CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF
EDWARD SAPIRS
DEFINITION OF LANGUAGE
Presented by
Fatima shahid
"Language is a purely human and non-instinctive method
of communicating ideas, emotions and desires by means
of voluntarily produced symbols."
LAHORE UNIVERSITY OF
FUTURE EDUCATION
Critical analysis
he very definition of Edward Sapir at the outset not only exclude the communication
systems of animals but also any human articulation that is not symbolic or voluntary,
e.g., instinctive cries. The recognition of language as a merely conventional system of
sound symbols is prevented by seducing the popular mind into attributing to it an instinctive
basis that it does not really possess. There is the well-known observation that under the stress of
intense emotion, say of a sudden twinge of pain or of unbridled joy, we do involuntarily give
utterance to sounds that the hearer interprets as indicative of the emotion itself. But there is all
the difference in the world between such involuntary expression of feeling and the normal type of
communication of ideas that is speech. The former kind of utterance is indeed instinctive, but it is
non-symbolic; in other words, the sound of pain or the sound of joy does not indicate the
emotion, rather just announce that such and such an emotion is being felt. Moreover, such
instinctive cries hardly constitute communication in any strict sense. They are not addressed to
any one, they are merely overheard, if heard at all, as the howl of a dog, the sound of
approaching footsteps, or the rustling of the wind is heard. If they convey certain ideas to the
hearer, it is only in the very general sense in which any and every sound or even any
phenomenon in our environment may be said to convey an idea to the perceiving mind. If the
involuntary cry of pain which is conventionally represented by Oh! be looked upon as a true
speech symbol equivalent to some such idea as I am in great pain, it is just as allowable to
interpret the appearance of clouds as an equivalent symbol that carries the definite message It
is likely to rain. And from here we left the field of semantics and tread in the realm of semiotics.
A definition of language, however, that is so extended as to cover every type of inference
becomes utterly meaningless.
The relationship between thought, reality and language has seized philosophers,
linguists, anthropologists and psychologists for centuries.
Language heavily influences thought (strong interpretation)
2.
Language does not influence thought
3.
Language partially influences thought (weak interpretation).
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1.
Mostly thinkers argue one of the following three positions in relation to the Sapir Hypothesis
Critical analysis
Support to Sapir Concept:
Sapir starts by making his first claim and explaining it: "Walking is essentially innate. Language
is not. It is learned and cultural" Language is obviously one of the cognitive skills that humans
boast, and one of the most apparent differences between the human and other species. No
surprise, then, that language is often considered the main hint to the secrets of the mind. After
all, it is language through which our mind demonstrates itself and we can study the mind
through language.
Edwards view on language is one that takes into account not only cultural
studies but the whole range of human sciences, encompassing sociology, philosophy, and
psychology. He thought language as a cultural product and considers linguistics to be a fruitful
possibility of a scientific study of society. Sapir characterizes language as purely human and
non-instinctive. He believes that language affects the human thoughts
The fact of matter is that the 'real world' is to a large extent unconsciously built upon the
language habits of the group (Edward Sapir)
In other way round we can say it is language which shapes our identity. If we go through the
evolutionary process of the language it becomes clear that it was the nature which had
contributed a lot in building the language of the area. Human being obviously confined in
certain geographical areahad to deal with the ojects present wherein, hence, always had need
and urge to share the ideas about them and to discuss upon them. In other way round a language
evolved in certain geographical area had had peculiarities of its own. Hence, the language can
allow its speaker to discuss upon and to think about the things it had dealt with and had
improvised certain expressions for them. Sapirs hypothesis is supported by some research
findings, especially to study human population. One anthropologist writes "language differences
are related to the emotive activity. Like, two persons who have different vocabulary of basic
color will arrange the secondary colors in different ways. There are categories in the language,
the basis of mental activity, such as memory, decision making and categorization according to
Language relativistic. If this is true, then the studies of language differences are actually
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thoughts that caused the system.
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Language is learned since the childhood. Language has a subjective orientation
in expressing the world of human experience then Orientation was affected how people say and
think. Through face study we can describe influence of language on the human mind. Derivation
is exhibited from some statements to some experts, among others:
1. Language creates awareness
2. Language creates self-consciousness
3. Language creates structures of thought and symbolic representation
4. Language serves as one possible cue for memory
5. Language provides "Thinking for speaking
SOME OBJECTIONS TO THE CONCEPT OF SAPIR:
The concept of Sapir encourages some objections among linguists and
researchers. Psycho linguistics used it as the fundamental formation of objection is that any
thought can be expressed in different ways. A man can say anything he wanted in a language so
that between different languages has a parallel symbol. One example to demonstrate this
objection is in the field of development. many cases in daily life shows that babies who do not yet
have an optimal language was able to reason more than the things that attract them. For
example 3-4 months old babies can understand the distance and solve problems regarding
distance. The age of 5 months baby can make sense of basic arithmetic and logic s. if a baby
have two objects in hand, they try to find two objects when these objects are hidden.
The second evidence that shows that humans can think even without the use of
language is the case of children who are not deaf to understand the structure of language signs.
Above mentioned children s can find the signal and their own movements to convey their
thinking s and wishes. The third proof is the case of a mental image that was presented by some
people. Expert in the visual field have the ability to persuade which can be compared with the
scientist or an author. Francis Cricks was able to find a double helix DNA structure by thinking
visually, the well known Einstein can spawn physics formulas are spectacular with visual
important for Arabians, so they have lots of vocabulary related to camel. Language is developed
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Eskimos lives in snow, so they have many words about snow. Camel is very
reasoning.
Critical analysis
in accordance with the cultural challenges and not true that human beings cannot distinguish a
few objects of perception because no words can express it. Although the language is only using
the word 'he' it does not mean Indonesian people don't understand the meaning 'he' and 'she' in
English.
Humans can think without using language, but language skills assist
remembering and learning, draw conclusions and identify issues. Language permits individuals
present events and objects in the form of words. With individual language capable of generalized
experience and convey it to others because language is a system that is able to express all
thoughts without limits.
Some experts see that the language relativistic lack of scientific support, since
studies have not proved these connections. According to Schlenker (Schlenker, 2004), humans do
not exactly use the words in thinking, because if human thinking is affected by using the words
then the patients who have limited language (language deficits) will automatically limited in
thinking. Mind and the Verbal languages are different. However, this does not indicate that the
mind is not a system that utilizes language symbols like, the idea of computational models of the
mind shows that the mind can be analogous to a computer capable of manipulating abstract
symbols.
CONCLUSION:
The Sapir Hypothesis has changed the way many people look at the relationship
between thought, cultural perception of reality and language. It opened up large areas of study
and has a very deep impression on many scholars. While many like Edward Sapir and Benjamin
Whorf support the notion that language strongly influences thought and others argue that
language does not influence thinking process, the evidence from research indicates that
language does not govern thought or reality but language does influence thought and perception
of reality to a degree. We are forced to believe that language is an immensely ancient heritage of
the human race, whether or not all forms of speech are the historical outgrowth of a single
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chipping stone, may lay claim to a greater age. I am inclined to believe that it antedated even the
pristine form. It is doubtful if any other cultural asset of man, be it the art of drilling for fire or of
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Critical analysis
lowliest developments of material culture, that these developments, in fact, were not strictly
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possible until language, the tool of significant expression, had itself taken shape.
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