語言相對論(英語:linguistic relativity),有時也被稱為薩丕爾-沃夫假說(英語:Sapir–Whorf hypothesis)認為語言結構影響其使用者的世界觀或認知,因此人類的感知與思考模式與其所使用的語言相關。

該理論首先由語言學家兼人類學愛德華·薩丕爾(Edward Sapir)及其學生本傑明·李·沃夫所提出,是一門關於人類語言的心理學語言學假說。這項學說認為,人類的思考模式受到其使用語言的影響,因而對同一事物時可能會有不同的看法,不過這項學說引起了一些爭議,也招致了一些批評。基於以上爭議,後來產生不同的修正版本:其一於二次大戰前提出語言決定思想為強勢版本;其二於近代提倡,認為語言結構僅影響認知的溫和版本,介紹如下[1]

  • 語言相對論的強勢版本,又稱為語言決定論,提出語言決定思考模式,故語言結構限制並決定其認知結構,此一版本已於現代普遍被認為是不正確的論述。[2]
  • 語言相對論的溫和版本,認為語言結構及使用可能影響思考模式及決策方式。該版本較受到相關實證研究結果的分析認可。[3]

薩丕爾-沃夫假說一稱通常被認為是錯誤的,原因是兩位學者並未曾合著研究或以假說的形式陳述其論點。以上版本的區別也是由後續學者延伸發展。[4][5]

現今有一些人造語言的發明因應而生,如邏輯語道本語等。

語言決定論認為語言決定思考模式,不同語系的語言看待世界的方式都不一樣,也就呈現了各種語言彼此間的相對性,所以任何民族的語言都與其文化和生活環境的需要一起成長和改變。

歷史

語言相對論的概念首先由19世紀的兩位德國思想家,威廉·馮·洪堡以及約翰·戈特弗里德·赫爾德所提出,認為語言作為表現國家精神的方式。20世紀初兩位美國人類學家法蘭茲·鮑亞士愛德華·薩丕爾也於1928年的美國語言學會[6]支持這樣的概念,薩丕爾尤其反對語言決定論觀點。

薩丕爾的學生,本傑明·李·沃夫,在他發表語言差異影響人類認知與行為的相關觀察後,成為假說的主要之支持者。薩丕爾另一位學生,哈利·霍耶,引入薩丕爾-沃夫假說[7],儘管兩位學者從未正式推廣類似的理論。[8]其中,強勢版本於1920年代由德國語言學家魏斯格貝爾持續發展。經羅傑·布朗和埃里克·勒納伯格進行了實驗,為了探究不同語言使用者,是否在辨別顏色程度上有所不同,使得沃夫的語言相對論成為可測試的假設。

其他領域

在流行文化中

姜峯楠的短篇小說《你一生的故事》(英文:Story of Your Life)提到了薩丕爾-沃夫假說;[來源請求]2016年美國電影《天煞異降》根據《你一生的故事》改編上映。

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