Wilhelm Von Humboldt S Conception Of Linguistic Relativity

Seminar paper from the year 2006 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 1,3, University of Paderborn (Anglistik und Amerikanistik), course: Metaphor and Metonymy, language: English, abstract: For hundreds of years scholars have been pondering on the interconnection of language and thought with in some points corresponding and in some points differing results. Two important protagonists in this discussion were Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767-1835) and Leo Weisgerber (1899-1985), whose positions to this question I am trying to set out in this paper. As the theme is very complex, I shall at least attempt to point out some aspects, which seem especially important to me. All the authors I consulted agree that Humboldt’s theory cannot be comprehended without considering the philosophical background. Not being a student of philosophy, conceiving this part of the paper was very difficult for me. I tried to do my best by picking out those aspects of his philosophical ideas which I thought indispensable for the understanding of his doctrines.

Seminar paper from the year 2006 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 1,3, University of Paderborn (Anglistik und Amerikanistik), course: Metaphor and Metonymy, language: English, abstract: For hundreds of years scholars have been pondering on the interconnection of language and thought with in some points corresponding and in some points differing results. Two important protagonists in this discussion were Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767-1835) and Leo Weisgerber (1899-1985), whose positions to this question I am trying to set out in this paper. As the theme is very complex, I shall at least attempt to point out some aspects, which seem especially important to me. All the authors I consulted agree that Humboldt's theory cannot be comprehended without considering the philosophical background. Not being a student of philosophy, conceiving this part of the paper was very difficult for me. I tried to do my best by picking out those aspects of his philosophical ideas which I thought indispensable for the understanding of his doctrines.

This study argues that Humboldt's philosophy of language should be seen as a coherent system in which he envisages the interaction of thought, perception and imagination. It underlines the significance of Humboldt's approach to his philosophical sources and his clarification and development of ideas embodied in those sources. The discussion brings into focus the thought of such eminent philosophers as Leibniz, Condillac, Herder, and Kant, who exercised a profound influence on Humboldt's thought.

Wilhelm von Humboldt s writings on language are a mixture of philosophical theorizing about mind and language on the one hand, and on the other hand, specialized studies of the most detailed sort of both the classical languages and languages which only in Humboldt s day were becoming known to European scholars, such as Sanskrit, Chinese, and native north and south American languages. This book endeavors to show that Humboldt s work on language is a coherent system of thought; to recapture and expose the systematic structure of assumption, hypothesis, argument and conclusion; and to assign many of the specific themes in his writing to a place within this structure.

The foundations of the Philosophy of Language were laid by Wilhelm von Humboldt. The principles he advocated have frequently been misunderstood, and some of them have been modified, or even controverted, by more extended research; but a careful survey of the tendencies of modern thought in this field will show that the philosophic scheme of the nature and growth of languages, which he set forth, is gradually reasserting its sway, after having been neglected and denied through the preponderance of the so-called naturalistic school during the last quarter of a century. The time seems ripe, therefore, to bring the general principles of his philosophy to the knowledge of American scholars, especially as applied by himself to the analysis of American languages. The American languages occupied Humboldt's attention earnestly and for many years. He was first led to their study by his brother Alexander, who presented him with the large linguistic collection he had amassed during his travels in South and North America.

Seminar paper from the year 2016 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 1,0, University of Heidelberg (Anglistisches Seminar), course: Psycholinguistics, language: English, abstract: This term paper deals with different approaches in linguistic relativity research, proving the thesis that the question whether linguistic relativity does or does not exist cannot be answered with a simple yes or no, but that the answer lies in between. The theoretical framework will be provided by an overview of the theory of linguistic relativity, whose history of origins will be introduced briefly in the beginning, followed by a review of its criticism. Subsequently, two studies will be presented and interpreted, one trying to prove and one trying to disprove the hypothesis