Download or read book Through the Language Glass written by Guy Deutscher and published by Metropolitan Books. This book was released on 2010-08-31 with total page 317 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A masterpiece of linguistics scholarship, at once erudite and entertaining, confronts the thorny question of how—and whether—culture shapes language and language, culture Linguistics has long shied away from claiming any link between a language and the culture of its speakers: too much simplistic (even bigoted) chatter about the romance of Italian and the goose-stepping orderliness of German has made serious thinkers wary of the entire subject. But now, acclaimed linguist Guy Deutscher has dared to reopen the issue. Can culture influence language—and vice versa? Can different languages lead their speakers to different thoughts? Could our experience of the world depend on whether our language has a word for "blue"? Challenging the consensus that the fundaments of language are hard-wired in our genes and thus universal, Deutscher argues that the answer to all these questions is—yes. In thrilling fashion, he takes us from Homer to Darwin, from Yale to the Amazon, from how to name the rainbow to why Russian water—a "she"—becomes a "he" once you dip a tea bag into her, demonstrating that language does in fact reflect culture in ways that are anything but trivial. Audacious, delightful, and field-changing, Through the Language Glass is a classic of intellectual discovery.
Download or read book Evidence for Linguistic Relativity written by Susanne Niemeier and published by John Benjamins Publishing. This book was released on 2000-04-15 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume has arisen from the 26th International LAUD Symposium on “Humboldt and Whorf Revisited. Universal and Culture-Specific Conceptualizations in Grammar and Lexis”. While contrasting two or more languages, the papers in this volume either provide empirical evidence confirming hypotheses related to linguistic relativity, or deal with methodological issues of empirical research.These new approaches to Whorf’s hypotheses do not focus on mere theorizing but provide more and more empirical evidence gathered over the last years. They prove in a very sophisticated way that Whorf’s ideas were very lucid ones, even if Whorf’s insights were framed in a terminology which lacked the flexibility of linguistic categories developed over the last quarter of this century, especially in cognitive linguistics. To date, there is sufficient proof to claim that linguistic relativity is indeed a vital issue, and the current volume confirms a more general trend for rehabilitating Whorf’s theory complex and also offers evidence for it. It contains articles written by scholars from various fields of linguistics including phonology, psycholinguistics, language acquisition, historical linguistics, anthropological linguistics and (cross-)cultural semantics, which all contribute to a re-evaluation and partial reformulation of Whorf’s thinking.
Download or read book Language Diversity and Thought written by John A. Lucy and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1992-07-02 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An examination of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis on the relationship between grammar and thought.
Download or read book The International Encyclopedia of Language and Social Interaction 3 Volume Set written by Cornelia Ilie and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2015-06-08 with total page 1676 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The International Encyclopedia of Language and Social Interaction is an invaluable reference work featuring contributions from leading global scholars, available both online and as a three-volume print set. The definitive international reference work on a topic of major and increasing importance, in a new series of sub-disciplinary international encyclopedias Provides state-of-the-art research for scholars in a highly interactive and accessible format, available both online and as a three-volume print set Covers key research topics in the field with contributions from a team of experienced, global editors Successfully brings into a single source, explication of all of the fascinating and ground-breaking Language and Social Interaction work developing globally and across subjects Part of The Wiley Blackwell-ICA International Encyclopedias of Communication series, published in conjunction with the International Communication Association. Online version available at www.wileyicaencyclopedia.com
Download or read book The Language Hoax written by John H. McWhorter and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2014-04-01 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Japanese has a term that covers both green and blue. Russian has separate terms for dark and light blue. Does this mean that Russians perceive these colors differently from Japanese people? Does language control and limit the way we think? This short, opinionated book addresses the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which argues that the language we speak shapes the way we perceive the world. Linguist John McWhorter argues that while this idea is mesmerizing, it is plainly wrong. It is language that reflects culture and worldview, not the other way around. The fact that a language has only one word for eat, drink, and smoke doesn't mean its speakers don't process the difference between food and beverage, and those who use the same word for blue and green perceive those two colors just as vividly as others do. McWhorter shows not only how the idea of language as a lens fails but also why we want so badly to believe it: we're eager to celebrate diversity by acknowledging the intelligence of peoples who may not think like we do. Though well-intentioned, our belief in this idea poses an obstacle to a better understanding of human nature and even trivializes the people we seek to celebrate. The reality -- that all humans think alike -- provides another, better way for us to acknowledge the intelligence of all peoples.
Download or read book Rethinking Linguistic Relativity written by John J. Gumperz and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1996-07-11 with total page 504 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Linguistic relativity is the claim that culture, through language, affects the way in which we think, and especially our classification of the experienced world. This book reexamines ideas about linguistic relativity in the light of new evidence and changes in theoretical climate. The editors have provided a substantial introduction that summarizes changes in thinking about the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis in the light of developments in anthropology, linguistics and cognitive science. Introductions to each section will be of especial use to students.
Download or read book Abnormal Types of Speech in Nootka written by Edward Sapir and published by . This book was released on 1915 with total page 94 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Benjamin Lee Whorf written by Peter C. Rollins and published by . This book was released on 1980 with total page 122 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Typewritten manuscript, with photocopies of the published volume's title page, verso, and a portrait of Benjamin Lee Whorf.
Download or read book The Sapir Whorf Hypothesis written by Renate Giesbrecht and published by GRIN Verlag. This book was released on 2009-09-22 with total page 16 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Seminar paper from the year 2008 in the subject Didactics for the subject English - Pedagogy, Literature Studies, grade: 1,3, University of Cologne (Englisches Seminar), course: Proseminar Sprachwissenschaft: Western Linguistics in the 20th century, language: English, abstract: The relationship between language, thought and reality has always been a fascinating subject for linguists and philosophers. Special attention was paid to it in the 20th century when Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf published their opinions to this subject. Whorf forms the main part of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, because he was introduced by Sapir to his general approach to linguistics and then extended it in his beliefs. The term “Sapir-Whorf hypothesis” was first introduced by J.B. Carroll and states in general that a human’s language shapes his perception of reality or in other words, that the world as we know it is largely predetermined by the language of our culture (Jandt, 1995: 93). Occurring differences between languages do also represent the basic differences in the worldview of different cultures (Jandt, 1995: 101). In this survey a general introduction to the hypothesis will be given by Sapir’s and Whorf’s definition of language. Furthermore the basic assumptions of the hypothesis will be conveyed. With the help of data taken from different languages these assumptions will be illustrated in detail. Finally also attention will be paid to criticism on the hypothesis.
Download or read book Explorations in Linguistic Relativity written by Martin Pütz and published by John Benjamins Publishing. This book was released on 2000-04-15 with total page 387 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: About a century after the year Benjamin Lee Whorf (1897–1941) was born, his theory complex is still the object of keen interest to linguists. Rencently, scholars have argued that it was not his theory complex itself, but an over-simplified, reduced section taken out of context that has become known as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis that has met with so much resistance among linguists over the last few decades. Not only did Whorf present his views much more subtly than most people would believe, but he also dealt with a great number of other issues in his work. Taking Whorf’s own notion of linguistic relativity as a starting point, this volume explores the relation between language, mind and experience through its historical development, Whorf’s own writing, its misinterpretations, various theoretical and methodological issues and a closer look at a few specific issues in his work.
Download or read book Linguistic Relativity versus Innate Ideas written by Julia M. Penn and published by Walter de Gruyter. This book was released on 2014-01-02 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Language in Mind written by Dedre Gentner and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2003-03-14 with total page 548 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The idea that the language we speak influences the way we think has evoked perennial fascination and intense controversy. According to the strong version of this hypothesis, called the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis after the American linguists who propounded it, languages vary in their semantic partitioning of the world, and the structure of one's language influences how one understands the world. Thus speakers of different languages perceive the world differently. Although the last two decades have been marked by extreme skepticism concerning the possible effects of language on thought, recent theoretical and methodological advances in cognitive science have given the question new life. Research in linguistics and linguistic anthropology has revealed striking differences in cross-linguistic semantic patterns, and cognitive psychology has developed subtle techniques for studying how people represent and remember experience. It is now possible to test predictions about how a given language influences the thinking of its speakers. Language in Mind includes contributions from both skeptics and believers and from a range of fields. It contains work in cognitive psychology, cognitive development, linguistics, anthropology, and animal cognition. The topics discussed include space, number, motion, gender, theory of mind, thematic roles, and the ontological distinction between objects and substances. Contributors Melissa Bowerman, Eve Clark, Jill de Villiers, Peter de Villiers, Giyoo Hatano, Stan Kuczaj, Barbara Landau, Stephen Levinson, John Lucy, Barbara Malt, Dan Slobin, Steven Sloman, Elizabeth Spelke, and Michael Tomasello
Download or read book The Whorf Theory Complex written by Penny Lee and published by John Benjamins Publishing. This book was released on 1996-06-30 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At last — a comprehensive account of the ideas of Benjamin Lee Whorf which not only explains the nature and logic of the linguistic relativity principle but also situates it within a larger ‘theory complex’ delineated in fascinating detail. Whorf’s almost unknown unpublished writings (as well as his published papers) are drawn on to show how twelve elements of theory interweave in a sophisticated account of relations between language, mind, and experience. The role of language in cognition is revealed as a central concern, some of his insights having interesting affinity with modern connectionism. Whorf’s gestaltic ‘isolates’ of experience and meaning, crucial to understanding his reasoning about linguistic relativity, are explained. A little known report written for the Yale anthropology department is used extensively and published for the first time as an appendix. With the Whorf centenary in 1997, this book provides a timely challenge to those who take pleasure in debunking his ideas without bothering to explore their subtlety or even reading them in their original form.
Download or read book Psycholinguistic Implications for Linguistic Relativity written by Rumjahn Hoosain and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 2013-02-01 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rather than offering variations in "world view" as evidence for linguistic relativity, this book views language related differences in terms of the facility with which information is processed. Distinctive perceptual, memory, and neurolinguistic aspects of the Chinese language are discussed, as is the cognitive style of the Chinese people. Chinese orthography and other features of morphology and syntax are examined in relation to both bottom-up and top-down cognitive processes. While providing an extensive review of the experimental literature published in English on the Chinese language, this volume also offers a significant sample of the literature originally published in Chinese.
Download or read book Basic Color Terms written by Brent Berlin and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 1991 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explores the psychophysical and neurophysical determinants of cross-linguistic constraints on the shape of color lexicons.
Download or read book Linguistic Relativities written by John Leavitt and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2010-12-23 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There are more than six thousand human languages, each one unique. For the last five hundred years, people have argued about how important language differences are. This book traces that history and shows how language differences have generally been treated either as of no importance or as all-important, depending on broader approaches taken to human life and knowledge. It was only in the twentieth century, in the work of Franz Boas and his students, that an attempt was made to engage seriously with the reality of language specificities. Since the 1950s, this work has been largely presented as yet another claim that language differences are all-important by cognitive scientists and philosophers who believe that such differences are of no importance. This book seeks to correct this misrepresentation and point to the new directions taken by the Boasians, directions now being recovered in the most recent work in psychology and linguistics.
Download or read book The Languages of Pao written by Jack Vance and published by Spatterlight Press. This book was released on 1958 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
