The Interralationship between language and culture Dony by

The Interralationship between language and culture Dony by: 102 group Bolat A. Zhuanganova S. Zhiyenbekova D. Nurakhmet T. Checked by: Seri L. T.

Culture & Language Relationship There are many ways that a language interacts with the culture of its speakers ◦ For many people, the language(s) they use is a primary indicator of the culture(s) they belong to ◦ Many people fear that if a culture loses its traditional language, then the culture will be lost eliminating a colonized culture's language has been a traditional means of control ◦ Many cultural groups will try to retain language even after other cultural markers are gone

Language is the vehicle for nearly every type of cultural expression Culture with “C”: prose, poetry, theater, ritual Culture with “c”: jokes, sayings, songs Transmission of “wordless” media: music, dance, food, costume, handicrafts Most important factor in group identity Vast majority of minority groups are losing their languages today

• Language and culture are inseparable -But treated as distinct by scholars • Cognitive Linguistics has the potential to bridge this gap (Palmer 1996, Achard & Kemmer 2004) -linguistic phenomena as artifacts of human experience -how human beings conceive of, manipulate, and metaphorically extend meaning

• Lexical characteristics -Nomenclature for ecological niches -Language-specific lexemes, cf. Cz mlsat, Norw å slurve • Grammatical characteristics -E. g. , syntactic constructions, verb inflections -Often overlooked and difficult to compare -Dictate how content is organized and presented -Systematic, therefore potentially greater impact • Lexicon and Grammar are cultural constructs

“Thinking for speaking” Symbiotic relationship between language and culture Grammatical structure as a cultural norm Co-evolution and co-influence, not unidirectional determinism Distinctive patterns of “Thinking for speaking” (Slobin 1987) Every language meets expressive needs of its community, but equality does not mean interchangeability One can’t just take the contents of one culture and express them in another language

Integration of linguistic and non-linguistic cognition Linguistic categories behave the same way as all other human cognitive categories ◦ per-/conceptual category for color blue is subject to same cognitive constraints as lexeme blue, and “extralinguistic” knowledge is part of the same package ◦ The meaning of a concept like blue differs across cultures ◦ Key words (and grammatical structures) can shed light on the world-view of a given language community (Zaliznjak, Levontina & Šmelev 2005)

LINGUISTIC RELATIVISM and DETERMINISM Edward Sapir/Benjamin Lee Whorf – the “Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis” ◦ language & culture intrinsically linked ◦ "language is a guide to social reality. . . it powerfully conditions all our thinking about social problems and processes. "

Language and Thought Sapir-Whorf hypothesis Language reflects reality ◦ Language predisposes people to see the world in a certain way guiding behavior ◦ Rich vocabulary reflects a cultural focus

Language and Culture The language used by a speech community is closely related to the culture of that community. Culture consists of what it is one has to know or believe in order to operate in a manner acceptable to its members, and to do so in any role that they accept for any one of themselves.

Language and Culture The relationship between language and culture was distinctive in the work of Sapir. Even though he believes that language and culture are not intrinsically associated, he believed that language and our thoughtgrooves are too much involved as to be impossible to untie each other, and are, in a sense, one and the same. The association of a specific culture with a specific language was not given by nature but was a historical coincidence.

Language and Culture In fact, there were and still areas in the world where societies share a very similar cultural orientation and yet speak different languages. Estonians and Lapps speak related languages, but their cultures are quite different.

Prestige & Standard Dialects Prestige Dialect ◦ Dialect of a culture which reflects the influential subgroup(s) ◦ Usually reflects speakers' wealth, lineage/heritage, or education Standard Dialect ◦ The dialect that is supposed to represent the ideal for of the language abstract idea, useful for teaching L 2 speakers ◦ Often is based upon the prestige dialect

Politics of “Standard” Since all language users speak a dialect or variety of the language, labeling one variety as “Standard” has consequences ◦ Assumptions about other dialects and their speakers usually either intellectually or morally inferior ◦ Use of “Non-standard” variety considered reason for disenfranchisement politically, educationally, economically ◦ Fuels fears about linguistic (and therefore cultural) decay

Thought and Language Since culture can be described as a shared way of thinking about the world, many theorists/philosophers are interested in the relationship between thought and language ◦ While some people believe that language is integral for thought, there are examples of nonlinguistic thought and expression Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf examined the relationship between language, thought, and culture

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis “Weak” Hypothesis ◦ Lexicons will reflect aspects of the culture ◦ Different ways of expressing ideas reflect different ways of perceiving the world “Strong” Hypothesis ◦ Language limits culture ◦ All concepts are culturally bound ◦ Language dictates thought Most linguists accept the weak & reject the strong

Language and Changing Thought Concerns over language's influence on thought have been expressed ◦ Euphemisms, Newspeak, “News Speak” ◦ Advertising lingo ◦ Passing on the embedded cultural biases in language There have also been attempts to change the way people think via the language they use ◦ Politically Correct speech ◦ Resignification

Language Use & Social Expectations Social expectations can affect how we interpret how specific speakers use language ◦ Ethnic/Racial identity ◦ Physical appearance ◦ Social markers (clothing, etc) ◦ Social situation/context Research that has been done on this phenomenon raises interesting questions of our “objective” ability to hear language and the influence of ingrained social bias

Language, Difference, & Cultural Bias Because one ability of language is to categorize difference, studying how those differences are represented in language gives us insight into how difference is view ◦ The “colors” of difference racial groups ◦ Left vs. Right ◦ Progress & Decay

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