The Sapir Whorf Hypothesis

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What is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis? Paul Kay & Willett Kempton (1984) Based on a powerpoint presentation by NT Rusiyanadi Outline • • • • Introduction Sapir-Whorf hypothesis Study done by Kay & Kempton Conclusions with regards to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis • New evidence and general conclusions 2 Introduction • In linguistics, the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis states that there are certain thoughts of an individual in one language that cannot be understood by those who live in another language. • The hypothesis states that the way people think is strongly affected by their native languages. • It is a controversial theory championed by linguist Edward Sapir and his student Benjamin Whorf. 3 Short history • First discussed by Sapir in 1929, the hypothesis became popular in the 1950s following posthumous publication of Whorf's writings on the subject. • After vigorous attack from followers of Noam Chomsky in the following decades, the hypothesis is now believed by most linguists only in the weak sense that language can have some small effect on thought. 4 Edward Sapir (1884-1939) • pronunciation: suh PEER • American anthropologist-linguist; a leader in American structural linguistics • Author of Language: An Introduction to the Study of Speech • Born in Lauenberg, Germany. • Pupil of Franz Boas, teacher of Benjamin Whorf 5 Benjamin Lee Whorf (1897-1941) • He graduated from the MIT in 1918 with a degree in Chemical Engineering and shortly afterwards began work as a fire prevention engineer (inspector). • Although he met, and later studied with Edward Sapir, he never took up linguistics as a profession. • Whorf's primary area of interest in linguistics was the study of native American languages. He became quite well known for his work on the Hopi language. • He was considered to be a captivating speaker and did much to popularize his linguistic ideas through popular

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