Linguistic relativity is the idea that the language we speak influences how we think and perceive the world. This concept suggests that different languages may shape our understanding of concepts like time, space, and color. For example, speakers of English might think about time differently than speakers of Mandarin due to the structure and vocabulary of their languages. The theory is often associated with the work of Benjamin Lee Whorf and Edward Sapir, who studied how language affects cognition. While some researchers support linguistic relativity, others argue that thought can exist independently of language, leading to ongoing debates in the fields of linguistics and psychology.