Language and Power Sapir Whorf. Flashcards
Define amelioration.
a process whereby a word or phrase develops a more positive connotation. For example ‘nice; used to mean ignorant (from the Latin ‘nescire’ meaning ‘to not know’).
Outline determinism.
The idea that language determines the way we think and believe.
Define pejoration.
A process whereby a word or phrase develops more negative connotations. For example, ‘cunning’ used to mean knowledgeable.
Define reflectionism.
The idea that language reflects the society that produces it.
Outline the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.
The idea, derived from the work of Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf, that our language constructs our view of the world and that it is difficult or even impossible to think beyond it.
Simply, that our language influence the way we think.
What is a criticism of the Sapir-Whorf theory?
That it is too strong a claim, for if this were true, we would never be able to think beyond our language and create new terms.
What is the Sapir-Whorf theory also known as?
The principle of linguistic relativity.
or
Whorfianism.
What did Whorf’s research show?
That speakers of different kinds of language were, as a result of those language differences, cognitively different from on another.
Provide an example of Whorf’s theory.
The time-less people of Hopi, a Native American tribe who live in north-eastern Arizona.
Whorf claimed that they didn’t have any words to define time - no direct translation for the noun time its self, no grammatical constructions indicating the past or future - and therefore could not conceive of it.
Why was Whorf’s theory so popular?
His research came out of older traditions, writers such as Wilhelm von Humboldt believed that a culture’s language encapsulated identity, to the extent that different languages represented totally distinct worldviews. The late 19th century was the heyday for the idea that white culture was objectively the best, which is why the theory was so popular.
