I.Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

The view on the interdependence of language, culture and thought has been succinctly expressed by what is called the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.

The hypothesis is interpreted in two ways. One is known as determinism, which means that language determines our thinking, and consequently, different languages may probably lead to unique ways of understanding the world. This strong version has been rejected as it runs counter to the fact that peoples of different cultural backgrounds can understand each other.

The other interpretation is termed relativism, which has drawn more attention in the late 1990s. This view holds that similarity between languages is relative, the greater their structural differentiation is, the more diverse their conceptualization of the experienced world will be. Culture affects the way we think through language. Culture influences language by way of symbols and rules as well as our perceptions of the universe. Equally important is the fact that meaning in many cases may vary from culture to culture.

II. Are linguistic meanings universal?

Word meaning, particularly the meaning of culturally loaded words, may vary in certain aspects from culture to culture. The interrelationship between language and culture results in the fact that one-to-one equivalence can rarely be established between words in two languages.

A full understanding of the several kinds of meanings that are coded in the grammar and vocabulary of a language comes only with a full understanding of the culture, in which it operates.

Words of different languages that denote the same category may have different prototypes. It is natural that speakers of different languages may have different conceptions of the same category.

A word can elicit many meanings.

If we include culture as a variable in the process of abstracting meaning, the problems become all the more acute, for culture teaches us both the symbol and what the symbol represents.

There are even differences between British and American usage in word meanings. Culture influences the way people use language. Meaning is culturally determined.

If we look at corresponding lexical sets, we can understand both the universal aspects and cultural aspect of linguistic meanings. Color terms in different languages are very illustrative examples.