First, provide a characterization of Whorfs basic hypothesis concerning the relation between language to thought and behavior.

*The view that much of what we take to be objective

features of the "external" world is actually a product of our language *The strong form of Sapir-Whorf language determines thought! ypothesis proposes that

*Then" we ask" is thought dependent on language" as suggested by the weak form of Sapir-Whorf ypothesis! #oes language determine our habitual thought$ abitual thought% general tendency in thinking! &nd since this tendency is common among speakers of the same language" Whorf argued that the world view or the culture of a particular linguistic group is dependent on their common language!

*linguistic relativity which asserts that a persons view of reality is shaped to a large extent by the linguistic system of language used *The whor fram hypothesis is a theoretical claim that language influence thought. *It means he believe that our thought shapes our behaviour as our thought is related to the language *Whorf claim that we dissect the nature along the lines laid down by our native language. it means we modify our behaviour according to the language available to us. He himself called this theory of language influencing thought the linguistic relativity principle . *!ee whorf says that language and culture are co"relative. He studied hopi culture and #$% &standard $verage %uropean' cultural. He found these two cultures different from one another. Their culture is different because their language is also different from one another

linguistic relativismmeaning that language influences the way in which we perceive the world. Whorf considered that different cultures 'dissect nature' differently.

'any thinkers have urged that large differences in language lead to large differences in experience and thought! They hold that each language embodies a worldview" with (uite different languages embodying (uite different views" so that speakers of different languages think about the world in (uite different ways! This view is sometimes called the Whorf-hypothesis or the Whorf-Sapir hypothesis" after the linguists who made it famous! When languages are similar" Whorf tells us" there is little likelihood of dramatic cognitive differences! )ut languages that differ markedly from *nglish and other Western *uropean languages +which Whorf calls" collectively" ,Standard &verage *uropean- or S&*. often do lead their speakers to have very different worldviews! *We are thus introduced to a new principle of relativity" which holds that all observers are not led by the same physical evidence to the same picture of the universe" unless their linguistic backgrounds are similar" or can in some way be calibrated! /The relativity of all conceptual systems" ours included" and their dependence upon language stand revealed! *The passages from Sapir and Whorf bristle with metaphors of coercion% our thought is ,at the mercy- of our language" it is ,constrained- by it0 no one is free to describe the world in a neutral way0 we are ,compelled- to read certain features into the world +p! 121.! The view that language completely determines how we think is often called linguistic determinism!

Linguistic relativity (popularly known as the SapirWhorf hypothesis) is a form of linguistic determinism which argues that individuals experience the world based on the structure of the language they habitually use.

Whorf believed that some languages gave rise to more accurate worldviews than others! 3ndeed" he thought that the opi worldview was superior in various ways to that of speakers of 3ndo-*uropean languages! *4exicon #ifferent languages have different lexicons +vocabularies." but the important point here is that the lexicons of different languages may classify things in different ways! 5or example" the color lexicons of some languages segment the color spectrum at different places! *many of Whorf6s claims" e!g!" his claims about the way opi thought about time" were based on +what he took to be. large-scale differences between opi and Standard &verage *uropean that included grammatical and lexical differences *Whorf argued that patterns of grammatical structures, often the most covert ones at that, give
rise not to a language prison but to a provisional analysis of reality and habits of mind

*the Linguistic relativity hypothesis. Stated simply, the hypothesis claims that specific languages, especially the underlying patterns of specific languages, play a major role in determining the thought and behaviour of a culture. * One of Whorf s most famous formulations of this hypothesis is the essay, !the "elation of #abitual $hought and %ehaviour to Language , &here he argues that a major characterisation of #opi behaviour, the emphasis on preparation, is a result of the Linguistic patterns in #opi 'Whorf, pp.()*+(,-.. /s Whorf puts it, this emphasis !includes announcing and getting ready for events &ell beforehand, elaborate preparations to ensure persistence of desired conditions, and stress on good &ill as the preparer of right results 'p.(*0.. Our culture, because of the different vie& of time implied by 1nglish and other major 1uropean Languages, does not stress preparation as much as #opi 2ulture. See3 http%77www!oswego!edu78delancey79:9;#3<79:9=>T*S7Whorf

* Whorf" however" was mainly concerned with the more subtle and profound effects of 4anguage on the basic worldview of a culture!