ANTHRO 33 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Animal Communication, Standard Average European, Benjamin Lee Whorf
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Influence of language on thought more likely to be predispositional than determinative. Language might predispose you to view the world in a certain way but it won"t prevent you from challenging that view. Ld: hard influence of language on thought. Queen victoria at the end of her reign - victorian era. Some people argued that people in certain societies were incapable of abstract, scientific thought because their languages lacked structure and logic found in. Boas argued that all languages and cultural [practices were equally complex and logical. Argued that language reflects cultural practices but doesn"t limit thought. Language can strongly influence thought, but all languages are equal. No matter what any speaker of it may desire to communicatethe language is prepared to do his work . Sum total of a language"s categories produces an overall worldview in people who speak that language. Nice fit with einstein"s new theory of relativity. Studied representations of time in hopi (native american language)
