The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis posits what about language and thought?

• A. Language and thought are unrelated
• B. Different languages create different ways of thinking
• C. Thought determines language
• D. Language evolves independently of culture

Answer: (B)

Language shapes thought by providing the categories and distinctions we use to interpret the world. The Sapir-Whorf idea, often called linguistic relativity, suggests that people who speak different languages may experience and think about their surroundings in different ways because their language encodes different concepts and ways of organizing experience. You can see this in how some languages have color terms or spatial references that don’t align with others, which can influence what people notice or remember. The notion that language and thought are unrelated contradicts substantial cross-language evidence; thinking doesn’t occur independently of language. Saying that thought determines language reverses the direction of influence, which isn’t what the hypothesis claims. And claiming language evolves independently of culture ignores the strong links between language, culture, and cognition. So, the idea that different languages create different ways of thinking best captures the core claim.