Home > Terms > English, UK (UE) > whorfianism

whorfianism

In its most extreme version 'the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis' can be described as relating two associated principles: linguistic determinism and linguistic relativism. Applying these two principles, the Whorfian thesis is that people who speak different languages perceive and think about the world quite differently, their worldviews being shaped or determined by the language of the culture (a notion rejected by social determinists). Critics note that we cannot make inferences about differences in worldview solely on the basis of differences in linguistic structure.

This is auto-generated content. You can help to improve it.
0
Improve it
More
Collect to Blossary

Other Languages:

More

Member comments

You have to log in to post to discussions.

Related terms

open and closed texts
Language; General language

Eco describes as 'closed' those texts which show a strong tendency to encourage a particular interpretation - in contrast to more 'open' texts. He argues that mass media texts ...

oppositional code
Language; General language

Within Stuart Hall's framework, this is an ideological code in which the reader, whose social situation places them in a directly oppositional relation to the dominant code, ...

orders of signification
Language; General language

Barthes adopted from Hjelmslev the notion that there are different orders of signification (levels of meaning) in semiotic systems. The first order of signification is that of ...

overcoding
Language; General language

'Overcoding' refers to structurally simple, conventional and repetitive texts having what information theorists call a high degree of redundancy.

overdetermination
Language; General language

A phenomenon is said to be overdetermined when it can be attributed to multiple determining factors. Overdetermined readings of texts are those in which the preferred reading is ...

Classical Chinese
Language; General language

Classical Chinese or Literary Chinese is a traditional style of written Chinese based on the grammar and vocabulary of ancient Chinese, making it different from any modern spoken ...

written vernacular Chinese
Language; General language

Written vernacular Chinese refers to forms of written Chinese based on the vernacular language, in contrast to Classical Chinese, the written standard used from the Spring and ...

clerical script
Language; General language

The clerical script is an archaic style of Chinese calligraphy, which evolved in the Warring States period to the Qin dynasty and was dominant in the Han dynasty. It is highly ...

seal script
Language; General language

Seal script is an ancient style of Chinese calligraphy, which evolved out of the Zhou dynasty script. During the Qin dynasty, the Qin variant of seal script became standard and ...

Taiwanese Hokkien
Language; General language

Taiwanese Hokkien, commonly known as Taiwanese is the Hokkien dialect of Min Nan as spoken by about 70% of the population of Taiwan.

Standard Chinese
Language; General language

Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Chinese (also known as Mandarin and Putonghua) is a standardised variety of Chinese and the official language of the People’s Republic of ...

Terms in the News

Featured Terms

Harry8L
  • 0

    Terms

  • 0

    Blossaries

  • 1

    Followers

Industry/Domain: Automotive Category: Automobile

ICar

A concept car that was reportedly conceived by Apple's former CEO Steve Jobs which would revolutionise the automotive industry. Powered by Apple's ...

Contributor

Featured blossaries

Best Writers

Category: Literature   1 2 Terms

Characters In The Legend Of Zelda Series

Category: Entertainment   3 29 Terms

Browers Terms By Category

TERMS

SOCIAL

EXTRAS

SOLUTIONS