Language Discussion : Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis Do we create and use language that fits the mental concepts we want to express? Do Ideas come to our minds first and the words to express them later? One belief is that thought is responsible for shaping language. The Sapir -Whorf hypothesis supports the opposite . It holds that language shapes the ideas and concepts we hold . In other words , language comes first and influences the kinds of thoughts we can think and the concepts we imagine . Look up some articles on Whorf and Chomsky and their language theories . Watch this TED Talk (Links to an external site.) to get you thinking about the subject. For this discussion, supply examples to support the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis and examples that refute it. Do you find this theory credible? For fun, make up a word that does not exist in the English Language. Define your word and use it in a sentence. How does this exercise relate to our discussion