born April 24, 1897, Winthrop, Mass., U.S.
died July 26, 1941, Wethersfield, Conn.
U.S. linguist.
He worked professionally as a fire-prevention authority. The concept he developed (under Edward Sapir 's influence) of the equation of culture and language became known as the Whorf (or Sapir-Whorf) hypothesis. He maintained that a language's structure tends to condition the ways its speakers think
for example, that the way a people views time and punctuality may be influenced by the types of verb tense s in its language. Whorf was also noted for his studies of Uto-Aztecan languages , especially Hopi, and Mayan hieroglyphic writing .