Language, Thought and Reality - doraithodla/notes GitHub Wiki

Selected writings of Benjamin Lee Whorf

Quotes

• Why and how of language, and its competence as a vehicle for meaning
• semantics - sometimes as defined as 'the system stufy of meaning'
• Linguistics , is fundamental to the theory of thinking
• The discoverer has to first explain to themselves and then to the rest of the world
• Two cardinal hypotheses
  • All higher levels of thinking are dependent on language
  • The structure of the language one habitually uses influences the manner in which one understands her environment. The picture of the universe shifts from tongue to tongue.
• Probably everyone experiences brainstorms too fast to be verbal. Before we can handle such bolts from the blue, we must verbalize them, put them in words for sober reflection, or discussion.
• Aristotle's three laws of thought