Editing Linguistic relativity (section)

=== Parameters ===
In his 1987 book ''[[Women, Fire, and Dangerous Things]]: What Categories Reveal About the Mind'',{{sfn|Lakoff|1987}} Lakoff reappraised linguistic relativity and especially Whorf's ideas about how linguistic categorization represents and/or influences mental categories. He concluded that the debate had been confused. He identified four parameters on which researchers differed in their opinions about what constitutes linguistic relativity:

* The degree and intensity of linguistic relativity. Perhaps a few examples of superficial differences in language and associated behavior are enough to demonstrate the existence of linguistic relativity. Alternatively, perhaps only great differences that permeate the linguistic and cultural system suffice.
* Whether conceptual systems are absolute or whether they can evolve.
* Whether the similarity criterion is [[translatability]] or the use of linguistic expressions.
* Whether the emphasis of linguistic relativity is language or the brain.
Lakoff concluded that many of Whorf's critics had criticized him using novel definitions of linguistic relativity, rendering their criticisms moot.