What is linguistic relativity?

Answer 1

Linguistic relativity is the idea that one's view of the world is shaped by his/her language. In its strictest form, the theory of linguistic relativity implies that people who speak two different languages will never fully see the word the same way or understand each other completely due to differences in the way their language divides the world. For example, speakers of one language may see "time" as linear (as in English. There is a past, a present, and a future) while speakers of another language may see it at cyclical based on their grammar or language. There have even been suggestions that because of differences in the division of color by different languages, people categorize the same colors differently. However, recent studies have suggested that despite language differences, people still understand concepts similarly despite language differences and that if linguistic relativity does exist, it does so in a very limited way. As an example of this weaker form of relativity, speakers of languages that have gender (like Romance languages: French, Italian, Spanish, etc) and that identify an object as a particular gender (ex: a bridge as feminine, a knife as masculine) may describe objects using more "feminine" or "masculine" adjectives that would match the gender of the object they are describing. So, in a language where a bridge is "feminine," it may be described as "cute" or "pretty," while in a language where a bridge is "masculine," it may be described as "majestic" or "handsome." Even in this form, however, more research is needed to prove definitively whether linguistic relativity--the shaping of the way we see the world by the language we use--actually has an impact on our cognition and on our actions.

Answer 2

The notion that the language individuals use exerts a strong influence n their perceptions.