But common experience informs us that most English speakers are perfectly aware that slushy snow is distinct from frozen snow and so on. Furthermore, skiers have developed terms like powder and corn to describe different types of snow. Evidently, for both Inuit speakers and skiers, the concepts conveyed by the spectrum of snow terms have taken on a special salience. However, it does not inevitably follow that, simply in the manifestation of culturally relevant distinctions, our language will thereby dictate the way we view the world. Attempts to test the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis objectively have often centred on investigations of colour terms.
Languages vary quite widely in the way they segment the colour spectrum.
For example, many languages have a term equivalent to the colour yellow, but an object which would be classified as yellow in one language may not be so described in another. Apparently, then, the boundaries of colour terms differ according to the language we speak. However, we must also contend with the discovery that when people are asked to choose, say, the best example of yellow from a selection of objects, then a remarkable cross-linguistic consistency emerges. Evidently, people's perception of a quintessential yellow is the same, regardless of linguistic background. Establishing the validity of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis with any empirical certitude has been a notoriously difficult undertaking.