Whorf never intended to have their works mashed together in this manner, the way you interpret the theory can vary drastically from someone else, which makes your claim that it is wrong incorrect. Your own cultural upbringing and social and biological environments influence the way you process information and perceive the world around you, this theory being a prime example of that. Culture is language as much as language is culture. Your reaction to this body of work actually proves its validity.
I did the tiring work people!!
The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
1) Does language shape the way we think?
Language and thought
"A word devoid of thought is a dead thing, and a thought unembodied in words remains a shadow."-- Lev S Vygotsky
"Language shapes the way we think, and determines what we can think about." -- Benjamin Lee Whorf
Nexus of language and thoughts.
Historical background
Plato --- "Thought and language are identical"
Aristotle --- "No chance for human beings to have the same language"
Wilhelm von Humboldt --- "Language is the very basic fabric of thought."
Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf Hypothesis (1930s) : thoughts embodied in words.
The Hypothesis
-- It states that there are certain thoughts of an individual in one language that cannot be understood by those who live in another language.
Hopi conception of time
Color words
There are two versions of the Hypothesis
1) Strong version : Linguistic determinism
-- Language determines thought.
---Linguistic structure determines cognitive structure.
The Inuit think more intelligently about snow because their language contain more sophisticated and subtle words distinguishing various forms of it.
The language we use to some extent determines the way in which we view and think about the word around us.
Arguments in support
A) Peter Gordon
--- The language of Piraha tribe contains only three counting words 1 , 2 and many. He shows through various experiments that the people of Piraha tribe have difficulty recounting numbers higher than three.
------- people of piraha can't accurately tell the difference between 'four' and 'five' objects.
Therefore he concludes that the tribe's language determines its people's thoughts.
B) Mooney et al
--- Since there is a connection between language and thought, therefore language must influence thought.
Eg. A boy wanted to use the toilet but sees the sign "out of service" on the toilet door and decides not to use the toilet.
The sign hanged on the toilet door influences the boy's decision
Arguments against
A) Steven Pinker "Language Instinct"
Criticized Whorf's claim that Hopi is a timeless language.
He concluded in his studies that Hopi is not a timeless language. " Then indeed, the following day, quite early in the morning, at the hour when people pry to the sun, around that time when he woke up …..
Victims of stroke or aphasia exhibit capability of thought without language.
---------Mr. Ford a coast guard operator at the age of 39 suffered a stroke but still has the ability to number objects correctly, do calculation, map reading, drawing …etc.
""Linguistic impairment did not dispute Ford's other cognitive faculties.""
Ildenfonso, a 27 years old deaf and mute Mexican immigrant was taught sign language. After that he started communicating with "Schaller" and told her events from the past.
" If language determines thought, Ildfonso wouldn't have been able to think.
C) Chandler
Quotes the poet "Pablo Neruda"---- when his poems are translated, the word do not correspond in terms of vocalization or in the placement, or the weight of words.
However, he does admit that the sense of what he is saying remains the same.
This is in direct contradiction to Whorf's claims against translation.
D) Lila Gleitman
People do not think in language. According to her language rather offers hints to learners to make influences from the by adding up information of common sense.
E.g- The word "uncle" does not refer to whether this person comes from other's side or father's side.
Other studies show that babies point to get things they want before they can speak.
2) Weak version : Linguistic Relativity
-- Speakers of different languages perceive and experience the world differently.
-- Language differences effect our automatic thinking.
The number and the types of the basic color words of a language determine how a person sees the rainbow.
People who speak different languages perceive and think about the world quite differently from one another.
Arguments in support
A) Lenbery and Roberts
Conducted a cross-linguistic comparison of color recognition between speakers of Zuni tribes and English speakers.
In zuni tribe one word is used to refer to Yellow-orange spectrum.
For English speakers: They use 2 words to refer to each color independently. Difference in codability leads to different in color perception.
B) Kay and Kempton
Language is a part of cognition in their study.
English speakers tend to exaggerate the discrimination of colors close to the lexical category boundary.
Trahulara speakers do not have separate term to differentiate between them
"Terms for discrimination between colors affect the perception of these colors"
C) Linda rogers
Read a story to bilingual children while recording their brain wave.
English as a non-centered language was processed in the left hemisphere while Navaho as a verb-centered language was processed in the right hemisphere.
Children process the story differently according to the language in which it was told.
Conclusion
--- Language deserves plenty of attention as an evolutionary mechanism .
--- Theories such as the Saphir-Whorf Hypothesis points to the fundamental nature of language.
Swamendu Das Thank you for dedicating your time and energy into this.
@@ilearnenglish6109 my work is nothing in front of yours
Thank u 🥺❤️❤️❤️
excellent! thank you so much for such a great presentation including examples which shifted the explanation from being a mere philosophic explanatiom to a more concrete one!
Daniel Bigelow You are very welcome
Actually . m amazed . wow . such great work . thank youuu . May Allah the Almighty helps you more to spread knowledge and to simplify it for us .
Wonderful, colorful and made simple.
Dinesh A Thank You
Good but not clear
I wouldn't have understood it without you
Thank you very much
AMAZING work
Happy to hear that.
Thank You
I don't know how to thank you enough!
Great presentation! v. helpful thanks
Zaynab Soyf Thank you and I am glad it helped
Thank you for this amazing presentation. :)
Thank you for this video. Its very simple makes me easy to understand the content :)
Azwalaila Anuar You are very welcome
can u tell me plz what is the relationship between ethnography of communication ,the whorfian hypothesis and the communucative competence
Excellent
thank you so much it was very helpful
it was very helpful ,thank you ...
Benbouza Ferial You are very welcome and I am glad it helped
Just thought I'd add that at 1:32 it is "Inuit" words for snow, not "unit".
Madison Ouellette
Yes it's 'Inuit'
Thank you
Thanks for you
Great video :)
* Important detail: it has been proven that the "many words for snow" is a hoax: "Eskimo has about as much differentiation as English does for 'snow' at the monolexemic level: snow and flake"
(Martin, 1986).
"The Dictionary of the West Greenlandic Eskimo Language (1927) gives just two possibly relevant roots: qanik, meaning 'snow in the air' or 'snowflake', and aput, meaning 'snow on the ground'" (Pullum, 1989)
Yeah, my Linguistics tutor also said that Eskimos use a range of adjectives in front of the word 'snow' to refer to different weather. Like sloshy snow and flakey snow and so on (my examples are not accurate by the way) and that this notion came from inaccurate translation of their language.
thank you , the video was helpful and simple :D
boutayb abde samad You are very welcome and I am glad it helped
Thank you so much for the help ♡
Nabilah Novel You are very welcome
thanks so much ..great work
fatima Ait lhaj Thank You
great work!
Le Kon Thank You
great work Thank you
Being asked to share my thoughts, is being asked to share my words, yet my words are insufficient to do so. So, I shared some words to convey this anyway. Perhaps I've failed, perhaps not. But I don't want to get wrapped up in 'nots', that could knot me up, you see? There's there, their, and they're, which is a waist if you ask me. Which you did, so there.
nice job batnia
Please, answer if this true or false, i have a test today, is this hypthesis indicate that, if two persons speak tow different languages, will see the world differently?
thank you so much it's really helpful
Riad Cirta You are very welcome
Thank you guys for the positive feedback :)
thank you so much it's helpful
Riad Cirta I am glad it helped
the best
quite helpful
allen wong I am glad it helped
The "uncle" example shown in the video. I speak Tamil and in Dravidian Kinship we have different words to separate uncle from Dad side and Mom side. :) Similar to inuit example we have around 20 words in Tamil for the word "Forest". This hypothesis would be interesting if you compare English with Tamil. :)
Arrival brought me here
Same
thank u girl
rania rana You are very welcome
Good content but dislike the format.
who else came here because of "Arrival" the movie?
روعة شكرا
The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is just wrong. Maybe look at research done in the last decade or so.
+ManicEightBall
The focus of this presentation was mainly to see if language shapes the way we think.
Actually, some A - level courses require you to know some theories & linguists; this kinda isn't about the hypothesis being right or wrong, just about informing. Just letting ya know xXx
There are 'soft' and 'hard' readings of the blended theory. Without even getting into how Sapir and Whorf never intended to have their works mashed together in this manner, the way you interpret the theory can vary drastically from someone else, which makes your claim that it is wrong incorrect. Your own cultural upbringing and social and biological environments influence the way you process information and perceive the world around you, this theory being a prime example of that. Culture is language as much as language is culture. Your reaction to this body of work actually proves its validity.
JOKER If what you're saying is true, then this is so beautiful, I hope someday I get to somewhat experience what you did. Thank so much for sharing x
Very compelling argument
slowly 😑
Imene Metrouh You can stop the video whenever you feel you can't follow. Sorry!
"hink"
well this guys were wrong