The linguistic relativity hypothesis:
A)contends that American Sign Language (ASL) lacks the formal requirements for language and is relatively impoverished linguistically.
B)states that thoughts and perceptions are influenced by the particular language that is used.
C)proposes that the formal characteristics of a language are relative and not absolute.
D)suggests that the way people think and perceive the world in different linguistic groups influences the formal language that they develop and use.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The linguistic relativity hypothesis, also known as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, proposes that the language we use influences the way we think and perceive the world around us. Therefore, option B is the correct answer. Option A is incorrect as ASL is a fully-formed language with its own grammatical rules and structure. Option C is partially correct as the formal characteristics of a language are relative to other languages, but not relative in an absolute sense. Option D is partially correct as language does influence our perception of the world, but it does not suggest that it influences the formal language development of different linguistic groups.

The Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis