简答题

What are linguistic determinism and linguistic relativity?

【正确答案】

Linguistic determinism and linguistic relativity are two parts of Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis. Linguistic determinism says that linguistic structure determines cognitive structure. That is, learning a language changes the way a person thinks. Linguistic relativity says that the resulting cognitive systems are different in speakers of different languages. These two parts have shed two important insights. The first one is that there is nowadays recognition that language, as code, reflects cultural occupations and constraints the way people think. The second one is that more than in Whorf’s days; however, we recognize how important context is in complementing the meanings encoded in the language.

【答案解析】