Hi there!
I suppose you will have come across this site in your research (I
entered Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis into Google):
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/short/whorf.html
I had to read a bit of it to remember what I had learnt about this
hypothesis. The way I understand it, Sapir-Whorf propose very strongly
that the language one speaks influences the way one thinks, that is,
limits the extent that one can think. They say that if in one language
does not exist a term for, let's say, the yellowness of snow after a
dog has peed into it, alas, this concept cannot be expressed. Thus, a
speaker of this language will be unable to transmit to you the example
that I just gave, will also be at a loss to understand it.
I don't know the scope of your question. If you want to write a thesis
about the S-W-hypothesis or about its application in the field of
cultural anthropology, obviously you need some more information.
Anyway, good luck with your project, and here's another site
(Wikipedia, a community-written encyclopedia. quality is quite high.)
cheers, areeew
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapir-Whorf_Hypothesis |
