To what degree might different languages shape in their speakers different concepts of themselves and the world? What are the implications of such differences for knowledge?

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Language Essay

To what degree might different languages shape in their speakers different concepts of themselves and the world?  What are the implications of such differences for knowledge?

        Different languages shape the way speakers perceive themselves and the world.  This issue goes back to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis of linguistic relativity.  Language seems to reflect the different cultural concerns pf the speakers.  The history of language displays the struggle against limitations built into the language systems.

        Benjamin Lee Whorf, a student of Edward Sapir, conducted a study of the structure of the Hopi Indian language and the Standard Average European language.  Whorf found that both cultures’ languages conceptualize reality in different ways.  Whorf believed that the Hopi emphasized on events rather than Europeans who emphasized in terms of space and time.  Whorf’s comparison of the two cultures convinced him that contrasts of worldviews resulted from the differences in their languages.  

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        Whorf’s conclusion of his study was that no human was born free.  A person’s mind was made up for him/her from their day of birth.  This resulted because of the language of their speech community.  Whorf suggested that that English speakers have been tricked all their lives into thinking along certain channels.  

        The strong weakness of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis is the lack of tools that would give the Hopis a different view of time than the Europeans.  Difficulty exists in trying to explain the cultural differences and similarities among the various languages.  Great religions flourished through different languages and ...

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