Linguistic determinism

Linguistic determinism is the idea that language and its structures limit and determine human knowledge or thought, as well as thought processes such as categorization, memory, and perception. The term implies that people who speak different languages as their mother tongues have different thought processes.'It was found that the background linguistic system (in other words, the grammar) of each language is itself the shaper of ideas, the program and guide. We dissect nature along the lines laid down by our native languages.'The timeless Hopi verb does not distinguish between the present, past and future of the event itself but must always indicate what type of validity the speaker intends the statement to have.'• Unilalianism Linguistic determinism is the idea that language and its structures limit and determine human knowledge or thought, as well as thought processes such as categorization, memory, and perception. The term implies that people who speak different languages as their mother tongues have different thought processes. Linguistic determinism is the strong form of linguistic relativity (popularly known as the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis), which argues that individuals experience the world based on the structure of the language they habitually use. Though it played a considerable role historically, linguistic determinism is now discredited among mainstream linguists. The principle of linguistic relativity (or, in other words, the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis) in its strong deterministic form first found its clear expression in writings of Benjamin Lee Whorf. The term 'Sapir–Whorf hypothesis” is considered a misnomer by linguists and academics, because Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf never co-authored any works (although they did work together, Sapir being Whorf's mentor), and never stated their ideas in terms of a hypothesis. The distinction between a weak and a strong version of this hypothesis is also a later invention; Sapir and Whorf never set up such a dichotomy, although often in their writings their views of this relativity principle are phrased in stronger or weaker terms. The two linguists were nevertheless among the first to formulate the principle of linguistic relativity. Sapir exercised the idea that language is essential to understanding one's worldview and that difference in language implies a difference in social reality. Though he never directly explored how language affects thought, significant traces of the linguistic relativity principle underlie his perception of language.