語言相對論（英語：linguistic relativity），有時也被稱為薩丕爾-沃夫假說（英語：Sapir–Whorf hypothesis）認為語言結構影響其使用者的世界觀或認知，因此人類的感知與思考模式與其所使用的語言相關。
該理論首先由語言學家兼人類學家愛德華·薩丕爾（Edward Sapir）及其學生本杰明·李·沃夫所提出，是一門關於人類語言的心理學、語言學假說。這項學說認為，人類的思考模式受到其使用語言的影響，因而對同一事物時可能會有不同的看法，不過這項學說引起了一些爭議，也招致了一些批評。基於以上爭議，後來產生不同的修正版本：其一於二次大戰前提出語言決定思想為強勢版本；其二於近代提倡，認為語言結構僅影響認知的溫和版本，介紹如下：
- 語言相對論的強勢版本，又稱為語言決定論，提出語言決定思考模式，故語言結構限制並決定其認知結構，此一版本已於現代普遍被認為是不正確的論述。
- 語言相對論的溫和版本，認為語言結構及使用可能影響思考模式及決策方式。該版本較受到相關實證研究結果的分析認可。
其假說名稱(薩丕爾-沃夫假說)容易產生誤解，原因是兩位學者並未合著研究，或命名他們的觀點如是。以上版本的區別也是由後續學者延伸發展。
語言決定論認為語言決定思考模式，不同語系的語言看待世界的方式都不一樣，也就呈現了各種語言彼此間的相對性，所以任何民族的語言都與其文化和生活環境的需要而成長和改變。
其他领域
在流行文化中
姜峯楠的短篇小说《你一生的故事》（英文：Story of Your Life）提到了薩丕爾-沃夫假說；2016年美国电影《降临》根据《你一生的故事》改编上映。
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参閲
外部連結
- Babies think before they speak says Harvard professor
- The Great Whorf Hypothesis Hoax by Dan Moonhawk Alford （页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆）.
- How Does Our Language Shape The Way We Think? （页面存档备份，存于互联网档案馆）
- Effects of grammatical gender on human thought
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