http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/keyword/linguistic-determinism Inquiries Journal provides undergraduate and graduate students around the world a platform for the wide dissemination of academic work over a range of core disciplines. en-us Mon, 20 Apr 2026 20:06:18 -0400 Mon, 20 Apr 2026 20:06:18 -0400 http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/761/between-linguistic-universalism-and-linguistic-relativism-perspectives-on-human-understandings-of-reality By Aminata M. Kone - The most striking feature of language seems to be its diversity: contrary to the rather limited physical variations of the human species, there are 6,909 known languages worldwide – none of which are identical in sound, syntax, lexicon or grammar (statistic from Lewis 2009). This fact raises interesting questions about human understandings of reality: is it innate and universal, shared by all despite ‘surface’ differences in expression, or relative to the language one speaks? This essay begins with a discussion of linguistic structuralism and refutes its central claim, which... Thu, 19 Sep 2013 08:45 EDT http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/761/between-linguistic-universalism-and-linguistic-relativism-perspectives-on-human-understandings-of-reality