Grammatical Categories and Cognition: A Case Study of the Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis

ISBN-13: 9780521566209 / Angielski / Miękka / 1996 / 228 str.

John A. Lucy; Judith Irvine; Bambi Schieffelin

Opis

John Lucy uses original, empirical data to examine the Sapir-Whorf linguistic relativity hypothesis: the proposal that the grammar of the particular language that we speak affects the way we think about reality. The author compares the grammar of American English with that of the Yucatec Maya, an indigenous language spoken in Southeastern Mexico, focusing on differences in the number marking patterns of the two languages. He then identifies distinctive patterns of thought relating to these differences by means of a systematic assessment of memory and classification preferences among speakers of both languages.

Recenzje

'… the importance of [Lucy's] work lies primarily ... in his re-opening discussion and inquiry on the linguistic relativity hypothesis. Although others in the past few decades have also called attention to the linguistic relatively hypothesis, for various reasons attention to it has been of marginal concern … Lucy's work will surely open the conversation. Its reopening is long overdue.' Times Higher Education Supplement

Spis treści

List of figures; List of tables; Acknowledgments; Introduction; 1. Background of the comparative research in Yucatan, Mexico; 2. Comparison of grammatical categories: nominal number in English and Yucatec; 3. Cognitive assessment; 4. Conclusions; Appendices; Notes; References; Index.