sapir-whorf hypothesis
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.75 in modern English
42
Scrabble Score
20
Letters
6
Syllables
12
Unique Chars
Meaning
name
The hypothesis that the structure of a language affects the worldview or cognition of its speakers.
Example Sentences
- "Newspeak sets the scene of linguistic determinism, where language is hypothesised to influence or control a people group’s thought processes. In popular terms, this has been referred to as part of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, or an aspect of linguistic relativity, where individuals perceive the world based on the structure of their habitually-used language."
Etymology
Named after two researchers, Edward Sapir and his student Benjamin Lee Whorf, who observed that linguistic differences have consequences in human cognition and behavior.
Inflected Forms
the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis (canonical)