The SapirWhorf hypothesis 欢迎访问安徽大学外语学 萨丕尔沃尔夫假说欢迎访问安徽大学外语学.pptVIP

* * Language and Thought The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis According to Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, all higher levels of thinking are dependent on language. Language determines thought. This strong notion is also called linguistic determinism. The hypothesis also holds that because languages differ in many ways, speakers of different languages perceive and experience the world differently, relative to their linguistic back-ground, hence the notion of linguistic relativism. According to the strong version of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, there is no real translation. and it is impossible to learn the language of a different culture unless the learner abandons his or her own mode of thinking and acquires the thought patterns of the native speakers of the target language. Arguments against the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis Language can not determine thinking. The relation between linguistic forms and their referents is a matter of convention. There is no inherent or logic connection between language forms and what these language forms represent. Although languages may differ in their surface structures, all languages are fundamentally of the same universal human character. Words and meaning The relationship between the name and the meaning of a word is quite arbitrary. Labeling a natural phenomenon or an object is not fundamental to a conceptual system. The speakers of one language with only one lexicalized word for a specific concept such as “snow” do not mean that they are poorer in distinguishing between different kinds of, say, snow than the speakers of a language with many different lexicalized words for “snow”. The speakers of a language with no lexicalized word for “snow” does not mean that they can not grasp the concept of “snow.” It is generally believed that words are but meaningless labels. Their meanings of depend largely on the communicative context. As the context of a word or a sentence changes, its effect and meaning also change. Grammatical structure