语言相对论：语言如何塑造我们的思维

世界上没有孤立存在的事物，一切事物都处于一定的联系之中。语言被定义为供人类交流所使用的一套任意的语音符号系统，而人类存于社会之中，因此语言也与外界有着各样的联系。这里所指的外界不仅是社会和人类文化，还包括使用语言的人们的思维。为了更好的探索研究语言、思维和文化的关系，美国人类学家博厄斯、萨丕尔、沃尔夫做了一项实验——重建美洲印第安语。以此实验的材料作为数据支撑，萨丕尔-沃尔夫假说诞生了。

萨丕尔-沃尔夫假说下有两种概念：语言决定思维或语言影响思维。在此之前，德国语言学家洪堡特提出了“强式”的语言相对论，与萨丕尔-沃尔夫假说的第一种形式大致相同。他认为人们的思维和认知由其所使用的语言的结构决定。然而因没有大量充分的经验和证据能够支撑强式观点，后得修正，出现了弱式的说法，即语言相对论，此观点认为使用不同语言的人之间的思维模式差异是相对的而非绝对的。

为了论证自己的观点，萨丕尔和沃尔夫尝试着从可见的、规律的语法结构角度探究语言对人类思维的影响方式和表现形式，由于这种研究方法将语言的差异定义在语法结构之中具有局限性，因此后人将研究范围扩大到语义层面。

The concept of linguistic relativity, also known as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, is a theory that suggests that language influences the way we think and perceive the world around us. This idea has been explored by linguists and anthropologists for many years, and has led to a deeper understanding of the relationship between language, thought, and culture.

The origins of linguistic relativity can be traced back to the work of German linguist Wilhelm von Humboldt in the 19th century. Humboldt believed that language and thought were closely intertwined, and that the structure of a language could shape the way its speakers think and perceive the world. However, it wasn't until the early 20th century that this idea was further developed by American linguist Edward Sapir and his student, Benjamin Lee Whorf.

Sapir and Whorf believed that language not only reflected the way people thought, but also shaped it. They argued that different languages had different structures and vocabularies, which could lead to different ways of perceiving and interpreting the world. For example, the Inuit language has many different words for snow, reflecting the importance of snow in their daily lives and the way they experience the world around them.

In the 1950s and 60s, the idea of linguistic relativity fell out of favor among linguists and cognitive scientists. However, it was revived in the 1980s and 90s by researchers such as Lera Boroditsky and John Lucy, who used new methods and technologies to explore the relationship between language and thought.

One of the most famous experiments in this field was conducted by Boroditsky, who looked at the way that gender is expressed in different languages. She found that languages that have grammatical gender (such as Spanish, which assigns masculine or feminine articles to nouns) tend to reinforce gender stereotypes and make it harder to think in gender-neutral terms. By contrast, languages that don't have grammatical gender (such as Turkish) are more likely to encourage gender equality and fluidity.

Another important researcher in this field is Susan Ervin-Tripp, who conducted a study of the way that Japanese and American children learn to speak. She found that Japanese children are more likely to use collective pronouns (such as 'we' or 'our') than American children, reflecting the importance of community and social harmony in Japanese culture.

Today, the idea of linguistic relativity continues to be a topic of debate and research. While some linguists and cognitive scientists remain skeptical of the theory, others believe that it offers important insights into the way that language and culture shape our perceptions and experiences of the world.