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HowRelevantistheSapir-WhorfHypothesis…
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Formulationofideasisnotanindependentprocess,[…]butispartof
aparticulargrammar,anddiffers,fromslightlytogreatly,betweendifferent
grammars.(Whorf,1956,pp.212-213)
Nevertheless,itmustbestressedthathisapproachtotheissuewasthatofan
early20th-centurylinguistpreoccupiedwithanalysesofphonemesandmor-
phemesandrelativelyuninformedaboutthecomplexityofcognitiveprocessing
whichposesachallengetointerdisciplinaryresearchacenturylater.Whorf
(1956,p.42)seemedtodistrustpsychologicalterminologywhichheregarded
asalegacyofoldlaboratoryexperiments.Consequently,hisuseofpsychology-
relatedtermsisintuitiveandcommonsensical,asdemonstratedbythefollowing
descriptionofhowgrammarinfluencedwhatapsychologistcouldhavecalled
perceptionandcategorization.Thespecificsofbothprocessesremainamatter
ofconjecture.
Usersofmarkedlydifferentgrammarsarepointedbytheirgrammarsto-
wardsdifferenttypesofobservationsanddifferentevaluationsofexternally
similaractsofobservation.(Whorf,1956,p.221)
Whorf’sattemptstoembracethecognitiveandlinguisticlevelsattracted
theattentionofLakoff(1987,p.330),whocalledhimapioneerin(cognitive)
linguisticsand“themostinterestinglinguistofhisday.”Yet,fromtheperspec-
tiveofpsychology,theresearchdidnotmeettherequirementsofgoodscience
becauseitusedimpreciseandintuitiveterminology,andemployedanecdotaland
impressionisticevidence,andforanobviousfailuretodefineterms(variables)
carefullyandformtestablehypotheses,whichwasvitalforobtainingempiri-
calevidenceforthetheory.Whattendstobeoverlookedisthat,asalinguist,
Whorfwasneitherinterestednorqualifiedtoconductresearchthatmetthose
requirements.
Behavior.ThewayWhorfunderstoodthebehavioralaspectoflinguistic
relativityhadlittleincommonwithmoderninterpretationsofthehypothesis.
UndertheinfluenceofSapir,aleadinganthropologistofthetime,hecameto
regardlanguageasasocialconstructandconsequentlylookedforsignsofits
influenceinculturallyconditionedpersonalandsocialactivities.Theinfluence
manifesteditselfas“constantwaysofarrangingdata”and“mostordinaryevery-
dayanalysisofphenomena”(Whorf,1956,p.135)inlinewiththelanguage
habitsofthecommunity.Whorfbecameacutelyawareofthedependencyof
behavioronlinguisticdescriptionsofeventsinhisworkasafireinspector.
Althoughinitiallyconcernedwithpurelyphysicalconditionsandcircumstances
surroundingthestartingoffires,hesoondiscoveredthatpartoftheblame
laywithhowthesituationwasrepresentedlinguistically.Acaseinpointis
