The Whorfian hypothesis: A cognitive psychology perspective.

TLDR

The Whorfian hypothesis proposes that language shapes thought, with its strongest form claiming language controls both thought and perception, while the weaker form suggests a more modest influence that has been deemed too vague to test. The study argues that the weaker Whorfian hypothesis can be quantified and evaluated. The authors employ post‑Whorfian cognitive models linking lexical, syntactic, semantic, and pragmatic language variations to thought processes. Multiple experiments have shown that the stronger form of the hypothesis is false.

Abstract

The linguistic relativity (Whorfian) hypothesis states that language influences thought. In its strongest form, the hypothesis states that language controls both thought and perception. Several experiments have shown that this is false. The weaker form of the hypothesis, which states that language influences thought, has been held to be so vague that it is unprovable. The argument presented herein is that the weaker Whorfian hypothesis can be quantified and thus evaluated. Models of cognition developed after Whorf 's day indicate ways in which thought can be influenced by cultural variations in the lexical, syntactical, semantic, and pragmatic aspects of language. Although much research remains to be done, there appears to be a great deal of truth to the linguistic relativity hypothesis. In many ways the language people speak is a guide to the language in which they think.