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"An essay showing why Hopi is superior to English as a scientific language, a criticism of Basic English as Complex English, and an account of the semantics of fire prevention are not only readable but delightful."--The New Yorker
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The pioneering linguist Benjamin Whorf (1897--1941) grasped the relationship between human language and human thinking: how language can shape our innermost thoughts. His basic thesis is that our perception of the world and our ways of thinking about it are deeply influenced by the structure of the languages we speak. The writings collected in this volume include important papers on the Maya, Hopi, and Shawnee languages as well as more general reflections on language and meaning.
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The career of Benjamin Lee Whorf might, on the one hand, be described as that of a businessman of specialized talents-one of those individuals who by the application of out-of-the-ordinary training and knowledge together with devotion and insight can be so useful to any kind of business organization. Read the first page
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The career of Benjamin Lee Whorf might, on the one hand, be described as that of a businessman of specialized talents-one of those individuals who by the application of out-of-the-ordinary training and knowledge together with devotion and insight can be so useful to any kind of business organization. Read the first page
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This was the first time I had read a book about linguistics. For some time I had heard about Benjamin Lee Whorf and his seminal work on native American languages. This is his most famous book, a book of some of his papers during the 30's and 40's.
Unfortunately, given my lack of linguistic knowledge I did not understand much of the terminology throughout his more academic papers such as "Some Verbal Categories of Hopi" or "Gestalt Technique of Stem Composition in Shawnee". Nevertheless, there is plenty to read which discusses languages without too much academic terminology, although there is always some. His most interesting reads are the more general ones such as "Language, Mind and Reality" or "Language and Logic".
Whorf makes the fascinating assertion, new for his time, that the language we speak, to some degree at least, forces us to orient our view of the world in a certain direction, for example the noun based structure of Indo-European languages forces us into considering the world as made up of separate interacting pieces whereas Hopi doesn't even have a tense system and doesn't consider the past or the future and sees events as either manifest or unmanifest. A completely different way of viewing the world and yet possessing its own internal logic and ability to express whatever is necessary. This is something Whorf stresses throughout and the so-called `primitive' languages of for example, the native Americans, is far from this western perspective. In fact Hopi stands out as being a language ideally suited to the new physics.
Whorf really lives in two worlds regarding his linguistic studies 1. the fascinating metaphysical world of language constructions throughout the world, i.e. the world view generated by these languages and 2. the strict linguistic approach to languages with its own very formal and structured method to analyse languages, see for example the formulaic approach for one-syllable English words in the paper entitled "Linguistics as an Exact Science".
This book is worth it as no doubt the one by Sapir as well.
Unfortunately, given my lack of linguistic knowledge I did not understand much of the terminology throughout his more academic papers such as "Some Verbal Categories of Hopi" or "Gestalt Technique of Stem Composition in Shawnee". Nevertheless, there is plenty to read which discusses languages without too much academic terminology, although there is always some. His most interesting reads are the more general ones such as "Language, Mind and Reality" or "Language and Logic".
Whorf makes the fascinating assertion, new for his time, that the language we speak, to some degree at least, forces us to orient our view of the world in a certain direction, for example the noun based structure of Indo-European languages forces us into considering the world as made up of separate interacting pieces whereas Hopi doesn't even have a tense system and doesn't consider the past or the future and sees events as either manifest or unmanifest. A completely different way of viewing the world and yet possessing its own internal logic and ability to express whatever is necessary. This is something Whorf stresses throughout and the so-called `primitive' languages of for example, the native Americans, is far from this western perspective. In fact Hopi stands out as being a language ideally suited to the new physics.
Whorf really lives in two worlds regarding his linguistic studies 1. the fascinating metaphysical world of language constructions throughout the world, i.e. the world view generated by these languages and 2. the strict linguistic approach to languages with its own very formal and structured method to analyse languages, see for example the formulaic approach for one-syllable English words in the paper entitled "Linguistics as an Exact Science".
This book is worth it as no doubt the one by Sapir as well.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a book I come back to time and time again, because of its profound implications. It may seem obscure and abstract but I consider its ideas core to our future survival as a species! That may seem ridiculously strong, but if we are to find ways for people to understand each other's views, and for the diversity of human cultures to live together peacefully, we need to appreciate how the deep structure of our languages influences that. This is not generally appreciated. People think that the words they use convey the same meaning to their listeners as to themselves. Whorf shows how a culture's world view is shaped by the grammar and syntax of their languages.
Let's take one of many examples: 'facts: propositions that are universally true, not tied to any particular observer'. In English and most Indo-European languages, one can say "That box is blue." and, from the grammatical form, we would assume that would be universally agreed. (But there are blind people, colour-blind people, or it could be a trick of the light...) In some Native American languages the grammar would force us to say something more like, "I experience that box as blue", or "I have been told by someone that the box is blue." That it, the perspective of the observer is necessarily included. We have this concept that something can be universally true, rather than simply something that might be very widely agreed. We can have great philosophical debates over the meaning of 'truth', without realising that the concept is basically an artifact of our grammatical structures.
This is but one of many examples of how our languages can fool us into extending our beliefs way beyond where they are justified. A better understanding of the way language structures constrain us, as Whorf pioneered, would help us to better understand each other.
Let's take one of many examples: 'facts: propositions that are universally true, not tied to any particular observer'. In English and most Indo-European languages, one can say "That box is blue." and, from the grammatical form, we would assume that would be universally agreed. (But there are blind people, colour-blind people, or it could be a trick of the light...) In some Native American languages the grammar would force us to say something more like, "I experience that box as blue", or "I have been told by someone that the box is blue." That it, the perspective of the observer is necessarily included. We have this concept that something can be universally true, rather than simply something that might be very widely agreed. We can have great philosophical debates over the meaning of 'truth', without realising that the concept is basically an artifact of our grammatical structures.
This is but one of many examples of how our languages can fool us into extending our beliefs way beyond where they are justified. A better understanding of the way language structures constrain us, as Whorf pioneered, would help us to better understand each other.
5 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I approached this book with enthusiasm, hoping to learn something valid about Hopi language and culture, and how this bore on the relationship between language and perception. Alas, this book has many intriguing insights but you have to penetrate deeply into a mass of highly specialised and (irrelevant?) detail in order to reach them.
I suppose it is Whorf's evident passion for the subject which leads him to write in such a way that one feels he never has the time to set down all of his findings. Consequently what could be a very interesting book leaves the non-specialist a bit bewildered, if slightly the better off for having read it.
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