I am a Software Engineer, and an amateur linguist. I have been interested
in languages (both human and computer) and thought for some time.
My take on the Sapir-Worf hypothesis is that it is a one-way relationship
which people try to apply both ways. If you know the word for something,
then you know that concept. If you don't know a word for something, then you
may have difficulty with a concept. People go too far and say that you
can't understand the concept without the word.
Words also shape the way you think. A lot of people don't question words
and names, and therefore accept inaccurate or imprecise words. Here's a
good example: What color is the sky? Almost every one says "blue" because
that is the word that is always associated with the sky. However, I will
tell you that it is "blue-green". Before you argue, go to a paint program
and look at the color that computers call "cyan". "Cyan" is the same color
as the sky, but if you look up it's definition, it is equal parts of blue
and green. The sky is half way between green and blue, yet by English
tradition, we always call it "blue".
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Fri Oct 12 2001 - 14:40:03 MDT