First refs to "Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis"

[Keith Sawyer]

I think the best summary of linguistic relativity in Boas, Sapir, and Whorf
is the Hill and Mannheim article in "Annual Review of Anthropology": 1992,
vol. 21, 381-406.  They say that the "Sapir-Whorf" hypothesis crystallized
in the 1950s and they reference several sources documenting the history (p.
385).

At 10:19 AM 12/11/01 -0800, Richard J Senghas wrote:
>OK, Linganth folks:
>
>At the risk of raising heat, I'm trying to locate the first **explicit**
>references to the so-called "Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis" as such, and to
>specific passages by either Sapir or Whorf that have been pointed to as
>their own formulation and presentation of any such hypothesis, either
>formally or informally. I've seen so many conflicting accounts that I
>wanted to get a sense as to whether there is any consensus on this issue
>among linguistic anthropologists.
>
>I know a lot of us refer to this conception as the "linguitic relativity
>hypothesis" to sidestep this epistemological rathole, but at the moment I'm
>interested in the historical process of the emergence of this concept as a
>case in point on how theoretical ideas get labelled and argued, both within
>and without the academy.

R. Keith Sawyer


http://www.keithsawyer.com/
Assistant Professor
Department of Education
Washington University
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