跨文化交际上课内容unit4.doc

IReview1. What is the Hofstede model of cultural pattern?2. What is high-context communication and what is low-context communication? How about the major differences between a high-context culture and a low-context one?Unit Four Language and CultureI. Warm UpPlease read the humorous dialogues on page 118, then try to translate them into Chinese. Can they be rendered in Chinese as humorous as the original?II. Language and Culture1. Read the article of “How Is Language Related to Culture”. What do you think is the relationship between language and culture?1) the relationship between language and culture: Culture and language are intertwined相互交错 and shape each other. It is impossible to separate the two. Language is not a matter of neutral codes and grammatical rules. Each time we select words, form sentences, and send a message, either oral or written, we also make cultural choices. Thus, we have to be aware of the cultural implications of the phrase if we want to avoid attributing a very different meaning to it or interpret解释 it literally.2) Functions of language:e.g. questions: asking for information information questionsa lubricant 润滑剂 to move the conversation forward social questionsExamples: How are you?吃了吗?3) The meaning of the words comes out of the context, the cultural usage用法. Language reflects the environment in which we live.Example: self-introduction of Germans and Americans Language reflects cultural values.4) Problems: There are no such equivalents between languages, and we translate concepts from a foreign language and culture with words that fit our priorities优先顺序. Therefore to communicate concepts effectively, cultural knowledge is as important as linguistic knowledge.Examples: manana/tomorrowkinship terms 亲属称谓(E & C)p125-126 Sometimes different cultures use identical完全相同 words that have rather different meanings.Examples: administration, director, force majeure5) Language changes over time. Words and phrases that are used commonly at one time may be discontinued or their meaning may change over time.6) A language, if spoken in different parts of the globe, ultimately will develop differently.Examples; pidgin Englishes2. Read the article of “Language-and-Culture, Two Sides of the Same Coin”. How does language reflect the culture?1) Language and culture are clearly fused混合; one reflects the other.2) Language-and-Culture: It is coined创造 by Byram and Morgan in 1994 in order to reflect the relationship between language and culture both unification 同一and separation.3) Language embodies体现 the products, perspectives, communities, and persons of a culture. Members of the culture have created the language to carry out all their cultural practices, to identify and organize all their cultural products, and to name the underlying cultural perspectives in all the various communities that comprise their culture. Language and cultural products:Many cultural products literature, tax codes, telephone directories, operating instructions, passports consist entirely of language.Language is a cultural product in and of itself. Language and cultural practices:Cultural practices almost always require language, the language of participation, such as speaking, listening, reading and writing.The social circumstances, the people involved, the topic, and a number of other factors influence the nature of the language used. Language and cultural perspectives:We use language to name and understand the perceptions, values, attitudes, and beliefs that govern our way of life. Though language, we make tacit perspectives explicit. Language and cultural communities:Communities develop distinct language to describe and carry out the particular practices and products associated with their group and its activities. Language and persons:Language, like culture, is not only collective but also personal. Each of us uses language in an idiosyncratic manner, based upon our background, experiences, social groups, our personal outlook, and our identity.3. Conclusion:(i) Language and Environment1) Language is an instrument. Word differences are obvious in various languages. The relation between word and its meaning is arbitrary. For example, in Chinese, we live in a 房子. In English, we live in a house.2) Language is even more an environment. It has as much to do with the philosophical哲学的 and political conditioning of a society as geography or climate. So, we can see that absolute color designations white, black, red, yellow are not merely inaccurate错误的不精确; they have become symbolic rather than descriptive.!Homework: Finish the exercises on page 124, try to analyse the different perceptions of colour terms.1. green; 2. brown; 3. blue; 4. white; 5. black; 6. yellow; 7. green; 8. red; 9. black; 10. blue, blue; 11. white; 12. red; 13. blue; 14. green; 15. yellow.(ii) Language and Culture!Homework: Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis (p146-149)&Supplement: Word MeaningsWe know that words represent meaning. The problem is that they may represent several types of meanings simultaneously.(i) Denotation 符号and Connotation内涵What is denotation? What is connotation? Give examples to show their difference?(p126-127) (ii) Seven categories 类别of lexical meanings词汇意义The study of word meaning is lexical semantics词汇语义学. The lexical meanings could be classified into seven categories: conceptual meaning, connotative meaning, stylistic meaning, affective meaning, reflected meaning, collocative meaning and thematic meaning.1. Conceptual Meaning (概念意义)Words may refer to objects in the real world (e. g. dog, book, river, etc.) or abstract concepts (e. g. life, friendship, hatred, etc.) in our mind. The relationship between a word and an object in the real world or a concept in our mind to which the world refers is the conceptual meaning of the word.2. Connotative Meaning (内涵意义)It is the communicative value 交际价值an expression has in addition to the purely conceptual meaning. The word “woman” can be defined conceptually as an adult female who is biped两足 and has a womb子宫, which is the physical features of a woman. But several other psychological and social features can be attributed to her, such as “capable of speech”, “experienced in cookery” and “skirt or dress wearing”. These additional features are its connotative meaning, which may include such features as “frail”脆弱的, “prone to tears”, “emotional”, etc. and such good qualities as “gentle”, “compassionate”慈悲, “sensitive”, “hard-working”, and so on.A high government official: (1) politician: engaging in polities for personal gain; (2) statesman政治家3. Social Meaning (社会意义) It is what a piece of language conveys 表达about the social circumstances of its use, which includes at least language users (who are using language), settings (where is language used), and topics (what are the language users talking or writing about).家: (1) domicile: used in official or legal documents or between people who are involved in official or legal affairs. (2) residence: used in formal or administrative行政、管理的 circumstances. (3) abode: a poetic诗意 word, used in creation and appreciation of poems. (4) home: used in everyday speech between classmates, colleagues, friends or family members.4. Affective Meaning (情感意义) It is communicated when the feelings or attitudes are expressed in language. Such interjections感叹词 as “aha”, “my God”, “oh”, and “dear” are chiefly used to convey传达 affective meaning.5. Reflected Meaning (反映意义) It arises in words of multiple多重的 conceptual meaning, when one sense of a word forms part of our response to another sense. For example, “the Comforter” and “the Holy Ghost” both refer to God in religious English, but the former sounds warm and comforting, while the latter sounds awesome because these are the reflected meanings of these two terms.6. Collocative Meaning (搭配意义) It consists of association a word gets from those words that are often used together with it. Nice-looking : (1) pretty: girl, woman, flower, garden, color, village (2) handsome: boy, man, car, overcoat, airliner7. Thematic Meaning (主题意义) It is what is communicated by the way in which a speaker or writer organization a message, in terms of ordering, focus, or emphasis.e. g. the same conceptual content: (1) Mr. Smith donated the first prize. (2) The first prize was donated by Mr. Smith.The active sentence seems to be an answer to the question “What did Mr. Smith donate?”, while the passive sentence appears to answer “Who was the first prize donated by?” or “Who donated the first prize?”. The active sentence suggests that we know who Mr. Smith is while the passive one does not. Meanings 27 are called associative meanings.关联意义III. Language and Translation(i) Problems in translation to achieve equivalence between languagesPlease read over the article on pages 138-142, and answer the following question:How many types of equivalence in translation are mentioned? 1. Lexical equivalence: 2. Idiomatic di:mtk equivalence: like idioms 3. Grammatical-syntactical equivalence: 4. Experiential equivalence: 5. Conceptual equivalence (ii) Words and Meaning1. Words and Culture-specific 文化特异性Conceptual Meaning1) Words and geography: The Mississippi; the Channel; koala, kangaroo2) Words and history: The May Flower; scalp (剥带发头皮); lynch私刑; cowboy; hippie; duke; castle3) Words and politics: President; congress; Democratic Party民主党; Governor-General总督4) Words and Christianity: Trinity; Bible; Catholic; Protestant; Puritan5) Words and holidays: Christmas box (圣诞节礼); Christmastide (圣诞节节期); Easter6) Words and living styles: Hot dog; hamburger; pudding; cocktail; drive-ins (drive-in cinemas; drive-in banks; drive-in restaurants); motels, diners (餐车式饭馆); baseball (垒球), striptease (脱衣舞); love store (色情商店); late-late TV shows (深夜放映的色情电视片)2. Words with Partial局部的 Equivalence1. young, middle-aged and oldEnglish: 18-40-60-Chinese: 18-35-55-2. intellectuals3. (1) social sciences: political science, economics, sociology, etc., branches of learning that are concerned with human society, esp. its organization and the relationship of individual members to it.(1) 社会科学: all the academic fields not included in the natural自然科学 and applied sciences应用科学.2. (1) yard: a small open space completely or partially enclosed and adjoining 紧邻a building(2) 院子: 房屋前后用墙或栅栏围起来的空地.3. (1) drugstore /a chemists shop: where medicines, toiletries化妆品, and various other small articles including food, are sold, but where one can b