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Linguistic relativity
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=== Science fiction === Numerous examples of linguistic relativity have appeared in science fiction. * The totalitarian regime depicted in [[George Orwell]]'s 1949 novel ''[[Nineteen Eighty Four]]'' in effect acts on the basis of the Whorf hypothesis, seeking to replace English with ''[[Newspeak]]'', a language constructed specifically with the intention that thoughts subversive of the regime cannot be expressed in it, and therefore people educated to speak and think in it would not have such thoughts. * In his 1958 science fiction novel ''[[The Languages of Pao]]'' the author [[Jack Vance]] describes how specialized languages are a major part of a strategy to create specific classes in a society, to enable the population to withstand occupation and develop itself. * In [[Samuel R. Delany]]'s 1966 science fiction novel ''[[Babel-17]]'', the author describes an advanced, information-dense language that can be used as a weapon. Learning it turns one into an unwilling traitor as it alters perception and thought.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Art of Fiction, No 210 |url=https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/6088/the-art-of-fiction-no-210-samuel-r-delany |access-date=7 March 2021 |work=The Paris Review}}</ref> * [[Ted Chiang]]'s 1998 short story "[[Story of Your Life]]" developed the concept of the Whorf hypothesis as applied to an alien species that visits Earth. The aliens' biology contributes to their spoken and written languages, which are distinct. In the 2016 American movie [[Arrival (film)|''Arrival'']], based on Chiang's short story, the Whorf hypothesis is the premise. The protagonist explains that "the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis is the theory that the language you speak determines how you think".<ref>{{cite news| title = The science behind the movie 'Arrival'| newspaper = The Washington Post| access-date = 23 April 2017| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/the-science-behind-the-movie-arrival/2016/11/14/5e344114-a6a7-11e6-ba59-a7d93165c6d4_story.html}}</ref> * [[Gene Wolfe]]'s four volume science fiction novel ''[[The Book of the New Sun]]'' describes the North American "Ascian" people as speaking [[Ascian language|a language]] composed entirely of quotations that have been approved by a small ruling class.
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