RELATIVISMO LINGUÍSTICO: A Relação entre Língua e Pensamento na conceitualização do tempo

Abstract

One of the main theories involving cultural studies in the 19th century concerns the idea of cultural evolution, that is, the belief that some cultures (such as the European) are at a more advanced stage of evolution than others. In contrast, several hypotheses, in particular, Linguistic Relativity, renounces to the current scientific thinking and proposes that cultural differences, such as linguistic differences, do not evolve hierarchically, but function according to each specific culture, influencing the speaker to think and conceptualize the reality in which he is inserted. Taking into account the context presented, this qualitative research aims at comprehending by what means the relationship between language and thought manifests and how language influences its speakers to conceptualize reality. Since some of the main researches carried out on Linguistic Relativity occurs in the study of time, this study sets as its theoretical framework the way speakers think and conceive this domain. To this end, it presents a description of the Linguistic Relativism hypothesis, often associated with Edward Sapir (1884–1939) and Benjamin Lee Whorf (1897–1941), as well as a discussion of the main studies conducted in this perspective. The reading of the studies suggests that speakers associate elements of the physical world, such as space, to display, through thought, domains of abstract reality, such as time. Besides, the conception of time can differentiate from one culture to another, indicating that different languages can use different mechanisms to create a concept for time.