FW: Non-member submission from ["Dan I. Slobin" <slobin at socrates.Berkeley.EDU>]

[Richard J. Senghas]

[Forwarding this on for Dan. Must be an address alias issue. -RJS]

Date: Thu, 13 Dec 2001 11:39:58 +0100
To: linganth at cc.rochester.edu
From: "Dan I. Slobin" <slobin at socrates.Berkeley.EDU>
Subject: Fwd: Sapir-Whorf

I wonder why this hasn't been posted yet...
Dan

>Date: Wed, 12 Dec 2001 11:59:20 +0100
>To: linganth at cc.rochester.edu
>From: "Dan I. Slobin" <slobin at socrates.berkeley.edu>
>Subject: Sapir-Whorf
>
>First off, look at Roger Brown's chapter in Words and Things (1958), where
>he tried to make a clear distinction between "linguistic relativity" and
>"linguistic determinism," using a lot of the classic quotes.
>
>Note, too, that if you go systematically through Whorf's writings, you'll
>find apparent inconsistency between "strong" and "weak" determinism and
>the possibility of autonomous cognitive processes.  For example:
>
>         "Moreover, the tremendous importance of language cannot, in my
> opinion, be taken to mean necessarily that
>         nothing is back of it of the nature of what has traditionally
> been called 'mind'.  My own studies suggest, to me,
>         that language, for all its kingly role, is in some sense a
> superficial embroidery upon deeper processes of
>         consciousness, which are necessary before any communication,
> signaling, or symbolism whatsoever can
>         occur..."  (Languages and Logic)
>
>He also, at times, treated "thought" as a more general category than
>linguistically-determined thought.  For example:
>
>           "By 'habitual thought' and 'thought world' I mean more than
> simply language, i.e. than the linguistic patterns
>         themselves.  I include all the analogical and suggestive value of
> the patterns (e.g., our 'imaginary space' and its
> distant     implications), and all the give-and-take between language and
> the culture as a whole, wherein there is a vast
>         amount that is not linguistic but yet shows the shaping influence
> of language."  (The Relation of Habitual Thought
>         and Behavior to Language)
>
>Dan Slobin
>Psychology
>UC Berkeley