Application and Early History of Linguistic Relativity From Boas to Whorf
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.69475/RATEI.2024.2.6Keywords:
primitive, diversity, cultural studies, linguistics, linguistic relativismAbstract
Linguistic relativity, also known as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, has seen much debate in the academic circles throughout history as to its exact formulation, its purpose or its validity. The idea that one’s mother tongue conditions one’s worldview and its wider implication, namely that it may also shape one’s culture, intrigued at best and enraged at worst scholarly minds. This paper aims to look back in history to those responsible for the genesis of such an idea, specifically Franz Boas, Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf, identify a framework around the climate which allowed for it to flourish, draw on their works connected to it and attempt to find an application valid both then and now.
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