Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis - Essay Example

Part I. Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis represents a concept in linguistics that relates structural aspects of the speaker’s language to the ways in which they perceive the world. It emerges from a sense of linguistic relativity where different languages represent the world in different ways. Two strains of the theory have emerged -- a ‘strong’ and a ‘weak’ version -- that signify the hypothesis in different ways. The strong version of the hypothesis takes a hard-line deterministic stance. According to theorists like psychologist Eric Lenneberg, the ‘strong version’ takes a strict sense of linguistic determinism where the speaker’s language “affects, even determines, your ability to perceive and think about things, as well as to talk about them.” (Ottenheimer, p. 32, 2008) There is the sense that the speaker’s development of language determines the way they experience the world and that there are connections to the individual’s identity that foundationally links it to the speaker -- anthropologist Michael Agar compares it to a prison. An example of this version occurs in the text when the author discusses his difficulty learning the Czech time system, as it differed from English in the way parts of the hour were described: in Czech, 9:45 is described as three-quarters of 10:00. He surmises that the Czech people might be more future oriented, indicating an deep, cognitive connection between linguistic culture and the Czech experience of the unfolding world. The ‘weak’ version of the hypothesis offers a less strict connection between the individual and their use of language, but retains the direct connection between the user’s cognitive interpretation of the world and their specific language. The ‘weak’ version is demonstrated in the deictic discussions of the Guugu-Yimidhirr language in northeastern Australia. The text describes differences between Western conceptions of direction, where objects are related in accordance with the position of the human body: a cup is to the left, because it is to the left of your body. In Guugu-Yimidhirr, location is determined by a set of objective standards, much like the Western concept of north and south, so that if you were asked where a specific tree was, you would respond east, rather than to the right. This example better demonstrates the ‘weak’ version of the hypothesis because it’s easier to understand how an individual can remove himself from the concept of objective placement and determine location based on the self, whereas one’s understanding of time is inherent to human perception and has long-term, personal development implications. 2. As the text indicates, objectively testing the ‘strong’ version of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is difficult because of the nature of the theory. However, my subjective interpretation of the two versions is more closely aligned to a hybrid version of the two theories. I have grown up in the same cultural environment, speaking the same language, yet I believe my interpretation of culture and language is constantly shifting; language doesn’t remain static, and shifts in semantics occur within individual dialects. While I believe that my identity has been shaped by my homogenized culture, I also embrace the ability of the individual to overcome such cultural constraints and gain a multi-cultural perspective on the world, independent of language. Part II. 1. Setting/Situation The setting for the particular scenario I observed is the social networking site Facebook. The situation occurred on the ‘wall’ of a participant who had posted a status update. The status update read, “ok if you had a choice: fl/ga game or halloween party?” Time of day is also a contingent factor in determining setting, as certain times of day create intrinsically different settings as the people the message is exposed to differ. 2. Participants The participants of the situation are limited to those who have been approved ‘friends’ by the individual, creating a situation unique to social networking sites. Furthermore, the participants have a picture attached to their name that may be different from their physical representation. The image is reflective of their view of themselves, so that it ultimately is closer in social significance to clothing than to individual physicality. 3. Ends Occurring as a status update, the writer of the message understood the conventions of the setting and structured the message to elicit a series of responses. There also seems to be a performative aspect to status-updates, as the speaker is literally indicating their social status by demonstrating they have the opportunity to attend either a football game or a party, and the responses the message receives will often reflect the participants’ position in relation to this status. The responses to the message indicate a desire to keep in social contact with the individual posting the status update, but within this impulse deeper impulses are reflected. In this instance, the majority of participants responded with resounding support for attending the Florida vs. Georgia football game. This seems to be more a means of identifying with the collective spirit of the University of Florida and the socio-economic status this entails, than actually valuing the football game over the abstract ‘party’. One marginal opinion was voiced that the party would be better than the football game and the participant went to great length to describe the reasons why. It seems the ends of this individual’s intentions was to compensate for his outsider status in relation to the football game and to prove his social worth by demonstrating that he is able to compete with the main group dynamic. 4. Act Sequence In this situation, the act sequence is unique to social networking sites in that the responses are logged onto the wall of the original poster, so that all future participants in the conversation are privy to all that has been said before and will develop responses in relation to the entire conversation. Also unique is the method the participants respond: whereas live conversations involve organic means of communication with participants directly speaking when the thought occurs to them; on Facebook walls, the speakers must type out their responses, oftentimes editing them. The responses are also necessarily read in sequential order. 5. Key The key in Facebook conversations generally remains playful. In this instance, as the topic of interest is which entertainment event is better to attend, the conversation is particularly geared towards fun and levity, as the participants attempt to demonstrate their points in interesting ways so that the individual poster, and the audience group will agree with their assertions and confirm their social status. 6. Genre The genre of this exchange seems to be merely rapport building among the participants, with no direct generic elements limiting it to a specific function of socio-linguistic interaction. Part III. Emblem: Emblems are gestures that have direct verbal translations. For instance, the raising of the first is emblematic of unity and in the face of white oppression in the Black Panther movement. Illustrator: Illustrators are gestures that accompany and supplement what is spoken verbally. A direct example is swinging a baseball bat when talking about a homerun that was hit. A more indirect example would be frantic hand gestures when explaining to a participant how scared you were during a specific event. Affect Display: Affect displays are gestures that display internal states. An obvious example of an affect display is the frowning of eye brows when an individual is angry. This concept becomes vague when discussing hand gestures, as at what point is body language an affect display or a meaningful illustrator. Regulator: Regulators are gestures that manage the flow of a conversation. Examples of regulators include: Hand gestures indicating you are on the phone, so others in the room should be quiet; placing a finger to your mouth indicating a ‘SSHH’ sound; or making a throat cutting motion to indicate that the person needs to be quiet. Adaptor: Adaptors are gestures that indicate the release of tension. Whether this is a symbolic release of tension or a physiological extension remains vague. Examples of these include: Student packing up their bags before the bell; repeatedly tapping when in an enclosed environment; massaging the skull when the participant has a headache; or the biting of one’s finger nails when nervous. Part IV. Throughout the course of the semester I have gained an increased understanding for the complex interaction between language and objective truth. I have come to understand language as encompassing reality in only partial ways, thus making it necessary to understand the cultural ramifications new languages carry inside of them. I’ve began to consider the act of interpretation and to consider that the reason online translators are so inaccurate is because different languages codify meaning in different ways and that the difference between English and French is more than just grammatical, it’s cultural. While languages represent an individual’s culture in different ways, I’ve learned to not entirely embrace linguistic determinism. To me, it seems that linguistic determinism might place to high an emphasis on the affective process of language on the individual’s cognitive development, and not enough emphasis on the social components that determine language. In this regard, the equation could be rephrased deterministic linguism, where language is merely a reflection of the environmental, social, and political concerns that shape it. It’s notable that the very reshaping of the Sapir-Whorf theoretical construct goes against the ‘strong’ version of the theory, where linguistics determines thought and action. I’ve also come to finely-tune my perception of the way language operates and to understand the myriad of ways that humans communicate. Written language only represents a small portion of the canon of communication, as it is necessary to include elements of body language and the speech act community that such actions emerge from to gain a more thorough understanding of communication. That while individuals may speak a common language, the finer communicate elements of that language are constantly shifting and being redefined by the social context of the participants. Ultimately, I’ve started to understand that the belief that foreign languages are learned through simple grammatical rules and vocabulary tests may be erroneous. I think it’s important to consider that the understanding of a language requires an understanding of its culture and the necessary significations that occur among its participants. It’s interesting to consider the implications this might have for students learning foreign-languages, as they must become more aware of the inseparable marriage language and culture share in order to develop higher order foreign language abilities. References Ottenheimer, Harriet. The Anthropology of Language: An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology. Wadsworth Publishing, 2008 Read More