فرضية سابير-وورف : عرض و معالجة و تطبيق

Abstract EN

This research tackles the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis which its subject is the relationship between language and thought; as it states that the different languages of nations lead to difference in their thought.

After introducing the hypothesis and its American figures: Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf, the research touches on how related was this hypothesis to the American linguistic school in the time the hypothesis was announced.

Then, the study displays the history of the idea that evolved to the hypothesis, followed by the researchers’ reviews of the hypothesis who divided it into two versions: a strong version that adopts the principle of “determinism” saying that native speakers of a language cannot conceptualize what their language does not cover, and a weak version that adopts the principle of “relativism” saying that a language shapes the way its native speakers conceptualizes notions, with them being able to conceptualize what it does not cover.

Afterwards, the researcher suggests her own reading to the hypothesis, which views it in three results of three subjects: the possibility of conception, the way of conception, and a conception remaining the same despite the difference between languages in articulating it.

These three results are supported by applications that puts Arabic in contrast to other languages.

Finally, the research ends up with conclusions about the potential research horizons for the hypothesis, and the phenomenon it could give accounts to.