Abstract：The Sapir-Whorf’s Hypothesis is a viewpoint of linguistic academic circles about the relationship between language and thought since 20th century. It includes language determinism and language relativity. Nowadays scholars generally accept the latter. At home and abroad, there are a lot of studies about cultural images of proverbs involving the relationship of language and thought. This paper mainly from the angle of linguistic relativity shows the interaction of language and thought by studying people’s understanding and association of cultural images of Chinese and English proverbs.
After studying human understanding and association of corresponding, semi-corresponding and blank cultural images, it is found that language uses different aesthetic habits and practice experiences to influence thought formation. And human thought influences language by different cognizance. This description of paper can help people have better understanding of language relativity and cultural images of Chinese and English proverbs.
Key Words: the Sapir-Whorf’s Hypothesis; language and thought; proverbs; cultural images; understanding and association
摘要：萨丕尔-沃尔夫假说是20世纪以来语言学术界关于语言与思维关系的理论假说。它包含了语言决定论和语言相对论，现今学者普遍接受后者。在国内外，有很多关于谚语文化意象的研究都涉及了语言和思维的关系。本文主要从语言相对论的角度，通过文献研究人们对中英谚语文化意象的理解和联想，从而表明语言与思维的互动关系。
通过研究人们对对应，半对应和空白文化意象的理解和产生的联想，得出语言利用不同的审美习惯和实践经验影响人的思维形成，以及人的思维通过不同认知经验影响语言内涵。希望通过本文的描述，可以帮助更好地理解语言相对论和中英谚语文化意象。
关键词：萨丕尔-沃尔夫假说；语言与思维；谚语；文化意象；理解和联想
