Sa·pir-Whorf hypothesis (s -pîr wôrf, -hwôrf)n. A hypothesis holding that the structure of a language affects the perceptions of reality of its speakers and thus influences their thought patterns and worldviews. [After Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf.] |
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
n
(Linguistics) the theory that human languages determine the structure of the real world as perceived by human beings, rather than vice versa, and that this structure is different and incommensurable from one language to another
[named after Edward Sapir (1884-1939), US anthropologist and linguist, and Benjamin Lee Whorf (1897-1943), US linguist]
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