Sapir Whorf Hypothesis And How It Can Be Used In Sociological Analysis

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
Student’s Name
Institution
Date
Introduction
The cultures of different individuals can be understood as a lens through which people experience the world and develop shared meaning. Language can, therefore, be utilized in creating responses to various cultural needs. There is a clear relationship in the manner that people talk and how they perceive the world (Lyon, 1999). The paper will focus on the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis and the manner that this concept can be utilized in the sociological analysis.
Analysis of the definitions of the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis proclaims the huge effect language has on thought and perception. This theory indicates that a speaker of a different language usually thinks and perceives reality in different ways and therefore, each language has its worldview (Lucy, 1997). The theory can be categorized into Linguistic determinism and Linguistic relativity.
Linguistic determinism states that the opinions of a person are primarily affected by the concepts recognized by their mind. In this aspect, a person is accountable for their views and also the reality they perceive (Lucas, 2015). This element also highlights that the ability of a person to understand a specific language is mainly affected by their perceptions.
In linguistic relativism, the distinctions of a person which are encoded in their language are highly specific to that language, and therefore, there are no boundaries to the variation of languages around the world. All people live in highly objective realities accompanied by social activities and are consistently at the mercy of a particular language which becomes their mode of expression within the society (Kay & Kempton, 1984). A person can, therefore, have experiences mainly due to the language patterns of their community which has a bearing on their specific choices of interpretations.
How the concept can be used in sociological analysis
In linguistic determinism, there are situations whereby the primary means of drawing attention to an element of experience is enormous. For example, In French and Spanish, there are two ways to address a person. This depends on the type of relationship between the two people, be it formal or informal (Kay & Kempton, 1984). In this respect, the speaker will always perceive the relationship when addressing another person and therefore, they will not be able to break out of this thought process.
Another example of linguistic determinism is the manner that people from different cultures describe a specific word such as snow. Eskimos living in Alaska have numerous words for snow such as 'aput' and also 'mauja' mea...