Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis; A Position Paper

By; Danilo C. Siquig Jr., AB English III

First Semester, S.Y. 2010-2011

            “Language is so powerful that it may serve as a weapon for construction and destruction of one’s self (Aquino, 1997).”  In any field of study and in any facets of human’s life, language is inevitably a basic element that is always present. Man as he is identified in all walks of life, is bounded by his ability to communicate and use different languages as one of the means in his conversing processes. Most likely, I believe that language was given to man as one of his tool in exercising his rationality---to put in words whatever ideas or thoughts that is present in his mind. For this matter, we may say that, “language plays an important role in the life of man, whether it is in the aspect of his day to day living or in the manner of his transformation, language is always there.” Perhaps, these are also some of the ideas of Edward Sapir and his student, Benjamin Lee Whorf when they formulated the “Principle of Linguistic Relativity” or the what we called “Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis.” Perhaps, they were somehow very fascinated in the power of language in transforming or influencing the existence of man not only in his own self but most especially his existence within the society.

            The linguistic relativity principle or also known as the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis is the idea that the “varying cultural concepts and categories inherent in different languages affect the cognitive classification of the experienced world in such a way that speakers of different languages think and behave differently because of it (www.wikepedia.com).” In others words linguistic relativity is all about the idea that, language merely influences our thoughts about the real world. It affects the way we think and on how we see and give our ideas about the world in which we are situated. The idea originated in the German national romantic thought of the early 19^th Century where language was seen as the expression of the spirit of a nation. In explaining such theory, I say that, human beings do not live in the objective world alone, nor alone in the world of social activity as ordinarily understood, but are very much at the mercy of the particular language which has become the medium of expression for their society. It is quite an illusion to imagine that one adjusts to reality essentially without the use of language and that language is merely an incidental means of solving specific problems of communication or reflection. The fact of the matter is that the real world is to a large extent unconsciously built upon the language habits of the group. “We see and hear and otherwise experience very largely as we do because the language habits of our community predispose certain choices of interpretation (Sapir, 1958).”

            Personally, I agree to this particular concept of Sapir and Whorf. I believe that language affects our act of classifying things in the real world or on how we give our thoughts and ideas about the environment. I believe so because first and foremost, despite of man’s diverse interpretation of things man can always come into what we call agreement and that agreement will only come into reality if man will set a parameter, such as language, that is to be used in classifying things in the experienced world. “We cut nature up, organize it into concepts, and ascribe significances as we do, largely because we are parties to an agreement to organize it in this way—an agreement that holds throughout our speech community and is codified in the patterns of our language (Whorf, 1940).” In explaining my first reason in believing such concept, I will say that, Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis pertains to the relationship of culture, thought and language. For example, during the middle ages, priests and clerics invented the word “heretics” as pertain to those people who disregard their beliefs in the church. Thus, as the coined word exists in the passing of time, people, especially those who are religious ones, will classify or identify devotees from heretics and later on branded the second one as a deviant of the church. In this manner, we already have classification by the use of our languages. Another common example is the various or different dialects (under the parameter of language) that exists in different topography. For example the Ilokanos who have different terms in naming things such as “awan” for “nothing,” “papanam” for “where are you going?” and many more. In this manner, the Ilokanos have their own way of classifying things according to their distinct language or dialect and it also help them to describe their environment or the world they are living in such a way that they use their native language in expressing their ideas and thoughts.     Secondly, I believe that Sapir and Whorf Hypothesis speaks about the “expression of the spirit of a nation” wherein as human beings we can identify our identity or the kind of nation or person that we are. As an example, Filipinos are always known through the concept of democracy. We always voice out our rights and freedom as citizens of our country that is why we had two EDSA revolutions because people express their sympathy with each other through the use of language. If freedom and rights are concerned, Filipinos are always in the manner of being nationalistic and that serves as our identity as Filipinos. Lastly, I believe in such concept of linguistic relativity because it is always a two-way process in which “the kind of language we use is also influenced by the way we see the world.” It means that as we experienced the world we are also forming our own interpretations out of it and interpretations always come with language. There can be no clear and precise interpretations without the use of language.

            In the end, we can always trace back the importance of language in our life as existing human beings. We can always recognize its relevance in our way of viewing the world, especially by the concept of Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis. Indeed, language is given as a gift for man to comply with his existence in the natural world.