To What Extent Does Language Influence Thought?
“Language shapes the way we think, and determines what we can think about.” – Benjamin Lee Whorf
Introduction
The idea that language affects the way we remember things and the way we perceive the world was first introduced by the influential linguists Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf (Harley, 2008). The central idea of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, today more commonly known as the linguistic relativity hypothesis, holds that “each language embodies a worldview, with quite different languages embodying quite different views, so that speakers of different languages think about the world in quite different ways” (Swoyer, 2003). In the late 1990s, Cameron claimed that the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis was regarded as “that which must be refuted at all costs” (1999) and it continued to be widely regarded as false during the second half of the 20th century (Casasanto, 2012). Still, the relationship between language and thought is one that has been studied even long before Sapir and Whorf, from German philosopher Wilhelm von Humboldt to works of fiction such as George Orwell’s 1984. This study aims to further review and expand upon previous research, following experimental evidence that reopened the debate at the turn of the 21st century in contemporary psycholinguistics. This ensuring debate, the extent to which language shapes nonlinguistic cognition and perception will be revisited.
Moreover, this paper will consider the debate in context of cross-cultural implications. The extent to which people from different cultures construe, analyze and interact with the world differently will be analyzed. For the purpose of this paper, the Chinese (Mandarin) and English languages will be focused on in particular. Building upon existing literature, this paper will consider two central thesis statements:
1.) The use of spatiotemporal metaphors affect the way individuals think about time in the long term.
2.) Language has an indirect effect on cognition.
The first statement will
Introduction
The idea that language affects the way we remember things and the way we perceive the world was first introduced by the influential linguists Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf (Harley, 2008). The central idea of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, today more commonly known as the linguistic relativity hypothesis, holds that “each language embodies a worldview, with quite different languages embodying quite different views, so that speakers of different languages think about the world in quite different ways” (Swoyer, 2003). In the late 1990s, Cameron claimed that the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis was regarded as “that which must be refuted at all costs” (1999) and it continued to be widely regarded as false during the second half of the 20th century (Casasanto, 2012). Still, the relationship between language and thought is one that has been studied even long before Sapir and Whorf, from German philosopher Wilhelm von Humboldt to works of fiction such as George Orwell’s 1984. This study aims to further review and expand upon previous research, following experimental evidence that reopened the debate at the turn of the 21st century in contemporary psycholinguistics. This ensuring debate, the extent to which language shapes nonlinguistic cognition and perception will be revisited.
Moreover, this paper will consider the debate in context of cross-cultural implications. The extent to which people from different cultures construe, analyze and interact with the world differently will be analyzed. For the purpose of this paper, the Chinese (Mandarin) and English languages will be focused on in particular. Building upon existing literature, this paper will consider two central thesis statements:
1.) The use of spatiotemporal metaphors affect the way individuals think about time in the long term.
2.) Language has an indirect effect on cognition.
The first statement will
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