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VA : XAT 2009 : Q11 to Q13

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Analyse the following passage and provide an appropriate answer for the questions 11
through 13 that follow.
The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, also known as the linguistic relativity hypothesis, refers to the
proposal that the particular language one speaks influences the way one thinks about reality. The
linguistic relativity hypothesis focuses on structural differences among natural languages such as
Hopi, Chinese, and English, and asks whether the classifications of reality implicit in such
structures affect our thinking about reality. Analytically, linguistic relativity as an issue stands
between two others: a semiotic-level concerns with how speaking any natural language
whatsoever might influence the general potential for human thinking (i.e., the general role of
natural language in the evolution or development of human intellectual functioning), and a
functional- or discourse-level concern with how using any given language code in a particular way
might influence thinking (i.e., the impact of special discursive practices such as schooling and
literacy on formal thought). Although analytically distinct, the three issues are intimately related
in both theory and practice. For example, claims about linguistic relativity depend on
understanding the general psychological mechanisms linking language to thinking, and on
understanding the diverse uses of speech in discourse to accomplish acts of descriptive reference.
Hence, the relation of particular linguistic structures to patterns of thinking forms only one part of
the broader ray of questions about the significance of language for thought. Proposals of linguistic
relativity necessarily develop two linked claims among the key terms of the hypothesis (i.e.,
language, thought, and reality). First, languages differ significantly in their interpretations of
experienced reality- both what they select for representation and how they arrange it. Second,
language interpretations have influences on thought about reality more generally- whether at the
individual or cultural level. Claims for linguistic relativity thus require both articulating the
contrasting interpretations of reality latent in the structures of different languages, and accessing
their broader influences on, or relationships to, the cognitive interpretation of reality.

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11. Which of the following conclusions can be derived based on Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?
A. Americans and Indians would have similar intelligence.
B. South Indians and North Indians would have similar intelligence.
C. Those with same intelligence would speak the same language.
D. Those with similar intelligence may speak the same language.
E. Structure of language does not affect cognition.

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12. If Sapir-Whorf hypothesis were to be true, which of the following conclusions would
logically follow?
1. To develop vernacular languages, government should promote public debates and discourses.
2. Promote vernacular languages as medium of instruction in schools.
3. Cognitive and cultural realities are related.
A. 1 only
B. 2 only
C. 3 only
D. 1 and 2
E. 1, 2 and 3

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13. Which of the following proverbs may be false, if above passage were to be right?
1. If speech is silver, silence is gold.
2. When you have spoken a word, it reigns over you. When it is unspoken you reign over it.
3. Speech of yourself ought to be seldom and well chosen.
A. 1 and 2
B. 2 and 3
C. 3 only
D. 1 only
E. 1, 2 and 3

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