> On the issue of the many names for snow in Inuit. According to one book I
> recently saw ("Eskimo has twenty words for snow" or something like that),
> such a notion is pure myth perpetrated by Whorf and others ignorant of the
> language. Unfortunately, others have used this as a basis for many other
> assumptions, according to the author. He makes a point that in fact the
> Eskimo has two basic words for snow (fewer than English with snow, sleet,
> blizzard, powder, etc.).
In a similar vein, I found the following:
"[Long ago], the Aztecs had seven words to describe the different degrees
of heat of the _chiles_ of their day."
-- Frances Toor, _Mexican Folkways_
Could this be a myth too? Which words were those?
Victor
mendoza-grado@att.com