Language , Social reality
A system of signs used to express human thought and emotion.
What is language?
The idea that language influences the way people think.
What is the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis?
A symbolic system that combines linguistic and cultural elements.
What is a symbolic system?
The process of interpreting meaning through context and cues.
What is pragmatics?
Different languages encode experience through signs and symbols.
What is linguistic relativity in meaning?
Edward Sapir
Who said “Language is a guide to social reality”?
Benjamin Lee Whorf
Who talked about “Language, Thought, and Reality”?
Steven Pinker
Who talked about “The Language Instinct”?
Gumperz & Levinson
Who talked about “Linguistic relativity re-examined ”?
Edward Sapir
Who talked about “Meaning as Sign”?
Language shapes our perception of the world.
What did Sapir say about the influence of language on reality?
The debate that explores how language and thought reinforce or limit each other.
What is the relationship between language and cognition?
Because Whorf never actually studied Apache speakers, only the grammar — making his reasoning circular.
Why does Pinker consider Whorf’s argument about the Apache language invalid?
The cooperative use of language to share understanding.
What is cooperative communication?
The example of a stone falling is used to show how languages structure perception differently.
What did Sapir’s “stone falling” example illustrate?
Communication that depends on social and cultural conventions.
What is social interaction?
Sapir focuses on language habits of the group while Whorf claims that grammar itself shapes thought.
What is the key difference between Sapir’s and Whorf’s views?
The view that language both reflects and constructs social reality.
What is constructivism in language?
Differences in grammar or vocabulary leading to misunderstanding.
What are intercultural misunderstandings?
Emotions such as “fear” or “shame” may not have exact equivalents across languages.
What did Wierzbicka claim about emotions and language?
Language reflects both individual cognition and shared cultural meaning.
What is linguistic relativity?
Language not only expresses culture but symbolizes it.
What is embodied culture?
The worker who threw a cigarette into an “empty” drum that exploded
Pinker says he was fooled by sight, not language.
Which example does Whorf use and Pinker criticize?
The principle that grammar shapes how speakers perceive reality.
What is the linguistic relativity principle in Sapir–Whorf hypothesis?
Cultural meanings are expressed through the grammar, metaphors, and lexicon of a language.
What is the relationship between meaning and cultural encoding?