named for Sapir and Whorf, supposedly deriving from the latter's observations about time words in the Hopi language
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The '''Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis''' states that [[language]] is not merely a way to express ideas, but that it determines the range of ideas we can have. If there's no word or term for a concept, it's hard even to conceive of it, let alone to communicate it to another person.
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The '''Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis''' states that [[language]] is not merely a way to express ideas, but that it determines the range of ideas we can have. If there's no word or term for a concept, it's hard even to conceive of it, let alone to communicate it to another person.
==Name and origin==
==Name and origin==
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The hypothesis is named for Sapir and Whorf, supposedly deriving from the latter's observations about time words in the Hopi language.
It is a [[linguistic]] theory also known as the "Whorfian hypothesis" and the "linguistic relativity hypothesis").
It is a [[linguistic]] theory also known as the "Whorfian hypothesis" and the "linguistic relativity hypothesis").