How we view words
on the web
Words and concepts
Sixty years ago an American anthropological linguist called Benjamin Lee Whorf astonished the academic world with a radical communication theory.
Whorf suggested that the way people perceive things relates to the structure of their language. His most famous example refers to Eskimos and snow.
Whereas there is only one key word for snow in English, Eskimos have several more in their language to describe different concepts of snow. These include falling snow, snow on the ground, snow packed hard like ice, wind-driven flying snow, etc.
In contrast, Whorf noted that American Indian Hopi had only one word for anything that flies. It covered different types of insect as well as aeroplanes and aviators — but not birds.
Whorf's detailed hypothesis is known as 'linguistic relativity' and has fuelled furious debates about the influence of language in thought and communication.
What comes first? The thought or the word?
Whatever one might conclude, no one can deny that language is continuously evolving in order to describe new, culturally significant concepts. Take, for example, the rapidly developing vocabulary of electronic communication.
The e-communication words we select often reflect our awe and uncertainty about this new field. Note the vagueness and exaggeration of 'cyberspace' and 'information superhighway'; the broadness of 'electronic media' and 'e-commerce'; and the synonymous use of 'world wide web', 'internet' and 'net', despite subtle differences in their original meanings.
But one of the strongest influences on how e-communication words develop is print.
Next: We're so bound to print
Back to top
Menu for this article
| 
