Introduction to Cultural Anthropology

 

 

Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

 

According to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, the language a person speaks determines his or her world view.

 

Human beings do not live in the objective world alone, nor alone in the world of social activity as ordinarily understood, but are very much at the mercy of the particular language which has become the medium of expression for their society . . . The fact of the matter is that the real world is to a large extent unconsciously built upon the language habits of the group. No two languages are ever sufficiently similar to be considered as representing the same social reality. The worlds in which different societies live are distant worlds, not merely the same world with different labels attached. (Sapir 1929: 209-214)

 

 

 

Haviland notes that the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is that language predisposes people to see the world in a certain way and so guides their thinking and behavior. Is this true? What is the opposite of the S-W hypothesis?