Paper 4 Question 2
Language aids in developing one’s self-identity, social identity, and shapes the way humans are. As people learn to use language, especially from early childhood development, their sense of self-identity will constantly change and will continue to do so for the rest of their lives. The same result occurs as people interact with various social groups and speech communities. Using language allows people to communicate so they are able to share information and exchange ideas, yet it is undecided whether language shapes cognition or cognition shapes language. Linguists Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf formed a hypothesis which suggests that people view the world by relating it back to the language they use. For instance, English uses one word for “snow” while the Inuit tribes of the Arctic posses a wider lexis, using three unique words for its different properties. Lera Boroditsky, a Stanford researcher, explains how selecting the correct verbiage is dependent on the intent behin...