【正确答案】正确答案：Whorf attended some linguistic courses given by Sapir at Yale University and found particular resonance between his own ideas and those of Sapir. This experience and his study of Hopi, an American Indian language, helped him develop his unique understanding of linguistic relativity, which is widely known as the SAPIR-WHORF HYPOTHESES. What this hypothesis suggests is like this; our language helps mould our way of thinking and, consequently, different languages may probably express our unique ways of understanding the world. Following this argument, two important points could be captured in this theory. On the one hand, language may determine our thinking patterns; on the other, similarity between languages is relative. For two different speech communities, the greater their structural differentiation is, the more diverse their conceptualization of the world will be. For this reason, this hypothesis has alternatively been referred to as "language determinism" and "language relativity". Nowadays few people would possibly tend to accept the original form of this theory completely. Consequently, two versions of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis have been developed, a strong version and a weak version. The strong version of the theory refers to the claim the original hypothesis suggests, emphasizing the decisive role of language as the shaper of our thinking patterns. The weak version of this hypothesis, however, is a modified type of its original theory, suggesting that there is a correlation between language, culture, and thought, but the cross-cultural differences thus produced in our ways of thinking are relative, rather than categorical. If we go over the literature concerning the hypothesis, we"ll soon discover that it has aroused a lively controversy. While some researchers claim to have found reliable evidence to justify its validity, others suggest to have obtained enough counter-evidence to jeopardize its feasibility. Facing a situation like this, we must be careful and do not rush to any hasty conclusion before we really obtain some reliable evidence to support or reject the hypothesis. Here are two examples taken to show the complexity and controversy of the theory. One is quoted from Hopi, an American Native language spoken in Arizona; the other is taken from Dug-um Dani, a Papuan language spoken in the central highlands of Irian Jaya. As far as the former is concerned, it serves as a good example to show how languages may differ from each other, possibly providing some positive evidence to support the hypothesis. On the other hand, by looking at the basic color word system in Dani language from an evolutionary perspective, we"ll have an opportunity to get to know that linguistic relativity may equally meet some cross-cultural counter examples, a challenge to the theory hence formed. Recent developments in linguistics predict that linguistic studies in the new century will become more fruitful if an evolutionary, cognitive, and interdisciplinary perspective is taken in its theoretic pursuit. Meanwhile, additional evidence has been collected to convincingly show the momentum and feasibility of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis in dealing with linguistic differences from exotic cultures. These new changes not only bring more vitality to linguistic science but also call for more eclecticism in its theorizing. Following this line of argument, it seems still premature to completely reject the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.