Semiotics for Beginners by Daniel Chandler

Semiotics for Beginners by Daniel Chandler
basis of differences in linguistic structure. Whilst few linguists would accept the Whorfian hypothesis
in its 'strong', extreme or deterministic form, many now accept a 'weak', more moderate, or limited
Whorfianism, namely that the ways in which we see the world may be influenced by the kind of
language we use.
Probably the most well-known example of the cultural diversity of verbal and conceptual categories is
that Eskimos have dozens of words for 'snow' - an assertion which is frequently attributed to
Benjamin Lee Whorf. Actually, Whorf seems never to have claimed that Eskimos had more than five
words for snow (Whorf 1956, 216). However, a more recent study - not of the Inuit but of the Koyukon
Indians of the subarctic forest - does list 16 terms for snow, representing these distinctions:
• snow;
• deep snow;
• falling snow;
• blowing snow;
• snow on the ground;
• granular snow beneath the surface;
• hard drifted snow;
• snow thawed previously and then frozen;
• earliest crusted snow in spring;
• thinly crusted snow;
• snow drifted over a steep bank, making it steeper;
• snow cornice on a mountain;
• heavy drifting snow;
• slushy snow on the ground;
• snow caught on tree branches;
• fluffy or powder snow (Nelson 1983, 262-263).
This is not the place to explore the controversial issue of the extent to which the way we perceive the
world may be influenced by the categories which are embedded in the language available to us.
Suffice it to say that words can be found in English (as in the admittedly wordy translations above) to
refer to distinctions which we may not habitually make. Not surprisingly, cultural groups tend to have
lots of words (and phrases) for differences that are physically or culturally important to them - Englishspeaking
skiers also have many words for snow. Urban myths woven around the theme of 'Eskimos'
having many words for snow may reflect a desire to romanticize 'exotic' cultures. This does not,
however, rule out the possibility that the categories which we employ may not only reflect our view of
the world but may also sometimes exercise subtle influences upon it.
Within a culture, social differentiation is 'over-determined' by a multitude of social codes. We
communicate our social identities through the work we do, the way we talk, the clothes we wear, our
hairstyles, our eating habits, our domestic environments and possessions, our use of leisure time, our
modes of travelling and so on (Fussell 1984). Language use acts as one marker of social identity. In
1954, A S C Ross introduced a distinction between so-called 'U and Non-U' uses of the English
language. He observed that members of the British upper class ('U') could be distinguished from
other social classes ('Non-U') by their use of words such as those in the following table (Crystal 1987,
39). It is interesting to note that several of these refer to food and eating. Whilst times have changed,
similar distinctions still exist in British society.