Language, Culture and Society.ppt

Chapter7Language CultureandSocietyLecturedbyYuanXiu fengFacultyofForeignLanguagesShaoxingUniversityE mail aliciayuan Tel 0575 88341881 7 1Languageandculture7 1 1Whatisculture Culture inabroadsense meansthetotalwayoflifeofanation includingthepatternsofbelief customs objects institutions techniques andlanguagethatcharacterizesthelifeofthehumancommunity Ascultureissoinclusive itpermeatesvirtuallyeveryaspectofhumanlifeandinfluencespredominantlypeople sbehavior includinglinguisticbehavior Inanarrowsense culturemayrefertolocalorspecificpractice beliefsorcustoms whichcanbemostlyfoundinfolkculture enterprisecultureorfoodcultureetc Generallyspeaking therearetwotypesofculture materialandspiritual Whilematerialculture asthetermitselfsuggests isconcrete substantialandobservable mostofspiritualculture theproductsofmind ideologies beliefs valuesandconceptsoftimeandspace forexample isabstract ambiguous andhidden Incontrastwithnatureinthesenseofwhatisbornandgrows culturereferstowhathasbeengrownandbroughtupwith inotherwords whatcanbenurtured Culture especiallymaterialculture isreproducedandpreservedthroughthemaintainingofbeliefs traditions educationandotherinstitutionalmechanisms meanwhile itchangesslowlywiththedevelopmentofthesociety 7 1 2Howislanguagerelatedtoculture Whenwelearnanewwordwetendtolookforitsmeaningintheworditself Yetinadditiontoitsdictionarymeanings thesamewordmaystirupdifferentassociationsinpeople Taketheworddogforexample Fromtheabove wecaninferthatlanguagenotonlyexpressesfacts ideas oreventswhichrepresentsimilarworldknowledgebyitspeople butalsoreflectsthepeople sattitudes beliefs worldoutlooks etc inaword languageexpressesculturalreality Whenachildacquireshismothertongue healsoacquiresalanguage specificcultureandbecomessocializedincertainways Ifhemovestoanothercommunityorcountry hemayberecognizedeasilynotasamemberofthelocalcommunitybutasanewcomerfromthewaysheuseshislanguage Thisimpliesthatlanguageembodiesculturalidentity Todigitfurther alanguage asasystemofsignswiththeirownculturalsubstancesandvalues maybeviewedasasymbolofsocietyidentity Peopleareidentifiedviatheiruseoflanguage Inthissense languagesymbolizesculturalreality Ontheotherhand aspeople slanguageusesexpresstheculture tobemorespecific theircommunityculturerepresentedbyitssocialconventions normsandsocialappropriateness theculturebothemancipatesandconstrainspeoplesocially historicallyandmetaphorically Sharingasamecommunityculture peoplehaveacquiredcommonwaysofviewingtheworldthroughtheirspeechinteractionswithothermembersofthesamegroup Whilethecommonnessisconstantlyreinforced thediscoursecommunityconverges Theuniquenessofeachgroup slanguageusesingrammatical lexical andphonologicalaspectsetc thewaystheytalkandthestylewithwhichtheytalk etc constitutedifferentdiscourseaccents Differentdiscourseaccentssuggestdifferentsocialstatus Forexample peopleintheWestEndinLondonspeakdifferentlyfromtheEastEnders Historically eachculturehasitspastandtradition toputitsimply thecultureofeverydaypracticeshasbeenevolvedandbecomeconsolidatedovertime Acultureconsistsbothofitswayshowasocialgrouprepresentsitself itstechnologicalachievements monumentsandworksofartandofitshistoricalidentityrecordedandpasseddownbythepopculture Thesealtogetherconstituteitssocialidentity Forexample onthementioningoftheUnitedStates peoplemayoftenthinkofitsadvancedcomputertechnologyrepresentedbytheMicrosoft itspopsongsandtheHollywoodmovies However itsculturewouldbeincompletewithouttheDeclarationofIndependenceandotherhistoricevents Itislanguagethathasplayedamajorroleinsocializingthepeopleandinperpetuatingculture especiallyinprintfrom Inaddition culturealsoaffectsitspeople simaginationorcommondreamswhicharemediatedthroughthelanguageandreflectedintheirlife Theyserveametaphorforitsculturalreality TheWell knownAmericanDreampersonifiedbyAbrahamLincolnandBenjaminFranklinandothersisjustanillustration therefore languageisnotonlyintrinsicallyrelatedtowhatthecultureisandwhatitwas butalsorelatedtothecultureofimaginationgoverningpeople sdecisionsaswellasactions Theinterplaybetweenlanguageandculturemayresultinvariousformsofsocialization Cultureisawidersystemthatcompletelyincludeslanguageasasubsystem Linguisticcompetenceisonevarietyofculturalcompetenceandspeechbehaviourisonevarietyofsocialbehaviour therelationoflanguagetocultureisthatofparttowhole Tosumup sincetheknowledgeandbeliefsthatconstituteapeople sculturearehabituallyencodedandtransmittedinthelanguageofthepeople itisextremelydifficulttoseparatethetwo Ontheonehand languageasanintegralpartofhumanbeing permeateshisthinkingandwayofviewingtheworld languagebothexpressesandembodiesculturalreality Ontheotherhand language asaproductofculture helpsperpetuatetheculture andthechangesinlanguageusesreflecttheculturalchangesinreturn 7 1 3Sapir WhorfHypothesis 沃尔夫假说1956 萨丕尔沃尔夫假说 Whorfianhypothesis 沃尔夫假说 Inthediscussionabouttherelationshipbetweenlanguageandculture oneoftheessentialissuesisthatbetweenlanguageandthought EdwardSapirandBenjaminWhorf throughtheirstudiesofAmericanIndianlanguages proclaimedthatthestructureofthelanguagepeoplehabituallyuseinfluencesthewaystheythinkandbehave Thatistosay differentlanguagesofferpeopledifferentwaysofexpressingtheworldaround theythinkandspeakdifferently thisisalsoknownaslinguisticrelativity 语言相关性 oneofthetwopointsinSapir Whorfhypothesis ItisabeliefstronglyputforwardbytheAmericananthropologicallinguistsSapirandWhorf Itholdsthatthewaypeopleviewtheworldisdeterminedwhollyorpartlybythestructureoftheirnativelanguage SapirandWhorfbelievethatlanguagefilterspeople sperceptionandthewaytheycategorizeexperience ThisinterdependenceoflanguageandthoughtisnowknownasSapir Whorfhypotheses SWH Sinceitsformulation thehypothesiswassubjecttofiercecontroversyandscorn Untilrecentlywiththerevivalinterestinthisissue itregainspeople sattention Thehypothesisisnowinterpretedmainlyintwodifferentways astrongversionandaweakversion Whilethestrongversionbelievesthatthelanguagepatternsdeterminepeople sthinkingandbehavior linguisticdeterminism oneofthetwopointsinSapir Whorfhypothesis i e languagedeterminesthought theweakoneholdsthattheformerinfluencesthelatter Sofar manyresearchersandexperimentsconductedinvariousdisciplinesprovidesupporttotheweakversion Thestudieshaveshednewlightonourunderstandingofthehypotheses peopletendtosortoutanddistinguishexperiencesdifferentlyaccordingtothesemanticcategoriesprovidedbytheirdifferentcodes Hereisanexample English speakingcultureteachesitspeopletonamewhatispractical usefulandimportant Inageneralsense theimportantthingstakeonspecificnameswhilethelessimportantthingshavegeneralnamesthatmustbemodifiedthroughadditionalwordstobecomespecific Agoodillustrationofthispointistheword snow inEskimoandEnglish TheEskimoshavecountlesswordsforsnow Forthemsnowisextremelyimportantandsocrucialtolifethateachofitsvariousformsandconditionsisnamed InEnglish speakingcultures snowisfarlessimportantandthesimpleword snow usuallysufficestheneeds Whensomeneedsbecomemorespecific however longerphrasescanbemadeuptomeettheseneeds cornsnow finepowdersnow and driftingsnow Onceagainthisprovesthatthereisaconnectionbetweenthewordsacultureselectsandtheideasandthingsofthatculture Inshort eachculturepresentstoitsmembers eitherconsciouslyorsubconsciouslythroughwords theideasandconceptsthatculturetransmitsfromgenerationtogeneration Toconcludethissection thestudyofthelinguisticrelativityorSWHhasshedtwoimportantinsights 1 Thereisnowadaysarecognitionthatlanguage ascode reflectsculturalpreoccupationsandconstrainsthewaypeoplethink 2 MorethaninWhorf sdays however werecognizehowimportantcontextisincomplementingthemeaningsencodedinthelanguage ArgumentsagainsttheSapir Whorfhypothesis1 Wordsandmeaning2 Grammaticalstructure3 Translation4 Secondlanguageacquisition5 Languageandworldviews 7 1 4LinguisticevidenceofculturaldifferencesAnylinguisticsignmaybesimultaneouslyofadenotative connotative oriconickindofmeanings Tobeginwith anysignhasameaningthatcanbefoundinadictionary thisisthedenotativemeaning E g rose isaflowerthathasapleasantsmellandisusuallyred white oryellowetc Onmostoccasions rose meansmorethanaflower italsotriggersmanyassociationsmostlygoodonessuchaslove fragrance passionandbeautyetc Theseareitsconnotationsorconnotativemeanings Moreover theword rose alsoinvokesimage oricon topeople Thefamousline Myloveisared redrose stirsupvividlytheimaginationofabeautifulyounglady Thisistheiconicmeaning Manypeopleorliteraryworksuseheavilythewordsfilledwithiconicmeanings Allthesetypesofmeaningsareboundwithculturalencodingsorassociations forthemeaningsofwordscannotbeseparatedfromtheirassociations Eachlanguagehasitsownmetaphorsthatprovidesemanticcohesionwithinitsboundaries Motivatedbytheneedanddesiretoinfluenceothers peoplechoosetousewordswhichemphasizedenotativemeaning connotativemeaningoriconicmeaningsorallofthem duringthesameprocessitsculturalmeaningsarecreated GreetingsandtermsofaddressThanksandcomplimentsPrivacyandtaboosCultural relatedidioms proverbsandmetaphorsBodylanguage 7 1 5Cultureinlanguageteachingclassroom 7 2Languageandsociety7 2 1DefinitionofsociolinguisticsSociolinguisticsisthesub fieldoflinguisticsthatstudiestherelationbetweenlanguageandsociety betweentheusesoflanguageandthesocialstructuresinwhichtheusersoflanguagelive 7 2 2Theinter relationshipbetweenlanguageandsociety0IntroductionTherewasanextremeopinionheldbyNoamChomsky Thereisnorelationshipbetweenlinguisticstructureandsocialstructure eachisindependentoftheother Fortunatelyenough thefamouslinguisthimselfchangedhisopinioninhislateryears Nevertheless thereexisttwoclear cutargumentswiththeirrespectiverepresentativelinguists oneisthatlanguagedeterminessocialbehaviour Whorf 1956 theotheristhatlanguageisthereflectionofsociety Labov 1972 Trudgill 1983 orsocialfunctionsandsituationsdeterminelanguage J Gumperz J Fishman 1971 Germanlinguist N Dittamar 1973 believesthatlanguageandsocialbehaviourinteractwitheachother Thisisthecompromiseoftheabove mentionedarguments Andthisiswhatwesupport Thepaperattemptstoanalyzetheinteractionbetweenlanguageandsocietyinthefollowingtwodimensions 1TheeffectofsocietyonlanguageSaussure oneoftheprincipalfoundersofmodernlinguistics oncepointedout Languageisalivingphenomenonandshouldbefirmlyputinitssocialmilieu Thestatementsoundlyconfirmsthatsocietyplaysanimportantroleinthedevelopmentoflanguage forlanguageissubjecttosocialchangesandneeds Accordingtomicro linguistics alanguagecontainsthreebasicelements sound grammarandvocabulary whichmacro linguisticsputsthemphonology syntaxandsemantics Societyaffectseachofthem 1 1Physicalenvironmenthasaneffectonlanguage Arbitrariness oneofthedesignfeaturesofthelanguage illustratesthattheconnectionbetweentheformandmeaningoflinguisticsignsisestablishedbyconvention Inotherwords peoplenameathingonlywhenthereissomethingexistingintheworldorintheimaginaryworld Eskimoshavemorethan100termsfortheword snow withdifferentdegreesandforms SimilarlyinEnglishthereisawholehostoftermsfordifferentkindsofdog hound mastiff spaniel terrier poodle andeachwillcallupdifferentimages Differentlanguageshavedifferentformsforthesamething e g Bark isusedinEnglishtoexpressthemeaningofthesharpandloudsoundmadebyadog whereasinChinese weuse wang forthesamemeaning 1 2Socialstructuremayaffectlanguage Familiesarecellsofasociety Familyrelationshipsclearlydemonstratetheinfluenceofsocialstructureonthelanguage AsfarasChinesekinshiptermsareconcerned theyaregettingincreasinglysimplerthanbefore Traditionally Chinesefamiliesusedtobeverybig withdifferentgenerationslivingtogether Consequently therelationshipswereverycomplex withvariouskinshipterms Thankstotheone childpolicy thereappearnuclearfamilies thatistosay familiesarebecomingsmallerandsmaller leadingtothesimplicityoffamilyrelationships whichnaturallyinfluencethenumberoftermsusedtoaddressfamilymembers Asaresult manytermswillloseinthenearfuture especiallyinthecities e g 连襟 妯娌 舅舅etc 1 3Socialchangecanproducealinguisticchange Firstly phonologychangeswiththesocialbackground EveryoneknowsthatthereisavarietyofEnglishwhichevolvedfromBritishEnglish TheyareAmericanEnglish CanadianEnglish AustralianEnglish NewZealandEnglishetc eachhavingasubtledifferenceinphonologyfromBritishEnglish However eachofthemcameintobeingwiththeterritorialexpansionoftheBritishEmpire ThemodelofBritishEnglishpluslocalityhaveshapedtherespectiveEnglish Hence Englishdevelopsintoalargefamily Secondly syntaxissubjecttosocialchanges ItisatendencythatEnglishdevelopsinitsgrammaticalformsandsyntacticstructurefromcomplexitytosimplicity LikeFrench oldEnglishisalsoalanguagewiththeendinflection However modernEnglishhaslostmanyformsofinflection In1976 EnglishLanguageTeachingmentionedthatthereisatrendofsyntacticswitchtofrontalpositioninEnglishsyntax SimeonPotterpointsoutinChangingEnglishthatitisacommonphenomenonthatprepositionalattributestaketheplaceofpostpositionalattributes e g theahead of schedulegeneralelection hespokeinalook who s talkingtone Itwasaratherinformallinguisticphenomenonwhenitfirstmadeitsappearance butnowadaysitisgettingmoreandmoreformalpartlybecauseofthedevelopmentofjournalism andpartlybecausepeopleprefersimplicitywhentheirlifetempoisquickened Pronouns too hasundergonegreatchange InmodernEnglish wehavelostfiveformsofpron s thou thee thy thineandye Thirdly semanticsvariesinordertomeettheneedsofsocialchangesanddevelopment Englishbearsagreatnumberofloanwords whichistheresultofforeigninvasionsinhistory especiallytheNormanConquerin1066undertheFrench speakingWilliamtheConqueror TheNormanlordsspokeFrenchwhiletheirEnglishsubjectsretainedtheirmothertongue Bytheendofthefourteenthcentury whenNormansandEnglishintermingled theEnglishlanguagewasgreatlyenriched Suchcommonwordsas construct inquire commence humid werederivedfromFrench Anothersignificantaspectliesinnewswords resultingfromaffixation conversion composition blending backforming shortening Withthedevelopmentofsociety newwordsemergeintideinbotany zoology medicine chemistry physics biology machinery andothernewscientificfields eveninourdailylife Newmeaningisattachedtooldwordsbymeansofmetaphor conversionandsoon e g A shoulder ispartofhumanbodybetweentheneckandthetopsofthearms Whenitturnsintoaverb itmeans accept in shouldertheresponsibility Besides thankstothedevelopmentofmassmedia thereisanincreasinglyvaguedistinctionbetweenscientifictermsandeverydaywords Peoplesay pediatrics insteadof childcare 1 4Socialvaluecaninfluencelanguage Euphemismandtabooarethemostconvincingevidencetoillustratethepoint Inthecourseofcommunication peopletendtotakeintoconsiderationtheirownsocialstatusandidentity Theytrytosafeguardtheirowninterest maintaintheirowndignitybyavoidingvulgarwordsandexpressionswhentalkingaboutsex pregnancy excreta humanorgans disease deathetc sotherearevarioustermstoexpress pregnancy e g big bigwithchild expecting great greatwithchild heavy heavywithchild laden inthefamilyway inaninterestingcondition beingwithchild with expectingoranticipating asthemostpopularones Ontheotherhand inordertoavoidoffendingthosewhoareengagedininferiorvocations neweuphemismsareproducedoutofPolitenessPrincipleputforwardbyLeech e g pinkcollarworkers thoselowly paidwomenworkers gray collarworkers technicalworkersengagedinmaintenance yellowjackets clerksinthestockmarketrunningtoandfrofortheprices Peopleareapttoapplyeuphemismoutofpoliticalreasons IntheU S insteadofusing thepoorpeople peopleareinclinedtosay thedisadvantaged theunder privileged thelow incomegroup Beforeandafter WatergateScandal thegovernmentcreatedmanyeuphemismstocoveritup Itreferredtheplotto scenario andtheagentstotheplumbers Itisworthmentioningthateuphemismsarelanguage specific Theydifferfromlanguagetolanguage 2TheeffectoflanguageonsocietyOfcourse thebiggestvoiceonthissidewasraisedbyEdwardSapirandhisstudent BenjaminLeeWhorfintheirfamoushypothesis ThefollowingarethemajorpointsoftheWhorfhypothesis 1 Theextremeversionofthehypothesisisacombinationoflinguisticdeterminismandlinguisticrelativism 2 Weare inallourthinkingandforever atthemercyoftheparticularlanguagewhichhasbecomethemediumofexpressionforoursociety becausewecannotbut seeandhearandotherwiseexperience intermsofthecategoriesanddistinctionsencodedinthelanguage 3 Thecategoriesanddistinctionsencodedinonelanguagesystemareuniquetothatsystemandincommensurablewiththoseofothersystems 4 Thelinguisticsystem orgrammar ofeachlanguageisnotmerelyareproducinginstrumentforvoicingideas butrathertheshaperofideas 5 Aspeaker snativelanguagesetsupaseriesofcategorieswhichactasakindofgridthroughwhichheperceivestheworld andwhichconstrainsthewayinwhichhecategorizesandconceptualizesdifferentphenomena 2 1Languageaffectsone sinternalworld Languageservesasameansofcognitionandcommunication Itenablesustothinkforourselvesandtocooperatewithotherpeopleinourcommunity Itprovidesforpresentneedsandfutureplans andatthesametimecarrieswithittheimpressionofthingspast Therefore languageinfluencehumanthought Languageverifiestheexistenceofthought itmaterializesthoughtsothatone sthoughtcanbesensedbyothers Languageparticipatesinthewholeprocessofforming expressingandtransmittingthought Ingeneral peoplecommunicatebychoosingcertainlanguageunitsaccordingtospecificcircumstances Withoutlanguage itisimpossibleforpeopletoorganize expressthoughtandcommunicatewithothers letaloneturnindividualknowledgeintocollectivetreasureandpassthepredecessors experiencedowntothelatergenerations Theincreasingsophisticatedhumanthoughtandthedeepeningunderstandingoftheobjectiveworldhavegreatlybenefitedfromlanguage So languageactsasasignificantfactoringuaranteeingtheexistenceofhumanthoughtandpropellingitforward Inthemeantime languageaffectspeople sworld view Languagestructuredoesnotdeterminetheworld view butisstillextremelyinfluentialinpredisposingspeakersofalanguagetowardsadoptingaparticularworld view Naturally itismistakentosayaparticularlanguageisaworld view whichwasproposedbyGermanlinguistW F Humboldts Hepointsoutthatlanguageisnotonlyameansofcommunication butreflectstheworld viewofthelanguageusersaswell 2 2Languageaffectsone sexternalworld Broadly languagecanstimulateorhinderthedevelopmentofsocie