Question

The two anthropologists who studied the Hopi Indians and concluded that language has embedded within it ways of looking at the world were ________.

a) Margaret Mead and Franz Boas
b) Ruth Benedict and Emile Durkheim
c) Max Weber and Harriet Martineau
d) Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf

Answer 1

Answer: The two anthropologists who studied the Hopi Indians and concluded that language has embedded within it ways of looking at the world were:

d) Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf.

Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf were influential linguists and anthropologists who conducted research on language and its relationship to culture. They proposed the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, also known as linguistic relativity or the Whorfian hypothesis.

Based on their studies of the Hopi Indians and other indigenous communities, Sapir and Whorf argued that language shapes our perception and understanding of the world. They suggested that the structure, vocabulary, and grammatical patterns of a language influence how its speakers think, perceive reality, and conceptualize their environment.

For example, the Hopi language does not have tenses to express time in the same way as English. Sapir and Whorf proposed that this linguistic difference may lead Hopi speakers to have a different perception and understanding of time compared to English speakers. They suggested that language not only reflects culture but also plays a role in shaping and influencing cultural thought patterns.

Therefore, option d) Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf is the correct answer.

Step-by-step explanation:

Answer 2

The anthropologists who concluded that language influences worldviews and cognitive patterns were Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf, known for the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.

Step-by-step explanation:

The anthropologists who studied the Hopi Indians and concluded that language has embedded within it ways of looking at the world were Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf. This conclusion is part of what is known as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis or the principle of linguistic relativity. These anthropologists argued that the particular language someone speaks influences how they think and understand reality. For example, Whorf's study of the Hopi language showed how its structure and use conveyed a different conception of time compared to Standard Average European languages.The main answer to this question is that the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis suggests different languages promote different habits of thought. Rather than seeing languages as simply a means of communication, Sapir and Whorf's work proposed that language is a lens through which cultures interpret their worlds, and this affects even fundamental concepts such as time. This approach to linguistic anthropology challenges the notion that Western ways of thinking are inherently superior, instead highlighting the complexity and diversity of thought possible within different linguistic frameworks.