The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis and its Application in Fiction

Jezik je eno poglavitnih sredstev za sporazumevanje: človeškega življenja brez njega si skorajda ni mogoče predstavljati. Ker pa je v tem trenutku na svetu približno 7000 jezikov, ki so si med seboj precej različni, se vprašanje, ali govorci različnih jezikov enake situacije dojemajo na različne načine, ponuja samo od sebe in je jezikoslovce ter filozofe zaposlovalo za več sto let. To delo še zdaleč ni mišljeno kot celovit pregled omenjene problematike: namesto tega bom najprej definiral naslovno hipotezo, nato predstavil perspektive posameznikov, ki so se s tem in podobnimi vprašanji tako ali drugače ukvarjali, zatem pa ugotovitve primerjal s fiktivnimi deli, ki obravnavajo omenjeno tematiko. Na koncu bom podal lastno sodbo.Language is one of the primary means of communication: human life without it can hardly be imagined. However, given that there are approximately 7000 languages in the world as of this moment, very different from each other, the question whether speakers of different languages percieve a given situation in different ways has been on the minds of linguists and philosophers for hundreds of years. The following thesis is by no means meant as a thorough examination of the aforementioned issue. Rather, I shall, first of all, define the titular hypothesis, after that, present the perspectives of the individuals who have, in one way or another, contemplated such questions and, compare the theoretical perspectives with works of fiction that deal with such matters. Finally, I shall give my own thoughts