| 释义 |
Whorfian, a.|ˈhwɔːfɪən|
[f. the name of the American linguist Benjamin Lee Whorf (1897–1941) + -ian.]
Designating the views and theories of B. L. Whorf, esp. in Whorfian hypothesis, the theory that one's perception of the world is influenced or determined by the structure of one's native language (also Whorf hypothesis). Cf. Sapir–Whorf hypothesis.
1957R. K. Merton Social Theory (rev. ed.) ii. 92 It is the extreme Whorfian position which Joshua Whatmough attacks. 1963J. Lyons Structural Semantics iii. 40 The view expressed in this quotation from Sapir has been championed more recently by Whorf, and has come to be known within linguistics as the ‘Whorfian hypothesis’. 1964R. H. Robins Gen. Linguistics ii. 80 This is part of what has come to be known as the ‘Whorf hypothesis’. 1968M. Black Labyrinth of Lang. iv. 75 Some interesting attempts have been made to determine the validity of Whorfian ideas. 1978Language LIV. 167 His chapter on personal context contains discussions of the Whorfian hypothesis.
Hence ˈWhorfianism, a Whorfian conception; Whorf's theories regarded collect.
1963J. Lyons Structural Semantics iii. 40 For a strong and convincing attack on the more extreme aspects of ‘Whorfianism’, cf. M. Black, ‘Linguistic relativity’. 1978Language LIV. 267 Parry's notion that formulaic language imposes formulaic thought is a kind of Whorfianism run wild. |