relatives in a similar way.Vocabulary,through what it groups together under one label and what it differentiates with different labels,is one way in which language shapes our perception of the world. Another instance of how language defines experience can be seen in the Navaho Language,which emphasizes the nature and direction of movement.Rather than saying,“One dresses,”the Navaho would say,“One moves into clothing.”Instead of saying,“One is young,”the Navaho would say,“One moves about newly.”Language is one aspect of the Navaho culture that coincides with the notion of a universe in motion. Although complete acceptance of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis may be controversial,its application to culture and language is clear:language is a reflection of culture and culture is a reflection of language.We have seen that culture influences language by way of symbols and rules as well as our perceptions of the universe. Equally important is the fact that meaning shifts from culture to culture. As children,most of us asked our parents,"What does that word mean?"This suggests that we tend to look for meaning in words themselves,but we are incorrect if we think that words possess meaning.It is more accurate to say that people possess meaning and that words elicit these meanings.We can have different meanings for the same word.For instance,to one person,the word grass might mean something in front of the house that is green,has to be watered,and must be mowed once a week; to another person,grass may mean something that is rolled in paper and smoked.All people,drawing on their backgrounds,decide what a word means.People have similar meaning only to the extent that they have had or can anticipate similar experience. Culture teaches us both the symbol and what the symbol represents.When you are communicating with someone from your own culture,the process of using words to represent your experiences is much easier because within a culture people share may similar experiences.But when communication is between people from distinct cultures,different experiences are involved and the process is more troublesome. Objects,events,experiences,and feelings have the labels or names they do because a community of people arbitrarily decided to so name them.If we extend this notion to the intercultural setting,we can see that diverse cultures can have both different symbols and different responses.relatives in a similar way. Vocabulary, through what it groups together under one label and what it differentiates with different labels, is one way in which language shapes our perception of the world. Another instance of how language defines experience can be seen in the Navaho Language, which emphasizes the nature and direction of movement. Rather than saying, “One dresses,” the Navaho would say, “One moves into clothing.” Instead of saying, “One is young,” the Navaho would say, “One moves about newly.” Language is one aspect of the Navaho culture that coincides with the notion of a universe in motion. Although complete acceptance of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis may be controversial, its application to culture and language is clear: language is a reflection of culture and culture is a reflection of language. We have seen that culture influences language by way of symbols and rules as well as our perceptions of the universe. Equally important is the fact that meaning shifts from culture to culture. As children, most of us asked our parents, “What does that word mean?” This suggests that we tend to look for meaning in words themselves, but we are incorrect if we think that words possess meaning. It is more accurate to say that people possess meaning and that words elicit these meanings. We can have different meanings for the same word. For instance, to one person, the word grass might mean something in front of the house that is green, has to be watered, and must be mowed once a week; to another person, grass may mean something that is rolled in paper and smoked. All people, drawing on their backgrounds, decide what a word means. People have similar meaning only to the extent that they have had or can anticipate similar experience. Culture teaches us both the symbol and what the symbol represents. When you are communicating with someone from your own culture, the process of using words to represent your experiences is much easier because within a culture people share may similar experiences. But when communication is between people from distinct cultures, different experiences are involved and the process is more troublesome. Objects, events, experiences, and feelings have the labels or names they do because a community of people arbitrarily decided to so name them. If we extend this notion to the intercultural setting, we can see that diverse cultures can have both different symbols and different responses