Lesson 10: Language Inside and Outside Flashcards
Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
the structure of a language influences how its speakers perceive the world around them
Strong Form of Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
Lingustic Determinism
the structure of a language determines how speakers think
Weak Form of Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
Linguistic Relativism
different languages encode different categories, and speakers of different languages think about the world in different ways
True or False:
The Hopi language shows evidence for the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis because it does not have any tense terms.
False
The Hopi language has tense markers, units of time, and timekeeping devices.
True or False:
The Inuit language shows evidence for the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis because it has several terms for snow.
False
The number of snow terms in Inuit is not unique to the language; it is an example of specialization in language.
What are 4 pieces of evidence against the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis?
- mismatches
- ambiguity
- new words for new concepts
- Case of Ildelfonso
How do mismatches show evidence against the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?
linguistic sense is often different from intended sense
(ex: metaphors)
How does ambiguity show evidence against the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?
ambiguous words have concepts that are clearly distinct
How do new words for new concepts show evidence against the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?
speakers make up new words or borrow language when there’s no word to express something
concept comes before language
True or False:
Because Ildelfonso did not have language, he was not able to perform basic tasks throughout his life.
False
Ildelfonso still had a concept of the world around him.
True or False:
Cultures with limited terms for color do not differentiate between colors.
False
There’s a unviersal physiological basis for color naming, independent of language.
True or False:
The Russian blues experiment supports the stronger view (linguistic determinism) of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.
False
It supports the weaker view.
What is linguistic determinism?
A. the logical problem that children are able to acquire complex structures based on limited input.
B. the idea that the structure of a language constrains the way its speakers think.
C. the fact that higher primates lack language, which determines that they also lack number concepts.
D. the idea that the number of grammatical categories in a language is determined by the number of lexical items.
E. the idea that culture can determine the structural properties of a language.
B. the idea that the structure of a language constrains the way its speakers think.
Which of the following case studies show support for a strong Sapir-Whorf theory like Linguistic Determinism?
A. Inuit words for snow
B. Hopi words for time
C. Russian words for blue
D. None of the above
D. None of the above
What does the case study of the Inuit’s words for snow tell us about language and thought?
A. Languages can only express terminology for concepts in their culture.
B. Inuit see snow in an inherently more in-depth way than other cultures.
C. English is a superior language for expressing terms for snow.
D. Nothing.
Nothing.
What might a theory of Linguistic Determinism, in its strongest form, claim about a language that does not have gendered pronouns (e.g., Malagasy, Hungarian, spoken Mandarin)?
A. That speakers do not differentiate between men and women.
B. That speakers value men more than women.
C. That speakers have an intricate social system based on gender.
D. Linguistic determinism wouldn’t predict anything about this language.
A. That speakers do not differentiate between men and women.
Adults without language are important for the debate about the relationship between language and thought because…
A. they provide crucial evidence for Linguistic Relativism. Adults without language are unable to form ideologies about the world until they acquire a language.
B. their experiences with learning to count show that the ability to form number concepts is directly tied to language. Before they acquired language, they had no words for numbers.
C. they show that language is not a prerequisite for thought. Adults without language can still have jobs, learn math, and form memories, despite not having language.
D. their performance on IQ tests improved as they were taught language. Therefore language and thought are closely linked.
E. when they were taught language, they processed it in the right hemisphere. Thus, lack of language directly affected the way that they think.
C. they show that language is not a prerequisite for thought. Adults without language can still have jobs, learn math, and form memories, despite not having language.
What can we take away from the 2007 study on Russian words for “blue”?
A. Language strongly influences thought because Russian speakers are able to see colors that English speakers cannot because they have more color terms.
B. Language strongly influences thought because English speakers are able to differentiate between shades of blue at a faster rate than Russian speakers.
C. Language does not influence thought because English speakers are better at differentiating between shades of blue, despite having fewer color terms.
D. Language may have a mild effect on cognitive processing because Russian speakers were faster than English speakers at differentiating between shades of blue.
D. Language may have a mild effect on cognitive processing because Russian speakers were faster than English speakers at differentiating between shades of blue.
True or False:
Profanity does serve a purpose in language.
True
- Sound of a word does/does not make a word offensive.
- Concept of a word does/does not make a word offensive.
- Social conventions do/do not make a word offensive.
- does not
- does not
- do
taboo
a social custom that prohibits certain kinds of behavior
True or False:
Cultural beliefs determine what words are unacceptable in certain circumstances.
True
What are the four categories of profanity?
- religion
- sex
- body functions
- slurs
True or False:
All languages find profanity from the same kinds of words.
False
The words that are found most offensive differ by culture.
In what ways are bad language avoided?
- euphemisms
- child words
- similar-sounding words
euphemism
term which suggests abuse or swearing, but are not actually abusive
global aphasia
left hemisphere damage resulting in complete or near complete loss of language
What did Lordat observe in aphasia patients?
even with aphasia, certain kinds of speech are retained
In aphasics:
____ speech is retained
____ speech is impaired
- automatic
- intentional
Why are curse words sometimes retained in aphasics?
part of automatic speech
How does language impairment differ in patients with right hemisphere damage?
- automatic speech is impaired
- intentional speech is retained
“Shitgibbons” are a type of profane compound that combines a single-syllable obscenity and a two-syllable noun, like shitwhistle or fuckmuffin.
Shitgibbons are a type of profanity that can be made up on the fly, but research shows that English speakers find them funnier and more satisfying when the initial vowel in both words is the same, but the initial consonant is different. What does this tell us about language?
A. English profanity is compositional in that the meaning of the whole is made up of the meaning of its parts.
B. English speakers are more creative with profanity than speakers of other languages.
C. English does not have inherently profane words, and profanity can only be derived by creating new words.
D. Profanity, like other aspects of language, can be productive and sensitive to rules.
D. Profanity, like other aspects of language, can be productive and sensitive to rules.
