Quijada would endorse a weak version of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, and the conlanging community includes some of the last true believers in a strong version.

NEWYORKER: Utopian for Beginners

Neither Sapir nor Whorf formulated a definitive version of the hypothesis that bears their names, but in general the theory argues that the language we speak actually shapes our experience of reality.

NEWYORKER: Utopian for Beginners

This is not a new concept--the linguist Benjamin Whorf advanced it a long time ago--but Contributing Editor Dan Seligman does a delightful job of bringing it back to life every now and then.

FORBES: Sidelines

Indeed, one of the foundational linguistic theories of the twentieth century, which came to be called the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, was based in part on the work of Benjamin Whorf, an inspector for the Hartford Fire Insurance company.

NEWYORKER: Utopian for Beginners

Whorf never got an advanced degree, but he took graduate classes in his free time with the anthropologist and linguist Edward Sapir, in the nineteen-thirties, and he devoted his leisure hours to the study of Native American languages.

NEWYORKER: Utopian for Beginners

After all, if our thoughts are necessarily imprisoned by language, as Sapir-Whorf suggests, then the only sensible course of action is to build a roomier, more lavish jail cell with all the amenities an inmate could possibly desire a new language that could make possible new ways of thinking.

NEWYORKER: Utopian for Beginners