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Language and our view of the world
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Does the language you speak change how you see the world? This idea is linked to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which comes in a strong and a weak version.
Linguistic determinism (strong version)
Linguistic determinism says language determines thought. The words and grammar of your language limit what you can think. If your language has no word for something, you cannot think about it.
Weakness: people can think about things they have no word for, and new words are invented for new ideas and inventions, which suggests thought can come first. Babies and animals think without language.
Weakness: people can think about things they have no word for, and new words are invented for new ideas and inventions, which suggests thought can come first. Babies and animals think without language.
Linguistic relativism (weak version)
Linguistic relativism says language influences thought, but does not control it. Speakers of different languages may tend to think about things such as time, colour or space in different ways.
Example: Boroditsky (2001) found that English and Mandarin speakers thought about time differently, linked to how their languages describe time.
Most psychologists today accept the weaker version more than the strong one.
Example: Boroditsky (2001) found that English and Mandarin speakers thought about time differently, linked to how their languages describe time.
Most psychologists today accept the weaker version more than the strong one.
Evaluating the ideas
For: studies such as Boroditsky (2001) show differences in thinking linked to language. Language may draw our attention to some features of the world more than others.
Against: differences may be caused by culture rather than language itself. It is hard to separate language from culture, and some studies have not been replicated. Strong determinism is not supported, because we can learn new concepts and translate between languages.
Against: differences may be caused by culture rather than language itself. It is hard to separate language from culture, and some studies have not been replicated. Strong determinism is not supported, because we can learn new concepts and translate between languages.
A student says: 'If my language had no word for blue, I could not see blue things as different from green.' Which view is this?
- This claims language limits what we can perceive or think.
- That is the strong version: linguistic determinism.
Answer: Linguistic determinism.
Linguistic determinism (the strong view) says language controls thought and limits what we can think. Linguistic relativism (the weak view) says language influences thought, supported by studies like Boroditsky (2001). Culture may explain some differences.
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