Linguistic relativism12.31
Unit 3 Performance Assessment Advanced English Language and Composition Amber Shen
Word Count: 1214
Introduction
Linguistic relativism is a concept known as the principle of linguistic relativity or the Sapir- Whorf Hypothesis. It is related to cognitive science which basically suggests that language influences people’s perceptions and behavior. Although there is controversy over the specific extent to which language influences perception, generally speaking, linguistic relativism would construct people’s way of thinking and further impact their cognition and interaction with the world
Language Shapes People’s Different Thought Patterns
linguistic structures can construct people’s way of thinking and form the habitual thought patterns of speakers. According to Yunxi Fei, there are differences in distinct preferences in word presentation, and the main idea selection between English and Chinese reflects this idea (Fei, 2014). English is more focused on rationality, focusing on specific details and logical correlations for arguments. However, the Chinese emphasize visualizing the content. It prioritizes overall impressions and intuitive feeling. For instance, when we describe a garden, English speakers might tend to depict it “The garden is blooming with a variety of flowers, including red roses, purple lavenders, and sunflowers.” This description focuses on listing specific flower species and colors to be the evidence, to build a logical and detailed scene. As for Chinese speakers, they tend to write “In the garden, the colorful flowers compete with each other and the green leaves sway gently in the breeze, creating a vibrant scene.” It can be found that it focuses on creating a vivid visual picture that makes people feel the beauty and liveliness of the scene. The differences in these descriptive ways prove the key role language plays in constructing thought. This demonstrates how the characteristics of language itself influence people’s understanding of things which will lead to different expressions. The long-term impact of their own linguistic environment lets people tend to understand and describe in specific ways finally forming unique perception habits with different emphases.
Vocabulary system influences people’s perception of the world
Vocabulary systems in different languages would create differences and limitations on how people perceive the world, especially occurs when cross-cultural communication. The actual language we speak plays an important role in interacting our reality. By comparing languages, we can see differences in the way we talk about the world. In English, we have the
words grandfather and grandmother, but no single word that distinguishes between a maternal grandfather and a paternal grandfather. But in Swedish, there’s a specific word for each grandparent: morfar is mother’s father, farfar is father’s father, farmor is father’s mother,
and mormor is mother’s mother (Crystal, 2005). So when cross-culture people communicate with each other, if an English speaker wants to talk about his story with his maternal grandfather, the general word “grandfather” might make the Swedish speaker feel confused about which person he is discussing. In this kind of vocabulary difference, it can be inferred that the design of language actually influences people’s interaction with and expression of the world. This will lead them to have different reactions to the same event. Slight differences in the designing of language systems can cause obstacles or misunderstandings when people trying to comprehend other cultures’ communication scenarios. Their value to the world is rooted in thought patterns constructed by distinctive linguistic systems. Therefore, the vocabulary system has a strong influence on an individual’s understanding of the entire world.
Language determines perception and the following behavior
Although the theory of the impact of language to perception has been accepted in most cases, the specific extent of it remains a matter of controversy due to the Weak Whorf Hypothesis. This hypothesis proposed that “the language you speak influences perception, but does not determine which thoughts you can have” (The Whorf Hypothesis, n.d.). It suggests that humans have cognitive flexibility, meaning that language’s influence on perception is more of a slight guidance or reference rather than being controlled by language. A famous example supporting the Weak Whorf Hypothesis is an indigenous group in Australia, which is the speakers of the Kuuk Thaayorre language. These speakers are not use direction terms like “left” or “right” but describe all spatial relations based on cardinal directions. For example, when they depict the location of the object, they tend to say “the cup to the east” instead of “to the right”. This linguistic habit provides Kuuk Thaayorre speakers with an outstanding directional perception ability. They can point out geographical directions even in unfamiliar environments very accurately. This shows that although language brought unique capability to Kuuk Thaayorre speakers and promoted their perception, their determination is more based on facts which is the physical direction rather than language. Their distinctive linguistic convention won’t affect their judgment. So language functioned more as a container of one’s expression that demonstrates language influences but does not determine thought.
However, this theory overlooks an important point is how to define the relationship and difference between influence and determination. These two concepts are almost impossible to separate since the biases brought by language are already embedded in cognition. This not only determines the outcome of thought but also impacts the subsequent decisions made driven by thoughts. In the case of the Kuuk Thaayorre language, the issue is that the terms for whatever cardinal direction or relative direction, all refer to the same factual concept that has universal true answers. Therefore, the influence of language does not constitute a bias. In fact, this kind of convention is relatively rare. Many customs in other languages are unique and sole, which means their meanings might not having a unified correct answer in other cultures or languages. In such scenarios, thoughts that contain preferences pass through in language. It will form biases that unconsciously determine the speaker’s thought outcomes. For example, in languages like French, German, and Spanish, nouns are categorized with gender identities. As mentioned in “The Language Hoax,” it is easy to suppose that people whose languages assign genders to inanimate objects perceive those objects as meaningfully more male or female than speakers of English (Mcwhorter, 2016). This emphasizes the determination of perception brought by gender labeling, further affecting people’s actions. In German, the word for “bridge” (Brücke) is feminine. It will lead speakers to naturally associate bridges with female characteristics, such as elegance or tenderness. However, there is no similar implicit meaning of “bridge” in other languages, and therefore, creating a gap in understanding. In this case, the unique language convention already offers a bias to German speakers before they realize it, and causes them to believe the bridge should be more related to women. This perception can further extend to practical decisions, where designers might prioritize aesthetic appeal to be elegant in bridge construction in order to highlight the feminine style. Considering these, in most cases excluding examples with factual meanings, language will affect people’s perceptions. This effect will determine their thoughts and reveal in their later behavior.
Conclusion
To conclude, linguistic relativism through the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis has shown the profound influence of language on building an individual’s thinking process and perceptions of the world. While the Weak-Whorf Hypothesis presents that language impact won’t directly influences one’s thoughts, it is not applicable in most cases since the diversity of language conventions leads to different biases that are embedded in the human mind before they realize such things in thinking.
References
Fei, Y. (2014). The differences in thinking patterns between English and Chinese in Chinese students’ English writing. School of Foreign Languages, East China University of Science and Technology.
The Decision Lab. (n.d.). The Whorf Hypothesis. The Decision Lab. https://thedecisionlab.com/ reference-guide/linguistics/the-whorf-hypothesis
Crystal, D., How Language Works: How Babies Babble, Words Change Meaning, and Languages Live or Die (Woodstock, NY: Overlook Press, 2005), 155.
Mcwhorter, J. H. (2016). The language hoax : why the world looks the same in any language. Oxford University Press.