The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis is the ideal that people view and understand the world through the lens of language (Macionis, 2011). One way in which language can affect how we see the world culturally is sentence order. Many languages express themselves differently, placing a different importance upon nouns, verbs, etc. For instance, in English sentence order typically subject, verb, object while Japanese is subject, object, verb and Welsh is verb, subject, and object (Plato.stanford.edu, 2015). Each language places a different importance on the subject; this may be a reflection on the importance placed upon the subject in the actual culture.
Language is also rife with symbolism. While symbolism is all around us, from forms of dress to types of jewelry, language is the most complicated, subtle and highly developed form of symbolism (Uefap.com, 2015). For instance, an American might say that someone is eating like a cow, or chewing like a cow, meaning that they are eating too much or chewing in a way that I sonly acceptable among animals. Should they go to India and say the same thing, it would be offensive because Indian culture exalts cows. The American would not understand what the issue was though, because they would be viewing the situation through the lens of their language and its unique sayings.
This carries over to our body language as well. For example, for most of the world the thumbs up is a non-verbal cue that something is good. In Thailand it is the equivalent of sticking your tongue out at someone and taunting them (Matador Network, 2015). Similarly, the “OK” symbol where ones thumb and forefinger make and O and the other fingers stay straight up means good or everything is good in the United States, while in France it means that you are a zero, nothing (Matador Network, 2015). As you can see, our non-verbal language and symbolism is definitely seen through the lens of our specific culture.
References
Macionis, J. (2011). Society. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Matador Network,. (2015). 10 common gestures easily misunderstood abroad. Retrieved 13 July 2015, from http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/10-common-gestures-easily- misunderstood-abroad/
Plato.stanford.edu,. (2015). Relativism > The Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy). Retrieved 13 July 2015, from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/relativism/supplement2.html
Uefap.com,. (2015). EAP Reading. Retrieved 13 July 2015, from http://www.uefap.com/reading/exercise/ess2/hayakawa.htm
